Book Review: The Cuckoo’s calling by Robert Galbraith / J K Rowling


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Book: The Cuckoo's calling

Author: Robert Galbraith / J K Rowling

No. of Pages: 455

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Mulholland Books

 

This has long been on my to-read list … finally picked it up and read it. Liked it but not too much

I love mysteries and murder mysteries are included. I like the suspense and how things tie up nicely in the end and the murderer is revealed to be someone who is least expected to be one and whom you might have chanced a guess without any strong line of argument.

But I don't like it when the author decides to write a looooong novel when an average sized novel would have been just fine. Why 450 pages when a 250 page novel would have done the job nicely and succinctly.

I loved the first 4 harry potter books but did not like HP part 5 onwards simply because the books went on and on forever ... interest begins to fade if your novel is long and your story is not moving fast enough.

That's what happened to the Cuckoo … it was slow and it began to drag along ... it was a nice murder mystery no doubt where there are many loose ends which tie up well in the end ... but the end should have come earlier. The book should have been a sharply written murder thriller and not a seemingly emotional roller coaster (which it did not manage successfully though)

I liked the characters which Galbraith created - each one distinctly different from the other but still the leaves of the same high-society branch where the outward appearances are a far-cry from the person within with complex love-hate relationships.

The central character, our detective, is no ordinary hero. In fact, if this would have been a movie, you might have actually discounted him as a temporary character who would probably die as a casualty or collateral damage within a few minutes of introduction. But our guy persists. In the classic multi-layered onion style personality, Galbraith uncovers the personality of the man over the length of the entire book and manages to surprise us all through the book.

The author spent considerable time and words on character development which was nice and enjoyable but it made the novel slow which was not very nice (for me). Hence, I like it but not so much.

I rest my case (and NO ... I am not biased by the fact that the author is actually JKR)

I liked the cover design though. It seems to kind of show the essence of the life of the central character … although when you finish reading, the picture seems meaningless. Phew

 

Ratings on Book Review Parameters:

Cover Design: 2.5 / 5

Writing Style: 3.0 / 5

Characters:     3.0 / 5

Story / Plot:     2.5 / 5

Climax:            2.0 / 5

Overall:           2.5 / 5   

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