Rating: 
Summary: Cuando la narración supera la historia
Review: Si algo tiene Pérez-Reverte es la capacidad de atrapar al lector en una narración perfecta y mejor uso del castellano. No importa si la historia, o el cuento, sirve de algo...no importa, pero que siga escribiendo. Leerlo es un placer para cualquier amante de la buena escritura. En este caso, la buena escritura se combina con el ingenio, y el lector avizado podrá sentirse parte, y hasta encontrarse como personaje entre líneas.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: After completing this "livre", my eyes were opened and adjusted rather quickly. I realize that as far as books are written this one is mediocre, although the premise of the plot is quite good. It is intriguing to delve into the life of an indifferent adventurer and travel to places such as Portugal,Spain and France. I especially enjoyed the comparison of Corso's journey and interaction with that of D'Artgnan and the references to The Three Musketeers. This book has inspired me to read The Flanders Panel as well as The Devil in Love. Unfortunately I had the displeasure of viewing the movie "The Ninth Gate" and consequently destroying any hope of discovering a relationship between myself and the "wolf-like" character Lucas Corso. ....
Rating: 
Summary: Don't expect Jim Morrison
Review: Author Perez-Reverte performed an amusing trick, using the mystery/thriller genre to showcase his personal interest in books, their collection and value, and literary analysis. He must have realized that writing a scholarly monograph would have difficulty in finding a publisher, much less being profitable to the author. However---by using the red herring of a novel one just might reap monetary rewards including a movie deal. Well, he won that bet---although the story (and reportedly the movie)is weak in the the last analysis.Nonetheless, readers should find the "loopy" book (as described by one professional reviewer), entertaining and worth the investment of reading time. Perez-Reverte has a wonderful command of the language with many excellent phrasings, and an ability to spin a yarn. A tip of the hat should probably also go to the translator Sonia Soto. The Club Dumas is only a 3 star because of the weak story and its wrap up. It still rates a read recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: The Club Dumas
Review: As an avid reader of Perez-Reverte's novels, this one turned up trumps. It is a web of intrigue, twists and turns following the path of Corso, a wholly believable and well developed character. At times I had to turn back to retrace my steps and re-read bits to find out what was happening. The author uses his novel to question the art of literature, and makes us deconstruct fiction, and you feel less like a passive reader and more like someone deeply involved. It is a wholly readable and deeply engrossing book.
Rating:
Summary: Corso? Great. The plot? Not so much...
Review: The Club Dumas is an interesting mystery revolving around Lucas Corso's attempt to authenticate a couple of manuscripts. One is a chapter of "The Three Musketeers" apparently handwritten by Alexandre Dumas. The other is a copy, perhaps "the" copy of "The Book of the Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Darkness," rumored to be co-authored by none other than, um...Satan. Perez-Reverte does a commendable job in at least one aspect; the character of Corso is one of the best I've come across. Being a rare book finder and authenticator is no job for a saint. He bends rules when necessary, but avoids dirtying his hands with some of the more unsavory aspects of job. In fact he's rather cowardly, only willing to attack those weaker or unsuspecting. Nonetheless I found myself pulling for him right away, even if it was just to see how far he might get before the inevitable smackdown. Corso drives the book and makes it a joy to read. The plot however starts to lag toward the end. Some have accused the Dumas plot line of being anti-climatic; but maybe that's the point the author was trying to make. However, The Nine Doors plot fell apart. I was expecting a lot more from that particular thread and it just seemed to stop without any resolution. Read it and enjoy Corso's exploits, but don't bank on a lot of bang at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: The Club Dumas
Review: This book looked like a winner: a novel about about books. Set in Spain, Portugal, and Paris and featuring an odd, yet likable protaganist, it opens with an enticing prologue. The narrative style is intriguing; it's written as an account by one of the characters. The reader is given a strong, Agatha Christie-esque hint about the end. But the novel simply peters out. The intrigue is lost. It wallows in melodrama, perhaps imitating in some unfulfilling way the works of Dumas himself. I wanted to be surprised, enchanted, or even shocked. But instead I was just bored.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: I have to say that this book set itself up extremely well. I also really like the main character, Corso, as well as all of the characters that the author surrounded him with. Unfortunately, even though this book untangled its many webs pretty well, it still got caught up towards the end. Overall, great setup and great characters, but the final delivery was weak. The finale was not as disappointing as the movie (ALL of which was bad except for Depp's accurate portrayal of Corso), but it was not as good as it should've been.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly, only mediocre
Review: The premise of the book definitely has potential to be intriguing, enticing, and unusual, but the potential is just never fully realized. Two separate plots are loosely joined in the novel--the search for demonic books and the answers therein and the half-hearted muddling about a Dumas manuscript--and neither is fully fleshed out. Some of the plot twists are simply silly and the eventual denouments (two, one for each of the plots) are by turns ridiculous and boring. The main character is intriguing, but around him are assembled cardboard cut-outs of characters. Not a terrible novel, but just so much less than it could be. A shame. I was convinced to buy the book solely by the book cover promise that it was a cross between The Name of the Rose and The Three Musketeers--it is, resoundingly, not even close. Rather than buy this book, read (or re-read) either of those other two--it will be a much more satisfying investment of time.
Rating:
Summary: Great Summer Book
Review: Here we have a cross between the Latin American school of Magical Realism (see the fantastic elements of the text combined with the mundane) and the cool, reserved tradition of 20th century European fiction (there are exceptions to this rule but generally it holds up). The latter tradition is concerned with a social realism that is viciously deadening. However, in the Perez-Reverte text there is an energy moving through the narrative and characters that takes the reader beyond this. One reviewer I read called it a "cross between Umberto Eco and Ann Rice". As we all know Rice cannot write but she has wonderful stories to tell...luckily Perez-Reverte has both a great story, especially for book lovers and those in love with post-structural theories of intertextuality, and he can write. As many who've read this book I couldn't put it down and am looking forward to reading his others: The Flanders Panel & The Fencing Master. A summer must read.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked the movie...
Review: If you enjoyed Roman Polanski's new movie The Ninth Gate, then this book is for you. The Ninth Gate is based on Arturo Perez Reverte's masterpiece The Club Dumas and the film translation is near perfection save for the deletion of The Three Musketeer tie in within the book. Plus, the book offers many more twists and hidden meanings to contort your mind to months after you have finished. All this and more makes The Club Dumas a novel with immense staying power in your personal library.
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