[OAN]∎ [PDF] Free The Strangler Vine The Blake and Avery Mystery Series Book 1 M J Carter 9780241146224 Books

The Strangler Vine The Blake and Avery Mystery Series Book 1 M J Carter 9780241146224 Books

Download As PDF : The Strangler Vine The Blake and Avery Mystery Series Book 1 M J Carter 9780241146224 Books

The Strangler Vine The Blake and Avery Mystery Series Book 1 M J Carter 9780241146224 Books

This review applies equally for the first two books in the series of three. I won't summarize the plots because so many others already have done so. I will say that I found the plots to be interesting, though a little bit slow moving. I have one main criticism, but it is a big one and the reason for the two star review. The Blake character is interesting enough, but Avery is basically an arrogant borderline idiot through both books. I tried to excuse this in the first book- he's young, not worldly, and Blake certainly doesn't tell him the motivations for most of his actions. Avery does seem to want to learn, and with Blake refusing to include him, I can see why Avery thinks and acts the way he does, even if it gets on my nerves. However, by the second book, I expected some character growth. Instead, the Avery you get in the second book is a carbon copy of the Avery from the first book. Even with Blake now sharing his thought processes, Avery still does nothing more than give the same ignorant, outraged speeches along the lines of "that can't possibly be right" when everyone knows that it is. This happens through the entire book. It's not that I don't believe there were people who were so blindly loyal to the aristocrats, it's just that there is no basis for Blake and Avery to work together at all, much less be friends. The only real purpose Avery seems to serve is that he's good in a fight, which Blake needs because he's unwell. At the very end of the second book, you see a tiny bit of adjustment in Avery's attitude towards the poor, but this is really all you get after two books of these guys hanging out. To me, it's just completely implausible that these two would ever want to be around each other, even with the acknowledgement that they can trust each other, they are just too different.


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The Strangler Vine The Blake and Avery Mystery Series Book 1 M J Carter 9780241146224 Books Reviews

Avery and Blake aren't so much an "&" for most of the most book, which is what makes it so interesting to read. We start in Calcutta and a young cadet with a friend in the administration of the East India Company. His job is to get a strange man who went native to come home to do some task. That task turns out to be tracking down the famous poet who has caused a fuss with his latest book. Avery dislikes Blake intensely, but is sent off to the north with him to pursue this task. There are many adventures along the way and one big twist at the end that I certainly didn't anticipate. Interesting take on colonial India and the Company right as Victoria takes the throne. Not sure how there is a second book, but am interested to see how that works out.
I love books about India during this time period - The Great Game. While this wasn't the Great Game, per se, it has intrigue, adventure, and an exotic location. Ms Carter's attention to detail was impressive and understated. At one point she describes how the feet of the beds were placed in dishes of water. She doesn't explain that it was done to keep insects from climbing up the legs; she credits the reader with that knowledge or the ability to figure it out. I love that.

Both protagonists are interesting. It's a typical student/mentor relationship - though not immediately and with a few bumps along the road . The information about the Thugee was fascinating. I look forward to reading more about them and their adventures, though I see the next book is set in England.

I recommend this book highly if you enjoy historical fiction.
This book really carried me away from Texas! Set in India in the late 1830's, Ms. Carter makes this setting so real. I could feel the humidity, the thick jungles, the grandeur of the palaces and the filth of the communities. Although the pace is relaxed, it's not slow and isn't boring but constantly interesting. Parts are exciting and suspenseful. Hard to believe this is Ms. Carter's debut novel. The main characters are Jeremiah Blake, an employee of the East India Company who's gone native and William Avery, also of the East India Company. The two are brought together to search for a missing writer whom Avery admires and Blake knows. As they search, Avery discovers out what the East India Company is about, the secrets it keeps, and the innocent people it has killed to keep control. Absolutely fascinating with rich detail, marvelously crafted plot, and marvelous characters.
Enjoyable book. It reminded me a little of "The Game" by Laurie R. King, in which Sherlock Holmes and his wife travel to and through India to solve a crime. Both books are evocative of the culture and people of India and stirred in me a strong desire to learn more about the subcontinent.
I know that "The Strangler Vine" is classified as a thriller but for me that term connotes intense suspense and I did not find this book particularly suspenseful. It does have a great plot with unexpected twists and turns that made it a fun book to read. The characters are colorful, intriguing, and realistic but original. I believe that the ability to draw interesting and engaging characters is the hallmark of a first rate novelist so I think Ms. Carter shows all the signs of a promising future.
The book includes a sample of her next novel which also involves Blake and Avery only this time the setting is in London (well it starts there). I was a little disappointed to see this next book ("The Infidel Stain") described as "the second of two books featuring Blake and Avery". I was hoping that this was the start of a series. Unless one of them dies in the second book, one can always hope that Carter doesn't stop after two.
This is a very lively, exciting, and undemanding story in the tradition of Conan Doyle, Stevenson, or even John Buchan (though without Buchan’s vicious racism). The book is set in nineteenth century India, against a background of conquest and of conflict between the British East India Company, the English government, indigenous rulers, and individuals striving for power. I look forward to reading more by the same author, who clearly did careful research on the time, place, and people in this story. You could unhesitatingly give it to your great grandmother, your twelve year old grandson, or your hyper-sophisticated cousins and expect that they’ll enjoy it too. Bravo (or brava), author! Happy Encore!
This review applies equally for the first two books in the series of three. I won't summarize the plots because so many others already have done so. I will say that I found the plots to be interesting, though a little bit slow moving. I have one main criticism, but it is a big one and the reason for the two star review. The Blake character is interesting enough, but Avery is basically an arrogant borderline idiot through both books. I tried to excuse this in the first book- he's young, not worldly, and Blake certainly doesn't tell him the motivations for most of his actions. Avery does seem to want to learn, and with Blake refusing to include him, I can see why Avery thinks and acts the way he does, even if it gets on my nerves. However, by the second book, I expected some character growth. Instead, the Avery you get in the second book is a carbon copy of the Avery from the first book. Even with Blake now sharing his thought processes, Avery still does nothing more than give the same ignorant, outraged speeches along the lines of "that can't possibly be right" when everyone knows that it is. This happens through the entire book. It's not that I don't believe there were people who were so blindly loyal to the aristocrats, it's just that there is no basis for Blake and Avery to work together at all, much less be friends. The only real purpose Avery seems to serve is that he's good in a fight, which Blake needs because he's unwell. At the very end of the second book, you see a tiny bit of adjustment in Avery's attitude towards the poor, but this is really all you get after two books of these guys hanging out. To me, it's just completely implausible that these two would ever want to be around each other, even with the acknowledgement that they can trust each other, they are just too different.