Frank Tallis – MostlyFiction Book Reviews We Love to Read! Sat, 28 Oct 2017 19:51:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.24 THE SLEEP ROOM by F. R. Tallis /2013/the-sleep-room-by-f-r-tallis/ Sun, 15 Dec 2013 20:00:12 +0000 /?p=23611 Book Quote:

“Physical pain, no matter how bad, was never the equal of mental pain.”

Book Review:

Review by Eleanor Bukowsky  (DEC 15, 2013)

The Sleep Room, by F. R. Tallis, is set in England in the 1950s. Dr. James Richardson is offered an opportunity to work with Hugh Maitland, a well-known scholar and “the most influential psychiatrist of his generation.” After he is hired, James travels to Wyldehope Hall, in rural Suffolk, a hospital with twenty-four beds and a narcosis room. Severely disturbed patients are given drugs to induce sleep for twenty-one hours a day. Nurses monitor the patients’ vital signs and rouse them at regular intervals for meals, bathing, and sessions of electroconvulsive therapy. James observes that the sleep room is run like a “factory production line;” the patients, who wear white gowns, resemble “compliant ghosts.”

Most of the story is narrated by Richardson, an insecure and intense young man who interacts with nurses and the occasional doctor, but spends much of his time alone or with his sleeping patients. It is unsurprising that his imagination soon starts playing tricks on him. He has upsetting dreams, hears strange noises, and notices that objects are disappearing or disturbed. Is there a supernatural explanation for these peculiar phenomena? We sympathize with the increasingly anxious Richardson as he grows ever more uncertain about the efficacy of narcosis and the wisdom of his remaining at Wyldehope. Fortunately, James finds much-needed solace in the arms of Jane Turner, a lovely nurse to whom he is deeply attracted.

Frank Tallis is a talented writer — his Max Liebermann series of historical mysteries is outstanding — who foreshadows the spine-chilling events to come by creating a creepy and sinister mood and setting his novel in a remote and forbidding locale. Tallis, an experienced clinical psychologist and an expert in the history of his field, educates us about bizarre and frightening treatments that were once routinely administered by respected medical practitioners. The conclusion is sure to generate controversy. Some will pronounce it clever; others (myself included) may find it gimmicky and contrived. Nevertheless, The Sleep Room is a compelling exploration of the nature of reality, the fragility of the human mind, and the arrogance of power-hungry physicians who cruelly exploit the men and women in their care.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-3-0from 7 readers
PUBLISHER: Pegasus (October 1, 2013)
REVIEWER: Eleanor Bukowsky
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Frank Tallis
EXTRAS: Writing The Sleep Room
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Read our review of:

Bibliography:

The Liebermann Papers:

Writing as F. R. Tallis

Nonfiction:

]]> VIENNA TWILIGHT by Frank Tallis /2011/vienna-twilight-by-frank-tallis/ Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:10:48 +0000 /?p=17407 Book Quote:

” ‘Psychiatrists,’ said Rheinhardt, shaking his head, ‘At what point do you balk at the study of perversity and madness? Do you never think that some things are so dreadful, so appalling, that they should simply be left alone?’

‘It is always better to understand than not.’ ”

Book Review:

Review by Eleanor Bukowsky  (APR 17, 2011)

Vienna Twilight, the fifth installment in Frank Tallis’s superb mystery series, focuses on a serial killer obsessed with death; a degenerate artist, Herr Ludo Rainmayr, who paints emaciated young girls in the nude; and an agitated mental patient named Norbert Erstweiler. Dr. Max Liebermann is a psychiatrist and disciple of Sigmund Freud. He also unofficially assists his close friend, Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt. Max and Oskar attend concerts, chat over meals, make music (Max plays the piano and Oskar sings in a rich baritone), drink brandy, smoke cigars, and track down felons. Max’s knowledge of abnormal psychology helps him understand the subconscious forces that drive people to commit unspeakable acts.

Liebermann is currently treating Herr Erstweiler, a gentleman in his early thirties whose symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, loss of appetite, and a belief that he is being stalked by his doppelgänger. In addition, with the help of medical student and blood expert Amelia Lydgate, Oskar and Max try to find a serial killer who dispatches his victims in an unusual manner.

Tallis places us in turn-of-the-century Vienna, a city of high culture and architectural grandeur, with its many theaters, art galleries, concert halls, and opera houses. Furthermore, it was a place where provocative new ideas were challenging tradition in such areas as medicine, aesthetics, and gender roles. Some couturiers dispensed with restrictive corsets and designed “loose-fitting reform dresses” for ladies; this symbolized a movement to liberate women from the constraints that held them back. This great metropolis had a dark side, as well. Although the upper classes enjoyed lives of leisure, the less fortunate barely subsisted from day to day. In decadent Vienna (where syphilis was a “national disease”), moral boundaries were routinely pushed to their limits.

The characterizations, dialogue, and forensic details are all first rate and, along with his serious themes, Tallis includes welcome passages of wit and humor. Max, as usual, is cerebral, detached, and insightful; Oskar is efficient, principled, and overly fond of rich pastries; and Amelia talks her way into the autopsy suite, where she bonds with the eccentric pathologist, Professor Mathias. Tallis creates a troubling picture of a sick society whose members are “preoccupied with sex and death.” As Liebermann says, foreshadowing Austria’s bleak future, “What was wrong with the German soul? Why were love and death so intermingled in the German imagination?” Vienna Twilight has graphically erotic and violent scenes, and is one of Tallis’s most explicit novels to date. At the same time, it is a cleverly plotted, elegantly written, suspenseful, literate, and thoroughly absorbing.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-0from 20 readers
PUBLISHER: Random House Trade Paperbacks (April 12, 2011)
REVIEWER: Eleanor Bukowsky
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Frank Tallis
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Read our review of:

Bibliography:

The Liebermann Papers:

Writing as F. R. Tallis

Nonfiction:

]]> VIENNA SECRETS by Frank Tallis /2010/vienna-secrets-by-frank-tallis/ Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:36:48 +0000 /?p=7928 Book Quote:

“Inspector? Have you ever encountered anything like this before? What I mean to say is . . . Brother Stanislav’s head.” He winced as he recalled the decapitation and blood. “It looked as if his head had been ripped from his body.”

Book Review:

Review by Bonnie Brody (FEB 22, 2010)

Vienna, 1903, is the pervasive ambiance of Frank Tallis’ book, Vienna Secrets. The atmosphere is spellbinding in its depiction of the people, architecture, food, mores, culture, and religious discord of the time. It is also a literary thriller in its finest form.

Max Liebermann, psychoanalyst and protégé of Sigmund Freud, is the book’s protagonist. He is a multi-faceted man of integrity and many talents. He is inquisitive, philosophical, a talented physician, a lover of music and a fine pianist. He and his close friend, Inspector Oskar Reinhardt, play classical music and discuss psychology together when they are not solving crimes.

Vienna in 1903 is a city rife with anti-Semitism, something not new to the Viennese. In 1424, Vienna attempted to purge “the terrible crimes of the Hebrew dogs. As the world was once purged by the flood, so this time it was by fire.” This legacy of anti-Semitism remains in 1903 Vienna and has become exacerbated by the influx of Jews from Eastern Europe and Russia due to the pogroms and the mass murders of Jews there.

Thus, when two heinous murders occur, with both victims having anti-Semitic leanings, Max and Oskar put their heads together to try and solve the crimes. The murders are by decapitation and there is a lot of mud left around the murder sites. There is an ancient Kaballic myth about a Golem, a creature created out of mud that is said to have been created to avenge Jews. Could the mud be associated with a Golem?

The novel takes us into the lives of progressive Jews and also groups of Hassidic Jews, groups very different from one another. Progressive Jews believe in science, psychoanalysis, medicine and culture. Hassids live in the past, are fundamentalists, and deny much of modernity. The difference between these two groups is portrayed vividly.

The reader is also privy to the secret societies of anti-Semites and the ugliness of anti-Semitism in early 19th century Vienna. As Max and Oskar struggle to solve the crimes, the politics of the times hinder their work in many ways as some of the Viennese people believe that the murders were committed by Jews and want to take vengeance by keeping Jews from holding any professional positions or positions of influence. When a third murder is committed, and this time the victim is a Jew, things become more unclear and leave Max and Oscar totally puzzled and scratching their heads.

The book is filled with wonderful descriptions of Viennese foods, especially desserts. The reader’s mouth is likely to water over the strudels, tortes, éclairs, soufflés, whipped creams, and puddings.

The mystery is also a very literary thriller that informs the reader about the cultural aspects of Vienna. We are present at concerts, at the theater, and in psychoanalytic sessions. We are privy to the mores of courtship and rejection. We are given great insight into family life and parent-child relationships. We get to see some of the machinations of politics, medicine, government and religion.

This is a reader’s book, much in the way John Dunning’s and Stephen Greenleaf’s mysteries are. Frank Tallis loves words and uses them beautifully. This is a book to fall in love with. For certain, I’ll be reading all the earlier books in this series.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-0from 69 readers
PUBLISHER: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Original edition (February 23, 2010)
REVIEWER: Bonnie Brody
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Frank Tallis
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Read our review of:

Bibliography:

The Liebermann Papers:

Writing as F. R. Tallis

Nonfiction:

]]>