Rating: 
Summary: First "good" book in a while...
Review: This is the first "good" book I've read in 6 months. I haven't been able to put it down. Every time I have to leave the house, I want to stay and read some more. I look forward to reading more of Perez-Reverte's work.
Rating: 
Summary: Great promise, much disappointment
Review: The author would have been much better served and would have served his readers better if he had kept to the opening narrative theme regarding the authenticity of a Dumas manuscript. As he drifts into the supernatural realm, his text wavers between plausibility and poppycock. Deft with language at all times, the author seems to be enamored of Satanic themes to an extent that stretches reader credibility because the genre into which the book falls is not a tale of the supernatural. By the time it is all over, I found myself wondering "So what, who cares?" But the momentum of the author's prose was sufficient to keep me turning pages even after it was clear to me that this was an inferior work to his previous Flanders Panel. I was so disgruntled by this book's abusurdly chaotic conclusion that I almost did not read the next one: The Seville Communion, which is a true gem. There the author's prose is matched by his narrative.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping mistery of religion, books and misticism
Review: This book is not only about books and history. It is involved in the many facets of the "Verbum dismissum", the ability to summon the devil. Full of history content and mistery, the book is a page turner by its ability to insert the reader into the world of religion and misticism. Perez-Reverte has certainly done its homework to show the links between Alexandre Dumas and the Kingdom of the Shadows. The hero, Lucas Corso, is a book dealer specialized in rare old books. Following a series of murders around the "Three Musketeers" and "The Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Shadows" he discovers the deepest secrets that unveils the darkest power to a human being. The reader is taken throughout the book in a pilgrimage to the key behing the misterious nine engravings.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story -- Surprisingly good writing
Review: I loved this book, and I reiterate the praise of earlier reviews. One suggestion, however, I read this book after reading THE THREE MUSKETEERS and it greatly enhanced my reading of the CLUB DUMAS. In short, you don't have to have read it, but it's better if you have.
Rating:
Summary: It's too full of itself.
Review: I started out loving this book. It had intrique, interesting characters, exciting locations, and a promising plot. I even enjoyed the literary references. Somewhere near the middle of the book I began to tire of it all. Yes, you can feel very clever when you know all the references. Nonetheless, I still think that a book has to have a compelling plot to deserve more than three stars. This book started with a lot of potential and ended as just an average book.
Rating:
Summary: Thriller with intellect
Review: Despite the difficulty of capturing the beauty of Perez-Reverte's prose in translation, Sonia Soto has once again proved that you CAN read his books in English and not lose a bit of the flavor. The Club Dumas has to be read more than once to discover the more subtle intricacies of plot (and boy, does he have some) in this thinking man's thriller. The twist in this tale is on par with the best serial novel ever written and very satisfying. I finished the book two weeks ago and am still delighting in the rich characters and the beautiful language. Once again, Perez-Reverte demonstrates that he is one of the best novelists of the 21st Century. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Liber excellens!
Review: I've been a fan of this man since reading "The Flander's Panel", this book contains many moments of sheer literary quality that I wish more authors could achieve. Alas. I would like to disagree with the reader that claimed the ending to be a "letdown"; quite the contrary, I believe that the denouement was fine and on par with the rest of the book. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: Kickin it Lit-Style!
Review: Perez does it again with a unique blend of history, bibliomania, litstudy and of course, mystery. With 'The Club Dumas' he bring together an interesting collection of bibliophiles, from collectors, to reencactors, to bookmakers, forgers and detectives. A foray into the world of book collectors with a strong bent into the writings of Dumas. An excellent read, with an interesting array or characters.
Rating:
Summary: Club Dumas: Loses Its Grip at the End
Review: Perez Revente does his usual magic for the intelligent if jaded reader. The threat of devil worship and low-hanging evil is ever present. The plot's riddle, involving Lucifier, Alexander Dumas and every valuable, ancient book known to antiquarian bookpersons, is a labyrinth of dead ends, wrong turns and finally utter confusion. I could not put this book down. However, the ending does not match the rest of the book--and maybe it couldn't--the rest of the book is THAT GOOD. At times, when reading it alone at night, I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the devil was lurking in the shadows. Have fun...just don't expect the ending to make you go WOW!
Rating:
Summary: A Bibliophiles Dream Come True!
Review: Arturo Perez-Reverte strikes gold again with The Club Dumas. Based on Dumas' masterpiece The Three Musketeers, Perez-Reverte weaves his own tale of rare book collecting and the history of the Muskeeteers. While I definitely suggest reading The Three Musketeers first, (I did not and every so often lost track of the plot) the novel was still interesting without any knowledge of Dumas' work. All in all, this book is definitely worth reading!
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