Name: María Belén's review of All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage
Item: All Things Cease to Appear
Rating: 2
Author: María Belén

Elizabeth Brundage

A dark, riveting, beautifully written book—by “a brilliant novelist,” according to Richard Bausch—that combines noir and the gothic in a story about two families entwined in their own unhappiness, with, at its heart, a gruesome and unsolved murder Late one winter afternoon in upstate New York, George Clare comes home to find his wife killed and their three-year-old daughter alone—for how many hours?—in her room across the hall. He had recently, begrudgingly, taken a position at a nearby private college (far too expensive for local kids to attend) teaching art history, and moved his family into a tight-knit, impoverished town that has lately been discovered by wealthy outsiders in search of a rural idyll. George is of course the immediate suspect—the question of his guilt echoing in a story shot through with secrets both personal and professional. While his parents rescue him from suspicion, a persistent cop is stymied at every turn in proving Clare a heartless murderer. And three teenage brothers (orphaned by tragic circumstances) find themselves entangled in this mystery, not least because the Clares had moved into their childhood home, a once-thriving dairy farm. The pall of death is ongoing, and relentless; behind one crime there are others, and more than twenty years will pass before a hard kind of justice is finally served. A rich and complex portrait of a psychopath and a marriage, this is also an astute study of the various taints that can scar very different families, and even an entire community. Elizabeth Brundage is an essential talent who has given us a true modern classic. From the Hardcover edition.

A novel

All Things Cease to Appear

María Belén

Arriving home to find his wife murdered and their toddler left alone, art history professor George Clare is targeted with suspicion by a relentless police officer as dark community secrets are revealed over a span of decades.

Christine Bruce

So promising. But didn't deliver in my opinion. Heard it compared to the shining which gave a very specific idea of a style and story, and it just did not live up to the hype. Might give it another go one day because I really liked the mother characters which were the most well written and distinguishable characters. They are the single saving grace of this novel.

Lauren Attaway

Initially, I struggled to get into this book. It is more literary than I usually prefer my mystery/thrillers. I think when I saw this was being made into a Netflix film and added it to my library pile, the trailer made me think more domestic thriller with ghosts. This book is many things, but it is primarily a slow burn. A couple moves into a farm with a dark history and has their own drama to deal with. Also, the town is full of so many well-drawn characters, but I did wonder in the beginning why we were spending so much time with them. When the action starts, you have a great picture of how everyone thinks so you understand their reactions, which makes the back half of the book so much richer and more enjoyable than the first. This book felt long, but I enjoyed it so much.

Kirsty Dyer

I did not like this book. Obviously this is just my opinion but I found it a chore to get through. It seemed to stay on the same level through out and the way I imagined it narrated was just a monotonous drone. I saw the film adaptation before reading the book (didn't like the film but thought the story had potential so read the book in hopes it was better) and I've never been so disappointed. Yes you get more back story to the characters but the way its written and the lack of punctuation just made me hate it. 

2.5 stars

A good thriller but not strong enough.

Like the premise anticipates, the atmosphere of the book echoes that of films noir. When reading some scenes, particularly descriptions of the locations, I could picture it clearly. That type of movie scene where the camera sweeps around the place and you get a panoramic view of the foggy, dark and wintry street. That's what Brundage's writing is like. 

The story line is the common one of the genre: a person was murdered. But the culprit is obvious after the first 100 pages. 

The characters are very well written, but still they're obvious. George's character was too cliché for me. And there were just too many different POVs that I felt didn't add much to the 'mystery'.

The writing took some time getting used to, but by the end I didn't notice anymore. I liked Brundage's writing, it's different from others in this genre. But towards the ending it got too slow, boring.

All in all, All Things Cease to Appear isn't a bad book. It's okay, but I guess I expected a little bit more from the story.

María Belén &
All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage

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María Belén &All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage

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María Belén &
All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage