Reviews for Grasshopper

The average rating for Grasshopper based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-07-26 00:00:00 Nick Ali As is usually my custom, I will not write a synopsis of this book. It is easily found elsewhere. To classify this book as a mystery, is somewhat of a misnomer, but there are some elements which suit this label. Briefly, the title, Grasshopper refers to the pylons, the structures which support the electric wires in an area. Early in the narrative the main character, Clodagh,as a young teen and her friends found their excitement in climbing these frameworks. As she grew older, she moved to London, where she and a group of aimless individuals spent much time climbing the rooftops of the areas around them. I have read several Rendell/Vine novels and have always felt admiration for her astute ability to pinpoint the large and small foibles of human behavior. Her writing is clear, beautifully descriptive and generally involves some suspense. This was a rather long, meandering book, which generally held my interest, but it lacked much of the tension and appeal that I have found in others. My rating of 3 stars denotes, of course, that I liked it.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-21 00:00:00 Shana Beckner I did not really enjoy this melodramatic story about Clodagh Brown. It is told the n a flashback style where she is waiting for her husband to return. She is scarred and traumatized by a climbing accident on a pylon that killed her boyfriend Daniel Fleetwood. Coupled with that she is claustrophobic. She leaves home to stay with an unpleasant relative, Max and his wife Selina in their separate basement flat in Maida Vale a posh area in London. Here she is supposed to study business and psychology at a polytechnic. Instead she meets Silver. He has his parents top floor flat at 15 Russia Road. He has living with him or visiting a group of misfits who share a love of climbing London's roofs. There is Wim, a gifted climber and lover of chocolate. Liv, an agoraphobic Swedish runaway who is fixated on £2000 she stole from people she was working for and in a weird relationship with Jonny a burglar and sociopath with a nasty violent streak. They all get involved with helping a couple to escape to Australia with their foster child who the authorities will not let them adopt. Overall the story is well written if a bit far fetched with all the coincidences. Not sure if I like this Ruth Rendell incarnation as Barbara Vine. I prefer her crime novels.