Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Much said beautifully but too much left unsaid

The Maker of Swans: A Novel by Paraic O’Donnell

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Cbr14bingo bird On the face of it, this novel has a lot going for it: murder, a secret society, an English manor, a man servant who has seen it all. And yet the book was quite frustrating to read. On one hand, the prose is exquisite and the premise of the plot arresting. On the other hand, O’Donnell teases the reader without providing a satisfying payoff in the end. I didn’t want to put it down, but ultimately, I felt sort of cheated. The novel […]

a manor on the edge of ruin, a mute little girl, a butler with a dangerous past, and a potentially magical drunken dandy…

The Maker of Swans by Paraic O'Donnell

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What looks like a recipe for potential nonsense is actually a truly surprising and unique thriller! Paraic O’Donnell follows up the Victorian spiritualism of The House on Vesper Sands with another historical mystery, but where I was expecting (and hoping for, honestly) a continuation of the former, The Maker of Swans jumps head-first into the 20th Century and dares the reader to catch up. A butler tries his damndest to keep his employer safe, sane, and sober- but the draws of the Jazz Age have the […]

monologuing at the mouth of madness

The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell

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A strong opening pulls us directly into the spooky fold; a seamstress with a secret hurls herself from a very important man’s very high attic window. The House on Vesper Sands has all of the hallmarks of a Victorian throw-back; mazes of manners, decrepit mansions, and gin-soaked police populate a scuzzy world of destitute working girls, complicated family histories, and genteel young men all-aflutter. The Spiritualist movement is in full-swing and a cloaked and creepy group of “Spiriters” may be responsible for a rash of […]



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