Well, it's official...I can't stop reading at all. I seriously can't stop reading and since I am on here blogging once again, I am obviously finished yet ANOTHER book. This reading addiction must be a hereditary problem since both my grandmother and my eldest sister were/are librarians. But, before I go into detail about my next fabulous fiction piece, I must let you all know something...I got a call back!!! Yup, that's right! From that job I said I thought I maaaaaaaybe would here from on Monday. Well, I got a call THURSDAY for a second and final interview for this coming Monday. It's between me and one other candidate for a REAL teaching job. Finally, all of my schooling and hard work paying off after all this time. It would be a miracle! I guess I shouldn't be that dramatic and I don't want to count my chicks before they hatch, I do have to beat out one other person. Hmmm, well I guess I better sharpen some of my answers and interview skills before Monday. Let the best teacher win! (well I mean, I guess that's not really right but you know what I mean). :) So, here is the latest book that I finished in two days...
The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch (translated by Lee Chadeayne)
Amazon's Summary:
"Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark
crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to
investigate whether witchcraft is at play. So begins The Hangman's Daughter--the
chillingly detailed, fast-paced historical thriller from German
television screenwriter, Oliver Pötzsch--a descendent of the Kuisls, a
famous Bavarian executioner clan." - Amazon
My Review:
Definitely a great summer read! Once again, this was a Kindle recommendation and I whizzed through it in two days (would have been one if, you know, life didn't happen). Loved the historical content and the fact that the author was related to the main character, the hangman. I really do love when history mixes in with fiction, whether it's 100% true or not it really livens up the past for me. The characters were all entertaining, even though I really didn't think they were THAT developed...except the hangman, I got to know him reallllly well. What was odd to me is that the title of the book is about the hangman's daughter, and to me the daughter really wasn't that awesome or dynamic of a character. I guess you can't judge a book by it's title. Even though I thought it was a fabulous, fun, and intriguing read, I did find it a bit choppy (which I read in other reviews BEFORE I read the book). I'm not sure if this had anything to do with the German to English translation or if that's how the German language goes, I did feel like it moved either really fast or pretty slow at different times. The imagery was great and I felt like I could really visualize the scenery in my head and create a movie in my mind, which I typically do. I had in mind what all the characters looked like and I could possibly see this as an Encore or HBO mini-series, like the one I've been wanting to see entitled The Red Crimson and The White. I know this is based off of a book and that will probably be one of my many reads along the way. I digress.
The Final Word
Great quick summer or casual read that you can really get lost in. Nothing too heavy or intense, just something fun and very intriguing! Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, the choppiness kind of messed me up (I had to re-read a couple times since I get easily confused and distracted, my silly mind is not the author's fault). Which is why I think I'm going to go with Amazon on the star rating. Nevertheless, if you enjoy historical fiction or something that is enjoyable and captivating, gotta read it!
Stars: 3.8 out of 5!
Author
I'm impressed with your reading speed, these days I'm lucky to get through an A4 sheet of paper.....single sided....with one word on it...
ReplyDeleteone question
Why would they send a hangman to investigate? I would have thought that during the 17th century his diary would have been chock full of rope twisting, scaffold building and getting in contact with the undertakers to order another 500 coffins for the busy week of neck stretching ahead of him....
As for your statement
"The characters were all entertaining, even though I really didn't think they were THAT developed...except the hangman, I got to know him reallllly well."
Makes it sound like an early version of "Fifty shades of grey".... I made the mistake of buying a copy for Mrs B and suddenly my world is full of strange reference ....
When it comes to my reading speed, I think it is because I was forced to read at least 10 books in 2 weeks in college with being an English major and all. Maybe I should put that on my resume, my ability to speed read might land me a career somewhere.
DeleteI'm not sure if you read the book or not (or if you want to) but the hangman kind of took it upon himself to go out and find the truth behind all of the conflict in the story. In retrospect, it doesn't make sense that a hangman would want to SAVE a person's life. But once you read it, you see he has a connection to the person who is being blamed for it all so he feels he needs to be their defended since that person has none.
For my statement, I guess I thought I would know the ins and outs of the hangman's daughter...since it is the title of the book. But, I really didn't get to know her that way and honestly she quite bored me. Though, if this book went down the "50 Shades" path I wouldn't hate it :). I have yet to read those books though, did you enjoy them? And from a man's perspective, how did that go? :)
Thanks for reading and commenting!