The three children
and four grandchildren of Alfred Morse, a wealthy art collector, have been
called to his home on the Connecticut coast.
Teresa, one of the grandchildren, finds him dead in his study; he has a
horrified expression on his face which is turned towards the spot where a Goya
self-portrait once hung. That painting,
believed by several of the family members to be so disturbing that it caused
misfortune or death, was stolen 15 years earlier. Teaming up with Dave Webster, a private
investigator hired by one of her uncles, Teresa sets out to find out what
caused her grandfather’s death and who stole the painting.
The book piqued
my interest because of its use of one of Francisco Goya’s Black Paintings. The twist added, however, stretched my
credulity. I know that those paintings
are dark and disturbing, but I find it difficult to believe that a
self-portrait could be so horrific that it could cause death. People actually believe a painting can be
cursed? There is also the added problem of a plot which
lacks focus. There are a number of
sub-plots so the narrative meanders.
There are sex scenes that do not develop character or advance the plot;
they seem included only for titillation.
People like Marc, Teresa’s ex-boyfriend, are mentioned as if they might
be important but then are never referred to again. Then there are statements like “She had been
hearing Ramón’s voice in her head a lot for the
last two days” even though there has been no prior mention of this
preoccupation. There are also several
fight scenes; at times it is difficult to know who is fighting whom. The feeling given is one of disjointedness;
even the dialogue gives this impression.
For instance, Dave mentions, “’You would have a hard time convincing
[Pete] of [how lucky he is]’” and Teresa replies with “’I’ve been dreaming of
my dad [Ramón] a lot lately.’”
Another
major problem is characterization. The
seven family members all remain flat characters so it is difficult to differentiate
amongst them or to connect to them. There
is an attempt at direct characterization (“Teresa was good at reading people”)
but this description is inaccurate. The
family as a whole can only be described as dysfunctional; everyone has issues
with everyone else and no one trusts anyone.
Not one of them is likeable. And because
the characters are not developed, I found myself not caring about what happened
to them.
The book is
repetitive in its use of certain elements.
People keep meeting in the woods and mysterious figures are constantly seen
roaming there. Then there’s the spooky
house and the mysterious housekeeper who knows a great deal but won’t
talk. Teresa conveniently forgets and
remembers things: “Who had said
that? Where had Teresa just heard it?”
and “then a vision pushed in upon her” and “How the hell could she have
forgotten? Yet she had, completely,
until now” and “Another vision intruded on Teresa’s mind.” Other characters also have strange memory
lapses; one person cannot remember a cousin’s address: “’I slept on a bench. When I woke up I remembered the address, so I
went there.’” Using memories in this way
is not a sophisticated literary technique.
The long
lists of questions also become tiresome.
Teresa, in particular, thinks in long sequences of questions: “What had they forgotten, and what had their imaginations
created over the years? And how would they ever know now which was which?” and “Had her mother known? What would
she think, what would the aunts and uncles think? Would they be as indulgent as
her cousins?” and “Who had her
father really been, and what had he done that severed him from his family? What did her visions mean, or did they mean
anything? Would she be the same person
without them? Was she brave enough to
find out?” and “What was he doing
here? What had he learned, and why did he make Teresa so uneasy?” and “What was he doing now? Had Philip
dismissed him or was he still on the case?
If so, why had he not contacted Teresa?” and “Was it in Philip and Miranda, as well? And if so, how had she and James avoided it?”
and “What was wrong with her? What was wrong with all of them? What was this demon in the blood of the
entire family?” And this is not an
exhaustive list!
This is not
a book I can recommend. Plot,
characterization and writing style all have issues. There are no thrills to be found in this
thriller.
Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via
NetGalley.
No comments:
Post a Comment