I was pleasantly surprised by this charming little romp of an imaginative adventure into documented and archival time---such a fitting late-80s & 90s I was pleasantly surprised by this charming little romp of an imaginative adventure into documented and archival time---such a fitting late-80s & 90s cinematic feel! It brings out the childhood nostalgia us 90s babies used to cherish with this late-20th century pop culture. Our young protagonist is super charming, endearing, childlike, sweetly naive/optimist, not yet inured (much) into the anxieties and droll repetitiveness of adulthood hustle and judge. She's a collector of fairy tales, works at a video shop, is a huge film and pop culture buff, begins spending lots of time with this (fake) jaded, philosophical guy, sees the world in rose-coloured glasses, sneaks into a loft to live rent-free, gets adorably excited about sharing her secret spot viewing the city in the local junkyard, loves adventure, and is very sweetly imaginative. Though her dear, close-to-her elderly customer who rents the same old video cyclically is murdered and she feels she needs to do justice for him in investigating what happened, she mainly just wants to actually go on a cool adventure, play the cool detective, go on a treasure hunt. She is the the entire heart and soul of this series, and Jeffery Deaver imagined the perfect character. I wish she were real and could meet her in person! I love her perspective on life and the little observations she makes, pondering magical meaning for life. She earns a place with a Hollywood star in my list for favorite and most endearing female characters.
This is an earlier series from Deaver, and reads more like an old noir (updated for values and cultural references), and is also more cozy; different than the later Lincoln Rhyme crime thrillers he's known for. So, keep that in mind. I found it sweet and endearing, with some old Hollywood-meets-90s whimsy. I also thought of Alice from Alice and Wonderland, Dorothy from the Oz series, old Hollywood dialogue, The Pink Panther, Audrey Hepburn, Roger Rabbit, The Princess Bride, The Neverending Story, stuff like that---my personal internal vision and visual transposing of the story, not everyone (or maybe not anyone) will agree and see my logic. I agree it sounds far-fetched.
The plot and plot twists later on just seemed kind of jarring to the character of the book and the characters, so that's probably the reason for the downgrade of one star, rather than a read. Quite glad I came across this in a little free street library at an old wooden playground and seaplane-themed splash park by the lake, so that I became aware the author had this kind of character and imagination in him. I will definitely pick up more from Rune's adventures if I find them secondhand out in the wild.
Why can't we have more character-heavy, whimsical and imaginative noir like this, publication houses? Recommend away if you, the reader, can think of any other mystery-noirs that feature female protagonists like Rune! I will seek to find more like her! She's so precious! Will Laurie R. King's young Sherlockian protege in Mary Russell fit this bill, fill these shoes for me?
A little bit of discussion within was mildly triggering to me personally, just from the vicious and hurtful turn-around and betrayal in character directed towards her worth in her current station as wanting to see the world and city as a magical place rather than embrace the harsh reality. May we keep this inner magical, childlike perspective and state alive inside our slowly dying adult selves. The lesson of Peter Pan.
Edit: A reminder that maybe we need more people willing to have the strength to be like her, that we continue to need the quaint freshness and innocence of bringing some of this kind perspective to our harsh world of hustle. She also reminds me of a girl I befriended back when I worked with youth through my college years....more
Charming processing of events and being autonomous from the imaginative perspective of a boy. "I wouldn't kill an animal again. I did it when I was liCharming processing of events and being autonomous from the imaginative perspective of a boy. "I wouldn't kill an animal again. I did it when I was little and didn't know what I was doing. I did it to lizards, and even now I ask them to forgive me. Maybe everything that is happening to me is the revenge of a lizard that died for no reason, just because of a bad kid." ...more
This is one one of those to own for repeated consultations, to savor the prose, the use of pauses, and for its quotables. Favorite vignettes probably This is one one of those to own for repeated consultations, to savor the prose, the use of pauses, and for its quotables. Favorite vignettes probably are the first, 'That's How Wrong My Love Is' for its charm, 'But There's A Family Resemblance,' 'The Original Impulse,' 'The Recipe,' Love Sentence,' Madame Realism's Conscience,' and the last, 'Save Me From the Pious and the Vengeful.'...more
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