Mr. Timothy

Rating:
Summary: You little Dickens . . . ( just had to use that)
Review: Until last year I was a fallen-away English major. I don't know why, but after getting my MA I just stopped reading novels. About a year ago I figured I'd check out contemporary best-selling fiction after seeing how much pleasure a new friend of mine was having. I read a sampling of best-selling authors: Dan Brown, Dean Koontz, Eric Garcia, and a few others whose names I can't remember. I was surprised at how bad the stuff was. I mean really bad, for example: "My watch was digital, but I could hear my opportunity for action tick-tick-ticking away." ("Odd Thomas," Dean Koontz.) These books read like they were written in a week. Then I came across "Mr. Timothy" by Louis Bayard. Bayard is a tremendous writer. His plot in "Mr. Timothy" has such forward momentum that you can't put it down. His characters (e.g., Colin the Melodious and Captain Gully) rival those drawn by Dickens. His writing style is superb: "...a hard damp fist of wind, pressing our eyes back in their sockets. It whets itself on the corners of buildings, then surges down the streets, centrifugal and centripetal all at once... ." Read this book only if you want hours of enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Christmas present
Review: Usually I am turned off by an author who rides the coat tails of a previous work of fiction, especially a work as famous as "The Christmas Carol". Mr. Bayard did a fine job in describing the evolution of the characters lives and create an interresting & fast paced plot in such a way as to make this work very satisfying indeed. There were morals and life truths added and I had some different observations from the other reviewers but will allow the readers their own fresh experience. I recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Clever twist on a popular character
Review: What initially drew me to this book was the expanding story of Tim Cratchet (tiny Tim of a Christmas Carol). When a Christmas Carol ends, you feel that everyone lives happily ever after because Scrooge uses his money to make everyone's life infinitely better. The author does an excellent job of presenting a complex and facinating character in Tim. Tim is more than just a crippled boy who got healed. He is now grown up and dealing with the tragedy of his father's passing, accepting money didn't make everything better, and finding the courage to help a small girl he barely knows.

While I found this book to be very good, I only gave it 4 stars out of 5 because the mystery/suspense story wasn't very original. I was more interested in Tim's character rather than the mystery surrounding young girls turning up dead in London. However, I would recommend it as a facinating read.