And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie Mysteries Collection (Paperback))

I'm fine reading old books with old-style language, but even so the style was... I've seen it described as "sterile" elsewhere and that's a good word for it. There was no "style" from the author, except of course this very lack of a style. Sections would be like Lombard said, approvingly: "Something approving" Emily Brent looked reproachful and said: "Something reproachful" It was just mechanical. Writing style aside, the story was ok and sort of drew me in. But as the reader, there was little to go on forming your own opinion or guess who the murderer might be. At the end of a section, Person X was revealed to have a gun and "snarled". You think to yourself, ok, that's a hint". Then at the end of the next section Person X was given a solid alibi and Person Y now said something suspicious. So in one sense you were always "kept guessing", but it didn't feel like an informed guess, or any kind of building up of each characters history or motives or opportunity. At 90% through I'm beginning to fear there would be some ridiculous deus-ex-machina explanation or "it was all a dream!" (I've seen another review that said they started to suspect a supernatural explanation coming and I have to say I thought that too!) If this is one of Christie's highest rated books then I don't see myself reading any more of her.

This review refers to the Real e-publishing edition of "And Then There Were None". This edition teems with errors as regards formatting and spelling. Random line breaks abound. It's a shame that an entertaining read should be so badly mutilated. The story is a fantastic but fascinating nightmare. The plot requires much suspension of disbelief. But it is a tale which draws in the reader, in much the same way as the player of monopoly is drawn into the transactions of what is only a game. The plot becomes mere background to a puzzle which is only solved in the postscript. The end is far darker than the films which followed, for all are guilty and condemned in the original, leaving only the astonishment of the explanation of the puzzle as a bleak end for Justice gone rogue. As engaging, escapist entertainment, this deserves four stars, but not this Real e-publishing edition.

I don't normally review Kindle book purchases (and there have been a lot!), as ones enjoyment or otherwise of a book is so subjective, such a personal experience. However in this case I will touch on it. Being very familiar with the many film versions - the original 1945 version being my favourite - reading the original story has been a long time coming, but it didn't disappoint. Although the ending in the book took me by surprise (it is very different from the film ending), I was familiar with the story generally. It is as well written as any Christie novel and as engaging, perhaps more engaging than most as towards the end, sat alone in my darkened apartment, I actually experienced more than one shiver of fear, something I have never experienced in a book since reading The Shining many years ago. An excellent read even if the story may be a tad familiar. Just as a postscript I have to add that on reading through other reviews, several mention this being a Poirot story. So many in fact I wondered if I'd reviewed the wrong title! I hadn't. This is not a Poirot story and there is no mention of him in it whatsoever, in fact there is no mention of any Christie leading "character", the story is a one off. I think the confusion may have come about because the producers of the Poirot TV series may have wound the story into an episode. Ill advisedly in my opinion as the story stands well entirely on its own merit.

Having just finished my first Agatha Christie novel, I had to ask myself what in the world was I waiting for. This book is a delightful read. It is no wonder that the author has sold more than a billion books worldwide. This book was just plain fun to read. Anyone who has ever seen himself as a amateur detective or who is a big fan of whodunits will be kept guessing at every turn. And the way that the bad guy (or gal) is revealed to the reader in a truly unique way. Go away John Sandford. Hang it up James Patterson. If you have read one you have read them all. I think that I am going to book passage on the Orient Express.

Review based on quality of paperback copy - received with pages cut off (about 4 pages in the middle), not really worth returning, but not what you want to receive.