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Christine Falls
A Novel
by Benjamin Black
BOOKS:
Benjamin Black, the pen name of Booker Award winning author John Banville ("The Sea"), makes his crime novel debut with a book about a Dublin pathologist who seeks to determine the truth about the death of a mysterious woman named Christine Falls.
Henry Holt and Company, 352 pages
03/06/2007
$25.00
ISBN: 0805081526
Fiction
General Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Boston Globe Chuck Leddy
A page-turner told in prose so beautiful you'll want to read some passages repeatedly.
The New York Times Janet Maslin
Christine Falls rolls forward with haunting, sultry exoticism.
The New York Times Book Review Kathryn Harrison
More than a seamless performance in fulfilling the demands of its genre, Christine Falls is executed with what feels like authorial delight.
The Observer Peter Guttridge
Christine Falls is dank, gloomy and powerful.
Publishers Weekly
Though Black makes an occasional American cultural blooper, he keeps divulging surprises to the last page so that the reader is simultaneously shocked and satisfied.
Christian Science Monitor
John Banville's first foray into crime fiction is a happy one: the genre rules keep the plot whirring along smoothly, and Banville's trademark prose helps illuminate his noir world.
Washington Post Patrick Anderson
Readers who love gorgeous prose and aren't in any rush to find out whodunit will savor this novel.
Entertainment Weekly Daniel Fierman
Crime fiction rarely lives up to the term ''literary,'' but Falls...is the happy exception. Falls starts slow, but builds to a melancholy, satisfying conclusion.
Los Angeles Times Mark Rozzo
Christine Falls [is] a crime novel that is more than a mere busman's holiday by a master of English prose.
PopMatters Frank Wilson
Crime does figure in, and there’s mystery aplenty, but if you’re looking for fast-paced excitement, look elsewhere. Christine Falls offers a subtler, deeper satisfaction than just finding out whodunit.
Slate Gideon Lewis-Kraus
Christine Falls, despite an ultimately less-than-believable resolution, is a delight in itself, and it's also a promising experiment.
Sydney Morning Herald Sue Turnbull
Despite the literary flourishes and delays, Banville does not condescend to the genre and the writing is nuanced and fine, although self-consciously so.
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Charles Foran
Benjamin Black, it is true, can't quite escape genre dictates, especially a lame ending designed to usher in the sequel, and Banville, once or twice, can't quite help being his lofty self...But this is a lovely novel, elegant and haunted and beautifully told.
The Guardian Michael Dibdin
It would be absurd to suggest that Banville writing as Black is better than Banville writing as Banville, but in a different and yet fascinatingly similar way he is every bit as good, and deserves to win a new, broader readership with this fine book.
The Independent Patricia Craig
The strange and unnerving atmosphere of [Banville's] early work is replicated by Benjamin Black, with only a slight shift of emphasis.
 The average user rating for this book is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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