6 July 2015

Review #263: North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her.” 


----Ellen DeGeneres


Elisabeth Elo, an American author, has penned her debut thriller, North of Boston, that unfolds a riveting mystery behind the accident of a man fishing with her friend on boat who were hit by a large freight ship that came out of nowhere and left no trail behind it's disappearance thereby killing the man and leaving his friend floating in the sub-zero temperature of the Atlantic waters.




Synopsis:

Boston-bred Pirio Kasparov is out on her friend Ned’s fishing boat when a freighter rams into them, dumping them both into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Somehow, she survives nearly four hours before being rescued. Ned is not so lucky. Pirio can’t shake the feeling that what happened was no accident, a suspicion seconded by her cynical Russian-immigrant father. And when Pirio teams up with the unlikeliest of partners, she begins unraveling a terrifying plot that leads to the frozen reaches of the Canadian arctic, where she confronts her ultimate challenge: to trust herself.

Pirio Kasparov, the survivor of a horrific accident in the Atlantic waters makes her a celebrity within a night. Ned and Pirio were fishing when a large freight ship hits their trailer, throwing both Pirio and Ned off the boat and into the sub-zero temperature. Luckily, Pirio survives the harsh cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, but Ned couldn't survive it, leaving his son, Noah, fatherless and grieving with an alcoholic mother. Pirio is a no-fuss and don't-care attitude kind of woman who is too good even for herself, takes proper care of her godson, Noah after his father's death. Soon Pirio launches an investigation all by herself with the help of a mysterious claimed-to-be-Ned's-friend-cum-journalist to find out about the freight ship, and little did she knew that she would have to face herself with the Russian gangsters as well as hunters looking for bigger prey in the deepest core of the Atlantic Ocean.


First, I must say that being a debut author, the author has penned an incredibly engaging as well as a well-layered thriller that might not give a lot of thrills for starters but is sure to keep you pinning for an unusual heroine fighting all by herself with some dangerous fishermen for her godson, Noah. The writing style is amazingly gripping as well as articulate with a free-flowing narrative style. The prose is thought-provoking at times with it's challenging ideas thrown here-and-there in the plot. Also the book enlightens the readers about the world of hunting whales and other big mammals living in the deep sea. The pacing is very fast as the mystery unravels the readers mind smoothly with appropriate twists and turns thrown at the right moments.

The characterization is done strongly, especially, the young 10-year old fatherless boy, Noah who being so young understands the gravity of the problem surrounding his mother and his godmother, Pirio. The author has sketched an unusual portrait of a 10 year old boy whose mind picks up the pieces of the current situations like a bolt thereby evoking his introvert kind of reaction at all times when he was around his alcoholic mother. But his sharpness became evident when he was around his godmother, Pirio and it was very obvious that the boy preferred her company more than his own mother. Noah plays a pivotal role in his father's accident mystery that helps Pirio solve a greater piece of puzzle in the mystery.

Pirio, on the other hand, didn't appeal to me that much, I mean, yeah, she is very rough-and-tough when it comes to life and uncovering the truth behind Ned's accident, but she is very irritating in nature with her POV as most of the time she boasted about her hot figure and looks and how men were dying for her company and even disregarded those women who were not prettier like her. Pirio talks like an honest human and her knowledge has no boundary and her determination and strong demeanor allows her to take a leap and go on a man-hunt to uncover the secrets.

The relationship angles are strongly portrayed in the books especially the relationship between Pirio, Noah and his mother-cum-Pirio's-best-friend and between Pirio and her father. Pirio's mother died when she was 10 years old who was the heir to one of the largest perfume making company, but after her mother's death, her relationship with her father and after his re-marriage, it became weaker and Pirio distanced herself from him. But in the wake of her accident along with Ned, made the bonds of a father-daughter-relationship grow bit stronger day-by-day. There is also a lot of chemistry between Pirio and that mysterious stalker man, which the author have compassionately depicted through her lucid prose.

The detailed descriptions have no end and the way the author have painted the storyline with lots of depth and back stories, it easily makes this thriller quite inspiring and very vivid. The story is set in Boston and on the Atlantic Ocean that also has been strikingly featured in the storyline thus has the power to transport the readers through the story.

Coming to the mystery part, which the author have smartly layered in to her storyline mixed with deep human emotions. And yes, the twists as well as the climax is very satisfying one that finally makes it a very strong thriller. Although, I think the secrets could have been tightly wrapped into the storyline that could have made the readers to have nail-biting moments while reading the book.

Verdict: Yes, this turns out to be a promising as well as a must-read thriller that features a cold and hard-talking Russian-American heroine.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author and her publisher from Penguin Random House, for giving me an opportunity to read and review her book. 
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Author Info:
I grew up in Boston and worked in a variety of part-time jobs as a high school and college student. Places I worked include a dry cleaner, an aquarium, the Boston Public Library, college cafeteria (in charge of the blueberry pancake station), a research laboratory, and a number of Boston restaurants. After college, I went on to work as a magazine editor, an advertising copywriter, a high-tech project manager, and a halfway house counselor. I finally settled down a bit when I went back to school to get a PhD in American Literature. Since then I've been teaching in the Boston area as an adjunct professor while writing my own short stories, essays, and novels. I come from a family of adventurers, and think of writing as a way of having an adventure without having to leave the house. My son, Ben, is grown, and my daughter, Ellen, is in high school. We lived next to the ocean for many years and now reside in Brookline, Massachusetts.
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