“How easy it was to capitalize on a person’s own bent for self-destruction; how simple to nudge them into non-being, then to stand back and shrug and agree that it had been the inevitable result of a chaotic, catastrophic life.”
― Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo's Calling
― Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo's Calling
The
Cuckoo’s calling is a crime fiction novel by J.K. Rowling, published under the
pseudonym Robert Galbraith (that sneaky lady.)
Summary
(without giving anything away):
After losing his leg to a land mine
in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private
investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has
also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office. Then
John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary
supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to
her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses
to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire
beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him
to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.
What I thought:
This was
my first crime fiction novel EVER. They aren’t usually my thing but since it
was J.K. Rowling I wanted to try it. J.K. Rowling filled by childhood with magic.
I was skeptical going into it because I couldn’t finish her adult novel Casual
Vacancy. The writing and the story was hard to follow and didn’t draw me in. Overall
I "liked" Cuckoo’s Calling, I didn’t love it but I enjoyed it. It was
interesting, there were twists and the characters were complex. However I had a
hard time once I hit the middle of the book. I felt like it was going nowhere. It
was to the point where you can barley finish a chapter without your mind
wondering. I pushed through and luckily it picked back up again. By the end I
was drawn back in and ended up finishing the book.
I have noticed
with J.K.’s adult novels they are tediously descriptive and a bit old
fashioned. I read both of her adult novels with the hope that I would be drawn
in just like the Potter series. For me, that was not the case. Luckily I pushed
through Cuckoo’s calling and was able to finish it.
Just FYI the
ending was thrilling!
Next up on
the list for book club:
Dark Places
Beautiful pictures, looks like you had an awesome time!
ReplyDeleteWhat i really love about j k Rowling is how full of emotions her books are. Nothing sleazy or superficial in her debut work of crime fiction. Totally engrossing. As always, you can almost see all the characters....in all their complexity. And the language is delightful too. Must buy.
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