The Club Dumas

Rating:
Summary: Highly enjoyable, yet not as entertaining as Flanders Panel
Review: As a lover of adventure, mystery and romance, I really enjoyed the novel. However, I was a little disappointed with this novel after reading the Flanders Panel.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, keeps you guessing....a real page turner
Review: I thought that the Club Dumas was an excellent summer read: definitely a good book to have at the beach! I really liked the development of the characters but I thought that more time should have been devoted to some of the more sinister characters. And the girl that kept appearing....what was the deal with her? Who was she really? Overall I thought the book was great, the plot was interesting and kept me in suspense, but in the end, it was sort of like a Stephen King movie: you're not really sure what actually happened. I thought the ending was rather incomplete. Too many questions left unanswered. However, I felt that the plot and the main character were enough to carry it to an interesting climax and conclusion. The only thing that I didn't like about Club Dumas was that the ending was too vague. I have recommended Club Dumas as a good summer read to friends and collegues.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome. A fascinating novel
Review: A very good narration with a very surprising ending. The game of the emotions and the action are extraordinary well described. Now, a forty six year old man attracted to a girl old enough to be his daughter, and vice versa? Corso must have had a fantasy. Now Polanski's version of the NINTH GATE will be a real challenge to keep up with the book which inspired him.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed "The Flanders Panel" better.
Review: After having enjoyed "The Flanders Panel", I was looking forward to "The Club Dumas", and was hooked by the first chapter. I found the storylines of bibliophiles, the occult, and especially the possible forgery of the books intriguing. However, it all fell apart after the revelation of the sham Club Dumas, and just got worse when the final plotlines were revealed. I found the ending to be unclear and convoluted. Readers would be much better off reading "The Eight" by Katherine Neville. However, I still intend to give "The Seville Communion" a try.

Rating:
Summary: 1 muskateer
Review: hey, you from New York. You gave this such a bad rating, but your score came out as 5 stars. there must be some mistake. I gave this a little 1 Muskateer rating because I didn't know what to expect. Was that woman the devil? I still wasn't sure at the end of that book. Im going to try one of Reverte's other books. I hope it will satisfy me more than this one. I just love his covers.

Rating:
Summary: A big letdown after "The Flanders Panel"
Review: I had a hard time following the story of this book. Corso is an uninteresting protagonist. Irene is just there to provide the sexual tension and the sex (what the hell did she see in Corso to sleep with him anyway?). The supporting characters are so one-dimensional that I got them confused with each other. Toward the end, I had forgotten what mystery they were trying to solve in the first place! Save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Elegant and Complex
Review: This is one of the great ones! Its treatment of the interplay between fiction and the stories we construct with our lives is both elegant and complex. It is delightful too, to know that only a select audience can savor the intricacies of the plot. You must have the intimate knowledge of fiction which comes of love. The author never resorts to cheap tricks either, the novel satisfies from cover to cover.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Literate, but a little goofy
Review: A very entertaining read. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing, LOTS of eccentric characters (a fallen angel, a satanic high priest, a woman who thinks she actually is a character from the Three Musketeers) and some great literary allusions. Nothing and no one is what they first appear to be and you can't be sure of anyone's motives or what actually is going on until the very last page. If you like a mystery of a better-than-average intellectual caliber that can keep you guessing until the end, buy this!

Rating:
Summary: Like getting your teeth drilled with a DULL instrument
Review: One of the worst books I have read in years. The writing was tedious and dull. It is not a book I would ever pick-up again.

Rating:
Summary: I could have lived without this one.
Review: Don't bother. The characters in this book are very one dimensional. Corso is a cliche sleazebag, the man he works for is a cliche rich-guy-does-occult, and "the girl" is a cliche mysterious beauty. The only thing vaguely interesting about this book is the little pieces of information about old books and the woodcuts. Very disappointing ending.