Rating: 
Summary: Much better than the Fencing Master
Review: I bought the Club Dumas with some resevation--I had read the Fencing Master by the same author and thought that the book is very shallow. However, Club Dumas exceeded my expectations by miles. The plot of this bibliophile mystery is complecated, yet fully developed. The main character Corso calls himself a mercenary--a private eye who tracks and purchases valuable books for book collectors. What he turns out to be, however, is a more noble character resembling Dumas' D'Artagnian. My only problem with the book is that the two plot lines do not have anything else in common but Corso. THe reader is lead to believe taht the two mysteries are connected, and they are but only to the extenbt taht we learn more about the main character.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most intriguing books I've ever read.
Review: The devil, Dumas and antiquarian books - there are very few authors who could bring such disperate topics together. Thankfully, Arturo Perez-Reverte is one of them. I absolutely love the suspenseful, intelligent, sardonic way the story is told. All the characters are very interesting and complex, and none of them are really to be trusted. This is a book to be enjoyed and to re-read. Watch for the clever reference to Umberto Eco in one of the last chapters ("a certain semiotics professor from Bologna"). All in all a very entertaining, learned book.
Rating:
Summary: An Anjou Wine
Review: "This mystery is considered insoluble for the very same reasons that should lead one to consider it soluble"The Club Dumas follows the adventures of Lucas Corso, a cross between a mercenary and an antique book dealer. He has been given the task of authenticating a rare book - one that can be used to summon Lucifer himself. But, as Corso begins to uncover the secrets of the book and its printer, he is involved in another mystery. He is followed by characters that bear such a striking resemblance to Dumas's most famous serial, the Three Musketeers, that he begins to delve deeper into the fiction that has become his existence. The Club Dumas is a fascinating read. It is an adventure story in its own right. Woven into the text, however, is commentary on intertextualism, the meaning of literature, and man's relationship with the occult. Perez-Reverte does an especially good job of setting the scenes which are presented in the book - the reader feels the antiquity and beauty of the European villages which are the setting. Overall, a fascinating read and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Gorgeous and the Grotesque
Review: "The Ninth Gate" had the potential to be a great movie, but like so many movies made from books, too much was left out. Entire parts of the plot were axed in order to make the original story--complex and sometimes confusing--easier to swallow for low brow Hollywood audiences. "The Club Dumas" is a shocking, disturbing look at the nature of man in relation to sin and lust--a completely different tale than the cinematic version. The very center of the plot itself--books--may have turned some viewers of "The Ninth Gate" off, but a person who can appreciate the power a book--both implied and literal--sees the skill with which Reverte creates this story. The book follows Lucas Corso, a self-described "literary mercenary," through his quest to solve two mysteries: one, being the true origin of an Alexandre Dumas manuscript; and the other, confirming/refuting the authenticity of a Satanic book called "The Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows". Corso, a deceptive character himself, finds himself peeling back layer after layer of deception until he finally discovers the horrifying core. Without giving too much away, I'll say that Corso solves both mysteries while still not finding the true solution to each riddle until the end. The combination of a high brow pulp fiction novel such as "The Three Musketeers" and a book that supposedly unleashes the power of the Son of Morning at first seems an ill fit, but Reverte weaves a beautiful web of knowledge and mazes. The author is a master of redirection, as are most of his characters: when one piece of the puzzle is found, it seems to lead to yet another puzzle altogether. In the end, Corso does find all the answers, as well as salvation...but neither events lead to what could be called a typical happy ending. "The Club Dumas" is a delightfully pretentious novel, assuming that its audience has read "The Three Musketeers", is well versed in Latin, is familiar with the rare book trade and is interested in demonology. But, even the pretense itself is misleading--the reader is discreetly helped along the path to knowledge, just like the book's protagonist. It's an old fashioned detective story in which the stakes are infinitely higher, a mystery novel with the good sense to make the reader work as hard as the characters for the answers. There is also, among the terror, backstabbing and murder, love and sympathy. One feels sympathy for most of the characters, including the one character in the book who, historically, has probably never received much in the way of kindness at all. "The Club Dumas" is one of the best books I've read in a very long time, and is worth every penny. Perhaps if the rare book market is this exciting, I'll open a bookstore...
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been great....
Review: After seeing the mess of a movie called "The Ninth Gate", I thought perhaps the book might be better. In many cases, a fine novel is turned into a poor movie. In this case, a mediocre book was turned into a horrible movie. The book had all the ingredients of a thriller, satanic cults, mysterious deaths, etc. The characters were appealing, such as the main character Lucas Corso. But it never fully jelled together. Some major gaps remained unexplained and the ending was not dramatic enough to have sustained the previous pages. I would not call reading this book a waste of time as it can be read fairly quickly but I would not recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Athos, Porthos, Aramis and... who?
Review: Roman Polanski's delightful film, The Ninth Gate, is based on about half of this book. Fortunately, it's the better half. The novel concerns the parallel investigations of Lucas Corso, a solitary, cynical and not over-scrupulous book dealer, into two highly desirable items. One is a manuscript chapter from The Three Musketeers; the other is a seventeenth-century grimoire for calling up Lucifer. When the two mysteries converge, the novel makes an amusing point about the contribution of the reader to a given text, although not quite amusing enough to climax nearly three hundred pages of plot. There are also several too many cute postmodernist quips of the "I feel like I'm living out the plot of a novel" variety for my liking, but the prose is a pleasure and the story highly original despite the many literary references. This book also features the Devil in one of his more sympathetic guises (shown in the film reading How to Win Friends and Influence People) as the spirit of freedom, intelligence, curiosity and chutzpa; and the ending is most satisfactory. The Club Dumas is quality entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: The Book That Makes You Want To Read More
Review: Who would have thought that a book about books could be so intriguing. To any book lover this is a dream come true. Perez-Reverte's, The Club Dumas, rose quite quickly to the top of my favorite books list as soon as I read the first few pages. The style in which he writes draws the reader in and leaves you wanting more as soon as the last page has been read. The double plot draws the reader in and only reveals itself towards the end of the novel. The Satanical aspect is an uneasy yet suspenseful thrill that adds to the novel as a whole. I was inspired to dive into the realm of Dumas after reading this novel and from their I added another new favorite, The Three Musketeers, to my list. The manner in which Perez-Reverte combines the plot of The Three Musketeers into his own novel is masterly and thouroughly executed. Any lover of books cannot deny the fascination this novel breeds towards the books of the past. Through his writings I have become even more devoted to my already undying love of books and have expanded my list of enjoyable authors through the connections I find in his novels to others of history past. That is why I feel that this book is one that makes you want to read more. I truly recommend this book to anyone who has even the slightest fascination with reading.
Rating:
Summary: El lado oscuro de Alejandro Dumas
Review: El maestro Perez-Reverte transporta al lector a la vida y obras de Alejandro Dumas desenterrando sus mas intimos secretos e historias. Su protagonista, un incansable mercenario en busca de libros excentricos y a la vez unicos, no se da cuenta de que es manipulado por una extrana mujer que siempre esta un paso mas adelante en esta conquista.... sin embargo es su unica tabla de salvacion. Una y otra vez, los personajes que este investigador encuentra en la furiosa persecucion de un enigamtico libro, son asesinados de manera diabolica.... Otros personajes son simplemente el eje de sus tormentos y de contradicciones, que lo llevan de un lado al otro para encontrar preguntas sin respuestas. El destino, su enorno, los demas, son constantes arqueros de burlas y trueques que daran un vuelco a su vida, totalmente diferente a la que el estaba acostumbrado a llevar. Mi Su objetivo ya no es el de encontrar ese asediado manuscrito para darselo al mejor postor... su objetivo es el encontrarlo para recuperar el curso de su propia vida. Mientras Perez-Reverte ahonda en lo mas profundo de la vida de Dumas y sus historias, la vida de nuestro protagonista se va desvaneciendo poco a poco, a medida que el manuscrito se acerca a sus manos....
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Read
Review: Being a big fan of Arturo Perez-Reverte, I was slightly disappointed it "The Club Dumas". Mr. Perez-Reverte has just as good a plot and characters in this book, as in his other books. The ending is what I have a bone to pick with, I thought it was vague, after reading it twice I'm still not sure what was going to happen. Now this might just be me and the mood I was in when I finished it. The plot was full of twist and turns. The author interwove about four different story lines into a wonderful book. His characters are well developed and used very well to move the story along. I was totally engrossed in what was happening the entire time that I read it. One thing I will say about the characters is that there is not one that is totally likable. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, the hero Corso is worth rooting for. "The Club Dumas" is an intellectual read, but fun. I just would have liked a little bit better ending.
Rating:
Summary: Unique intellectual mystery...
Review: This book is essentially a Gothic parody with two parallel stories in one - the main character feels like his adventure is playing itself out like a written story and he becomes unsure of what is real and what is imaginary. It also underscores Napoleon's battle at Waterloo and draws comparisons with the main character's trial and tribulations. The plot really doesn't pick up until about halfway through the book when the main character, Corso, goes to Portugal. Then it becomes hard to put down! The plot is twisted, riveting and unexpected. Overall, a well thought out mystery. The writing style is intellectual and can be a bit intimidating (he uses a lot of French and Latin quotes) but the author's explanation is good and he supplies you with very helpful literary history within the connect of the story itself. The characters are well described but are a bit dramatic and unbelievable, especially the mystery girl, Irene Adler. Still, I felt they fit in very well with the feel of the book. An interesting observation: the characters were almost old-fashioned. Except for a couple of times where a computer was mentioned, it was almost impossible to date the story except to say it was in the 20th century. The images in my head were from the black and white movies from the 1950's , maybe starring Humphrey Bogart and some young vixen. If you like mysteries and enjoy reading stories based in a European setting with characters to match, then this is a good story to read!
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