13 1/2
Product Type: Book
Product Price: $25.95
Manufacturer: Vanguard Press
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Description
With 13 ½, Nevada Barr, New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Anna Pigeon novels, has written a taut and terrifying psychological thriller. It carries the reader from the horrifying 1970s murder spree of a child— dubbed “Butcher Boy” by a shocked public—in Rochester, Minnesota, to Polly, the abused daughter of Mississippi “trailer trash,” to post-Katrina New Orleans.
In Jackson Square in the French Quarter a tarot card reader told Polly Deschamps she would be a success. Thirty years later, Polly is a respected professor of literature with good friends and her own home—a safe life for her and her two daughters.
Butcher Boy, released on his seventeenth birthday, shook the snow from his boots and headed south.
New Orleans, a Mecca for runaways then and now, offers sanctuary but never forgiveness.
When Polly falls in love with Marshall Marchand, a restoration architect who is helping to rebuild her adopted city, shadows of the past rise out of the poisoned ground of New Orleans as thick and deadly as the toxic waters of the flood.
Like history, some crimes are doomed to repeat themselves. Evil stays the same, only the victims’ names change. As two broken pasts collide in an uncertain present, Polly is determined that her children’s names will never be on that list.
Reviews
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-09-03
Summary: "Insightful and Fascinating"
I'm glad I didn't let all the negative and lukewarm reviews prevent me from buying this great book from Nevada Barr. Yes, 13 1/2 is not part of the great Anna Pigeon series. This, however, does not mean it's in any way weaker than the books that belong to the series. 13 1/2 offers some very convincing psychological insights into the mind of a killer and of those who are affected by close interactions with him.
It surprises me to see how many reviewers say they "guessed" everything long before the end of the book. I applaud their powers of perception. As for me, I found quite a few unexpected twists and turns at the end of this novel. I'm happy to see that Nevada Barr's talent is not limited to one great series but can also produce really engrossing stand-alone books.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-09-01
Summary: "This is some scary book!"
This is one of the scariest books I've ever read! She keeps the suspense going right up to practically the last minute! I knew I had read and loved all the Anna Pigeon books, but wondered how good a non-Anna book would be. However, I wasn't disappointed one bit. In my estimation, Barr's foray into the territory of dark psychological thrillers has placed her near to, if not on par with Jonathan Kellerman.
I don't want her to abandon the Anna Pigeon novels, but do hope that she continues to write another psychological thriller here and there as well. After all, Anna is aging, and sooner or later won't be able to realistically take the physical abuse she always takes in Barr's novels. This books proves that Barr is equally good writing psychological thrillers!
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-08-12
Summary: "Polly stole the show"
First Line: "By the Month or by the Night" read the sign over the entrance to the trailer park.
In a radical departure from her Anna Pigeon mystery series, Nevada Barr gives us a psychological thriller that begins in the 1970s in a trailer park in Mississippi. It then moves to Minnesota with the murder spree of a child dubbed "Butcher Boy." Finally in post-Katrina New Orleans, the adults from both these broken childhoods collide.
Polly escaped from her abusive "trailer trash" childhood at the age of fifteen, running away to New Orleans. Now she's a respected college professor with good friends, her own home, and two small children she adores.
"Butcher Boy" was released on his seventeenth birthday. His surviving brother has vowed to take care of him, and they both head south to that Mecca for runaways: New Orleans.
When Polly meets and falls in love with Marshall Marchand, a restoration architect who's helping to rebuild the city, their pasts are set on a collision course.
I love Barr's books, and although this book is very good, it didn't quite meet my expectations. It has everything to do with the characters. Perhaps it's because my mind is too devious, but there were few surprises with the Marchand brothers. I knew how that part of the plot was going to work itself out. That was a bit disappointing, but the character of Polly did much in making up for the deficiencies of the Marchands.
Even after the train wreck of her childhood, Polly was such a strong, centered, caring person that I wish the book could have focused even more on her. I wanted more Polly. Perhaps you'll understand after reading these two quotes:
"Two girls-- children in Polly's eyes but of the age she'd been the first time she'd come to Jackson Square-- rose from a table tucked between the benches opposite the cathedral doors. They were tricked out in the unfortunate fashion that decreed female children dress as prostitutes in a world full of predators."
"The dog, his head as high as his mistress's shoulder, walked beside her. The child's face was open and trusting. The dog's was not, and Polly was relieved. Children needed bodyguards."
On the face of it, Polly's just another mother who worries too much and reads too much into innocent scenes. But she's not. She's lived in a world of predators and survived. She knows exactly what's out there that she needs to be prepared for. Her children will not have to face what she did, that is, if Polly has the least say about it.
If you haven't read too many books about the twisted minds of killers (like I have), 13½ should make you jump at each creak of a floorboard or pop of an attic beam. And Polly is one character who should not be missed.
Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-07-26
Summary: "A Different Nevada Barr"
When I see a Nevada Barr title I haven't read, I automatically pick it up because I love her Anna Pigeon series. Was I surprised to discover this novel was an entirely different kettle of fish. This is definitely not Anna Pigeon in a National Park. This is a psycho killer on the loose and it's scary.
The story begins with the killing of a family except for two brothers, one of whom is severely injured, the other only eleven years old. The latter is accused, tried and convicted of the crime which he cannot remember committing.
Another plot line involves a young girl who lives in a trailer park with her mother who is drunk most of the time. There has been a series of husbands and then boyfriends who live with them, and constant fighting so that sometimes the girl can't go inside until the adults pass out. Tiring of this so-called life, she steals her mother's car and runs away to New Orleans.
It's pretty obvious that these story lines will converge at some point, and when they do the atmosphere gets real tense. I felt like I was holding my breath as I read. Barr led me along the garden path until late in the book when I finally figured out who was who and what was really going on. Then I was really scared.
This is a bloody, frightening novel, but the characters are fascinating and the plot is intriguing. The description of post-Katrina New Orleans is, as I would expect, moody, dark, mysterious, and full of odd characters. Not your average mystery novel by any means, but then I wouldn't expect any less from Nevada Barr. I recommend this for all but the squeamish.
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-06-30
Summary: "I 've Read This Before"
This was the first novel I have read by Nevada Barr so, I can't compare to her other novels. It's a fast read and some parts are interesting, but the bad brother verses the good brother has been done before and so has the surprise ending.
Polly, the female protagonist had a rough life and a bad first marriage. She meets Marshall who we soon learn is the 'Butcher Boy' from long ago. Will he or won't he kill her? Who is the mysterious Tarot card reader? The story takes place in post Karina New Orleans, but there is not much atmosphere. 13 1/2 is a good beach book.