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Christine Falls: A Novel (Quirke Book 1) Kindle Edition
In the debut crime novel from the Booker-winning author, a Dublin pathologist follows the corpse of a mysterious woman into the heart of
a conspiracy among the city's high Catholic society
It's not the dead that seem strange to Quirke. It's the living. One night, after a few drinks at an office party, Quirke shuffles down into the morgue where he works and finds his brother-in-law, Malachy, altering a file he has no business even reading. Odd enough in itself to find Malachy there, but the next morning, when the haze has lifted, it looks an awful lot like his brother-in-law, the esteemed doctor, was in fact tampering with a corpse—and concealing the cause of death.
It turns out the body belonged to a young woman named Christine Falls. And as Quirke reluctantly presses on toward the true facts behind her death, he comes up against some insidious—and very well-guarded—secrets of Dublin's high Catholic society, among them members of his own family.
Set in Dublin and Boston in the 1950s, the first novel in the Quirke series brings all the vividness and psychological insight of Booker Prize winner John Banville's fiction to a thrilling, atmospheric crime story. Quirke is a fascinating and subtly drawn hero, Christine Falls is a classic tale of suspense, and Benjamin Black's debut marks him as a true master of the form.
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From Publishers Weekly
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Product details
- ASIN : B000R7G8N4
- Publisher : Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (March 6, 2007)
- Publication date : March 6, 2007
- Language : English
- File size : 2826 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 417 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #55,628 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #109 in Medical Thrillers (Books)
- #262 in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
- #416 in Historical Literary Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Benjamin Black is the crime-writing pen name of acclaimed author John Banville, who was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of fifteen novels, including The Sea, which won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. In 2013 he was awarded the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Achievement in Irish Literature.
Black has written seven novels starring Quirke, the surly but brilliant pathologist. In 2014 the Quirke novels were adapted into a major BBC TV series starring Gabriel Byrne.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers praise the writing quality, pacing, and realistic scenes of the crime novel. They find it an enjoyable read and consider it worthwhile material. However, opinions differ on the story quality, with some finding it intriguing and compelling, while others feel it lacks suspense and is not a suspenseful crime novel. There are also mixed reviews regarding the character development, with some finding them interesting and well-drawn, while others feel they lack depth and are not challenged by events.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They find the descriptions vivid and the author's voice compelling. The book draws a wonderful picture of Boston and Dublin using lyrical prose. Readers praise the author's skill in creating historical context, colloquial references, and mystery.
"...Black is a very good writer and the Celtic gloom isn't oppressive or depressing...." Read more
"...The author does create vivid scenes with the use of descriptive prose. I enjoyed the glimpse into the 1950's Dublin...." Read more
"...at its best, a simple tale told directly that is wrapped in beautifully written images. Banville is writing as Black to enjoy himself in a new genre...." Read more
"...minus the humorous touches, but filled with the same poetic-like superb prose style. Witness descriptions of the following:..." Read more
Customers find the book's pacing engaging. They appreciate the author's skill in creating a milieu and developing characters. The vivid, realistic scenes are described with descriptive prose. Readers mention that the book sets the context for relationships and events. The rich, satisfying prose is praised, with detailed descriptions and familiarity.
"A very intriguing story of love and loss. Flawed characters all. Great pacing and unfolding of elements of the story...." Read more
"...Despite being a very passive person he is magically attractive to women, but his relations with women are marked by an inability to fully connect...." Read more
"...The author does create vivid scenes with the use of descriptive prose. I enjoyed the glimpse into the 1950's Dublin...." Read more
"...first novel of the Quirke series brings all the vividness and psychological insight of John Banville's fiction to a thrilling, atmospheric crime..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book. They say it's an excellent read and enjoyable to listen to. The author is praised as well.
"...This book is certainly worth reading, but it is not a suspenseful crime novel. Much of the writing is quite beautiful...." Read more
"...Plot was OK, characters were being developed and were OK. Voice switched around a lot between characters...." Read more
"...Hmm, let me think about that. Continuing... although there is much worthwhile material out there (Chandler et. al.) ,..." Read more
"Christine Falls had all it neded to be a very good read: It is set in a time in history when The Irish are dirt poor, in need of help and are being..." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the story. Some find it interesting and compelling, with a mystery that is more sophisticated than usual noir novels. However, others feel the plot is disappointing, not suspenseful, and the big reveal is overhyped. The past is described as grim and dark, haunting the present.
"...Flawed characters all. Great pacing and unfolding of elements of the story. In the end, love and loss and perhaps redemption, whatever that means." Read more
"...I enjoyed the glimpse into the 1950's Dublin. But overall, I felt a lack of depth to the characters, the story, and the locations...." Read more
"...This is a shadowy tale full of atmosphere that unfolds dreamily in a moody, fog-shrouded city where interiors are as dark as the weather; where the..." Read more
"...Feelings are always withheld. The past is grim and dark and haunts the present. Poor Pheobe is never going to be happy...." Read more
Customers have different views on the character development. Some find the characters interesting and well-drawn, with a subtle hero. They feel what the characters are feeling and can relate to them. Others feel there is a lack of depth in the characters and the story overall, with voice switching between characters.
"...He's created a character bulky in the extreme, morose and eponymously quirky in a manner that makes me want to follow him around Dublin as he..." Read more
"...Quirke is a fascinating and subltly drawn hero...." Read more
"A very intriguing story of love and loss. Flawed characters all. Great pacing and unfolding of elements of the story...." Read more
"...The characters are well drawn as is the milieu in which the novel takes place...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2024A very intriguing story of love and loss. Flawed characters all. Great pacing and unfolding of elements of the story. In the end, love and loss and perhaps redemption, whatever that means.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018Commenting more on the quirk series than on this specific novel.
These walk the line between noir genre and literature more generally. They are set in Dublin in the 50s. Quirk is wealthy but ireland is not, and even the scenes with rich people have a drab and gray feeling. Nobody is capable of honest and effective communication. People interact but fundamentally don't connect. Quirk is a medical examiner but he hardly ever has to work or even to show up. He has no career ambitions, or romantic objectives. Despite being a very passive person he is magically attractive to women, but his relations with women are marked by an inability to fully connect. Feelings are always withheld. The past is grim and dark and haunts the present. Poor Pheobe is never going to be happy. Seems very irish to me.
Quirk is sometimes funny--once he buys a car even though he can't drive, and humor takes place. Hackett is amusing. They don't really "detect" anything, they just kind of blunder along and stuff happens. Quirke and Hackett have a bit of a holmes and watson thing going on: Hacket is the exceptional good guy in the series in that he actually accomplishes things. But the overall tone is regret, the weight of the past, and a kind of enervating gloom. "A Death in Summer" takes place in the long irish summer days, and involves a hotty frenchwoman, but it still always feels like a gray day in October.
Black is a very good writer and the Celtic gloom isn't oppressive or depressing. There's kind of a kafka-esque thing going on, where we are invited to laugh at the absurdity of human tragedy. Christine Falls is probably the bleakest of the series--they get lighter as they go along.
I have a feeling he's done with Quirk--at the end of the last novel things were looking up. Pretty sure if there is another one all that will have to change.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2015Christine Falls is a sad, dark story of lives that are burdened by wrong choices that have impact forever. I could find no character - primary or secondary - who has any lasting joy. Moments of happiness are short lived and soon replaced by the effects of bad decisions.
I did have empathy for Quirke and his early life losses until the big reveal when I questioned the evidence of his depth of character and his heart.
The author does create vivid scenes with the use of descriptive prose. I enjoyed the glimpse into the 1950's Dublin.
But overall, I felt a lack of depth to the characters, the story, and the locations.
I do have the second book in the Quirke series which I will read in hopes of finding the depth and dimension I found missing in this book.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2011Dr. Garret Quirke (you won't learn his first name in this book) is a hulking presence, a man built almost larger than life. When interacting with him, men and women of normal stature tend to look up and adopt a tilting posture that consists of "the backward leaning stance, the vigorous straightening of the shoulders and the craning of the neck."
More comfortable with the dead than the living, Quirke is a pathologist in 1950s Dublin affiliated with the Holy Family Hospital. His postmortems take place sheltered from daylight, in a body room two floors below the pavement of central Dublin. Quirke enjoys being removed from the city's life and bustle. Working alone where it is always night gives him "a sense of being part the continuance of ancient practices, secret skills, or work too dark to be carried on up in the light."
At the end of a night of heavy drinking he returns to his office and stumbles upon his brother-in-law Mal altering the autopsy records of a woman, Christine Falls, who like Quirke's wife Delia, died in childbirth. Quirke's inherent curiosity and his feelings of ethical responsibility for the dead engage his interest.
He begins to ask questions and the answers, as they always do, lead to more questions and Quirke soon finds himself enmeshed in an investigation that is dangerous and best left alone. Someone is tortured. Someone is murdered. New-born babies disappear. The only obvious common denominator is the Roman Catholic Church, the church hierarchy in Dublin and Irish Catholic Boston, and the powerful, secretive lay organizations that support Catholic charities.
Black is the pen name of Booker award-winning author John Banville. "Christine Falls" (2006) is his first in a series of four Quirke stories. It is followed by "The Silver Swan" (2007), "Elegy for April" (2010) and "A Death in Summer" (July 2011).
Like the other Quirke crime-busters, "Christine Falls" is character driven. The story holds our attention, but the characters' struggles to find meaning in a shadowy, morally ambivalent world is what Black is so good at conveying and what in the end becomes compelling.
The Quirke stories are infused with a Catholic sensibility; "Christine Falls" more so. Like Grahame Green's antiheroes, Quirke is preoccupied with the issues of evil, sin and doubt. He shoulders responsibility for the souls of the bodies he cuts up. We see Christine Falls only as a corpse. She is someone who died for having given birth and Quirke on her behalf bears witness.
This is a shadowy tale full of atmosphere that unfolds dreamily in a moody, fog-shrouded city where interiors are as dark as the weather; where the woodwork is "thick with many coats of a bilious yellow stuff, glossy and glutinous, less like paint than crusted gruel."
"Christine Falls" is noir fiction at its best, a simple tale told directly that is wrapped in beautifully written images. Banville is writing as Black to enjoy himself in a new genre. He's created a character bulky in the extreme, morose and eponymously quirky in a manner that makes me want to follow him around Dublin as he discovers more secrets and uncovers more treachery.
[Give it 4.5 stars]
Top reviews from other countries
- J. C. MareschalReviewed in Canada on October 18, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written thriller with attaching characters
Christine Falls was the first in the series of Quirke novels by Benjamin Blake (aka John Banville). It is a masterpiece! This thriller takes the reader in the closed Irish society both in the republic and in Boston. Quirke is a man traumatized by years of abuse in an orphanage before he was adopted by a Dublin judge. He is a pathologist who, following an autopsy, discovers attempts to falsify the reports. In his search for an explanation, he runs into a network of trafficking of infants across the Atlantic, for the purpose of “saving souls”.
Quirke is a very tormented character who has been marked forever by his years of abuse in orphanage. He escapes reality in alcohol and feels incapable to engage personally. His search for truth leads him very close to home, and forces him to face some of his own responsibilities, mostly to his daughter Phoebe, whom he pretended to believe to be his niece. Phoebe is the rebel who cannot suffer the rancid atmosphere of the society and her family. Her journey could have ended in tragedy, but she is a survivor.
The book perfectly recreates the stale atmosphere of the enclosed catholic Irish society on both sides of the Atlantic where rebels were treated with the most extreme cruelty. There are many characters in the book, and are all well drafted. John Banville’s prose is impeccable, and he has created in Quirke and Phoebe, with their frailties and strengths, the most attaching personalities to be found in a thriller. And fortunately, their journey will not end here. There are several more Quirke novels. A suivre.
-
anne mxReviewed in Spain on March 8, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Inteligente lectura
john Banville (Benjamin Black) por su inteligencia y arte de explicar y describir situaciones y personas muy complejas. El relato fascina, no cae nunca en soluciones faciles, de estas que te hacen mover paginas rapidamente, para llegar al final. Aquí se saborea cada momento, situación. Su dominio de su idioma te mantiene atenta hasta el final que no defrauda. Voy a leer mas de la serie.
- David R HendersonReviewed in Australia on January 23, 2022
4.0 out of 5 stars A crime novel written by a master novelist
I have read all the Quirke novels and I have enjoyed most of them. The central character, Quirke is a pathologist in a Dublin Hospital who parters with a senior police officer, Hackett, to solve crimes, usually murder. Quirke is a flawed character, as is often the case with John Banville's' characters. His childhood was shaped by the brutal treatment of life in an orphanage and later by the death of his wife. He is an alcoholic and emotionally restricted.
This book, which is the first in a series, centres around the corrupt trade in babies, born to unmarried women in Catholic institutional homes. The babies are sent to America for informal adoption, with the intention of building a source of candidates for the priesthood. The protagonists in this trade include a judge, who is Quirk's adoptive father and various members of the Catholic hierarchy. The theme of the malign influence of Catholic power is carried forward through the Quirk series.
- Jl AdcockReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully written
Unlike most detective fiction, this first novel in Benjamin Black's Quirke series is worth reading simply for the writing alone. Not surprising, given that Black is in fact Booker Prize winning novelist John Banville. That said, I absolutely hated Banville's 'The Sea', so was very surprised to enjoy this opener in the Quirke series as much as I did.
If anything, it's light on plot, driven instead by the atmosphere of 1950's Dublin and the wonderful characters. Quirke becomes a more tortured, darker soul as the book unravels, setting things up nicely for future stories, no doubt. The darker side of the Catholic church is also exposed, and, although it's been done in other books as it's familiar theme, it's handled well here. All the characters are vibrant, flawed people; you may not warm to many of them, but they are certainly real and plausible. Black also weaves in a sub-plot involving characters in Boston, tying the two strands of the book up in the third stage of the novel. It feels a little contrived towards the end, but the writing never flags, and it is the crisp, direct style, the beautifully drawn atmosphere (almost cinematic, like something Sam Mendes might direct) - that keeps you rivetted as a reader. It's like Chandler crossed with the very best of Irish writers.
This is one of the few crime/mystery genre novels that I think would bear a second reading, the style is that good. Already looking forward to more in the series. Superbly crafted, superior fiction.
- Chris CurranReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2024
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
It was a good book. But slow to start but enjoyed it.