Grab Hyde Articulated By Craig Russell Viewable As Hardcover

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Its hard to say exactly why Hyde didnt really work for me, though I did enjoy the authors last novel The Devil Aspect and somehow I just didnt feel this one held the same fascination or appeal.


Our story begins in Victorian Edinburgh where Captain Edward Henry Hyde holds the post of chief detective, and as such it is his job to uphold the law and lead the investigation into any serious crimes in the city.
And so, when he wakes up one day at the scene of a grisly murder, he is immediately alarmed.
For you see, Hyde suffers from a particularly worrying form of epilepsy that causes him to lose time.
These amnesic occurrences can come on very suddenly, and every time he finally comes to, he can never remember anything that happened.


In this case, his awakening so near to the crime scene inevitably leads him to wonder whether he had any connection to the murder.
To make things worse, the victim was killed in an especially brutal manner called the Threefold Death, linked to an ancient Celtic ritual involving the spirts and sacrifice.
As the chief detective though, Hyde has no choice but to keep his condition and suspicions a secret, even as his investigation takes him to some dark places, both literally and figuratively.


First let me just say my issues with this novel are entirely subjective, Craig Russell is an excellent writer, as I found out with The Devil Aspect, and his prose was just as delectable here in Hyde, as was the overall style which was pure immersion and atmosphere.
However, it was the story itself that failed to engage me, Due to the circumstances surrounding our protagonist, there was a disjointed feel to the plot that didnt quite do it for me, not to mention the entire book felt simply too drawn out.


In some ways, I think my indifference might also have been the result of the author doing his job too well.
Had my interest been greater in the time period or the ultragothic vibes, the book might have resonated with me more.
An obvious example of this was the Hydes internal exposition detailing his thoughts, emotions and memories, which was heavyhanded to the point of driving all life from the writing.
To a lesser extent, this overtelling was also happening with the dialogue, resulting in conversations that felt awkward and contrived.


Ultimately, it became very difficult to care about the story or the characters, This made reading Hyde a struggle for much of my time with it, and it didnt help that the narrator for the audiobook had a relatively flat, droning kind of voice.
Despite zoning out on the audiobook frequently, I also found I was missing very little because of how slowly the plot progressed.
Credit where its due though, when all was revealed, the final resolution to the mystery was enjoyable, though probably not enough to make up for everything else.
I wish wed gotten more of the mythological side of things too, but instead the story decided to go in another direction.
In hindsight, I can understand why, but in the end that did little to help spark my enthusiasm.


Bottom line: you win some, you lose some, Id looked forward to Hyde ever since having such a great time with The Devil Aspect, so of course Im heartbroken that this turned out to be a disappointment.
My previous positive experience with Craig Russell makes me want to chalk this up to one of those “its not this book, its me” situations though, so your mileage may vary, and Im probably going to keep checking out the authors projects and hope that his next one will be more my speed.
Hyde is the kind of historical fiction/mystery/supernatural thriller that gets harder and harder to put down as one reads.
Craig Russell knows how to build suspense, He knows how to move between narrative threads in ways that are simultaneously frustrating and tantalizing, He also knows how to surprise readers, These are genuine "I. Did. Not. See. That. Coming. " surprises of the sort that mean anyone sitting in the same room as the reader is going to be hearing a lot about the book.


This novel is built around The Strange Case of Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but is much more than a retelling, Russell takes the character Hyde and transforms him in powerful ways, He also adds some interesting, capable female characters to the mix, Andkeep your eyes open Holmesians!there's even a little nod to Arthur Conan Doyle, Russell also weaves in some consideration of colonialism that adds to the narrative rather than feeling like a political agenda he's forced the tale into.


If Hyde sounds at all interesting to you, I recommend reading it, Hyde is one of those titles that can delight a variety of readers, I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley the opinions are my own.
Lleno de clichés, predecible y aburrido, Buf, hoy me toca una de esas reseñas que no me gustan: cuando el libro no te llega, la historia no conecta contigo o te cuesta leer y terminar la novela que tienes entre manos.
Eso me ha pasado a mí con Hyde,

Partiendo de una premisa interesante, la dualidad del ser humano y el concepto del bien y el mal, y con claras reminescencias al clásico “El extraño caso del Dr.
Jekyll y Mr. Hyde” arranca esta novela situándonos en el Edimburgo del siglo pasado, donde unos crueles asesinatos basados en la mitología celta, sacuden la ciudad.
El inspector Hyde, acosado por un terrible mal que le hace tambalearse entre el mundo real y un mundo onírico paralelo creado por su propia mente, debe enfrentarse al asesino a la vez que se enfrenta a sí mismo y a sus propios demonios.
Tras este fuerte comienzo, la novela empieza a enredarse, a repetirse, intentando despistar al lector mediante historias paralelas, demasiado fantasiosas incluso por momentos, que poco tienen de despiste, pues se tornan repetitivas y predecibles.
Desde el comienzo se vislumbra fácilmente por donde van a ir los tiros, así que la eclosión final me ha pillado totalmente de vuelta y media y bostezando.


Ha sido esta, una novela ardua de leer, no por su vocabulario ni su estilo narrativo, que por el contrario es bueno, sencillo y cargada de diálogos que le dan mucha agilidad, si no porque no he conectado con ella y me ha aburrido.
Con todo esto no quiero decir que sea una mala historia, he leído buenas críticas sobre ella y viene de la mano de un autor de renombre, simplemente a veces las historias no están hechas para nosotros o nos pillan en el momento equivocado.
Siempre digo que en la variedad de gustos está la riqueza de la literatura, Edinburgh und Robert Louis Stevensongehören untrennbar zusammen, Das kann jede/r bestätigen, der schon einmal die Hauptstadt Schottlands besucht bzw, sich mit deren kulturellem Erbe auseinandergesetzt hat, Viele schottische Autoren nennen, nach ihren Vorbildern befragt, an erster Stelle den Autor der viktorischen Schauernovelle Strange Case of Dr Jekyll und Mr Hyde“.
Und auch Craig Russells Thriller Der geheimnisvolle Mr, Hyde“,mit dem McIlvanneyPreis des Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival ausgezeichnet, ist, auch wenn die Story wenig mit der Vorlage gemeinsam hat, inspiriert von diesem Werk und eine Verbeugung vor dessen Schöpfer.


Wir sind in Edinburgh, das, Jahrhundert neigt sich dem Ende zu, Die Atmosphäre, speziell des Nachts, ist so, wie man es von einem viktorianischen Roman erwartet, Die Nebelschwaden wabern durch schlecht ausgeleuchtet Gassen, in denen Schatten auftauchen und unerkannt wieder verschwinden, Ideale Bedingungen für jemanden, der nichts Gutes im Sinn hat,

Im Zentrum des Romans steht Edward Hyde, ein Freund Stevensons, ehemals in Indien im Einsatz, mittlerweile angesehener Superintendent und Präsident der Edinburgher Polizei.
Allerdings gibt es da etwas, von dem nur er und sein behandelnder Arzt Kenntnis hat, Er kämpft mit physischen und psychischen Problemen, leidet an einer Erkrankung, die ihn des Öfteren an seiner Wahrnehmung zweifeln lässt.
Wirklichkeit, Wahn oder Schuld Es kommt immer wieder vor, dass er diese Unterscheidung in bestimmten Situationen nicht zweifelsfrei treffen kann, sich nicht erinnern kann, wenn eine dieser Episoden vorbei ist.
Als in der Stadt immer wieder Mordopfer aufgefunden werden, die offenbar nach uralten keltischen Riten getötet wurden, betraut man ihn mit den Untersuchungen.
Aber ist er wirklich der richtige Mann für diesen Fall Besteht nicht vielleicht sogar die Möglichkeit, dass er für die Taten verantwortlich ist

Keltische Riten, heidnische Symbole und die Schreie der Banshee könnte die Vermutung aufkommen lassen, dass Russell einen astreinen GothicThriller geschrieben hat.
Allerdings ist das nur ein Aspekt, denn auch das historische Erbe der Stadt wird thematisiert unter anderem galt Edinburgh lange Zeit als Zentrum der medizinischen Innovationen und wird hier durch einen kurzen Auftritt von Dr Joseph Bell repräsentiert, der die Vorlage für Sherlock Holmes lieferte.
Der geheimnisvolle Mr Hyde“ bietet nicht nur spannende Unterhaltung sondern weckt auch das Interesse an Edinburgh, regt an, sich eingehender mit der Historie dieser facettenreichen Metropole und ihrer Persönlichkeiten zu beschäftigen.
Es lohnt sich! An alternative take on the classic novel The Strange Case of Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Ritualistic murders taking place in Victorian Edinburgh sparks an investigation led by Chief Detective Edward Hyde, As you might imagine all is not well with Mr, Hyde but this iteration keeps one nicely off balance, There is a sense of foreboding throughout with a nice touch of atmospheric dread but it does come perilously close to be overwritten and could have been tightened up a bit.
Nonetheless, I like Russell and will continue to read his work, I am grateful to the publisher for an advance ecopy of this book via NetGalley,

In Victorian Edinburgh, Detective Superintendant Edward Hyde is uneasy, In one case of frightful murder, leading to a hanging, he worries that the police have got the wrong man.
In another, he finds himself conveniently close to the victim, but can't remember how he came to be there.
And there are nagging requests from Special Branch in London to investigate a rising nationalist politician,

And Hyde's sessions with Dr Porteous, who he relies on to cure the memory loss and associated troubling dreams, are not helping at all.
. .

Russell's speculative detective novel, loosely framed around Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde there is a prologue in which Hyde tells Stevenson his story as inspiration to the latter is a heady blend of many elements.


There is the brooding, unrestful Hyde, half convinced that he is a monster people tend to draw away from him, as though sensing something troubling about him.
Hyde is I think suffering alongside the epilepsy that Porteous diagnoses from PTSD, after serving in the army in the East.
Russell makes a point not only of the awful things that Hyde has witnessed and indeed taken part in, but also of the taint, the fundamental badness, of the campaign that Hyde took part in, devoted to theft and looting 'cruelties performed under a sunblazed sky in the name of Empire'.
Fragemented personalities recur 'he had been a different man, back then,

This links in turn to political turmoil, as Scots radicals seek to free themselves from what they see as English domination and from being associated with that same infection of Empire.
This is an interesting connection to make, the focus on colonialism and its relation to English and Scottish history and society being a truly hot topic in today's politics and one capable of provoking strong emotions see the UK Government's defensiveness over challenges to the interpretation of colonialera figures and artifacts.


Underlying this is a third layer a preoccupation both with the Celtic supernatural, as both occultists and mountebanks move in various secret circles overlapping both with nationalist politics and with the apparently staid Establishment.
That preoccupation bleeds into national mythmaking about the origins of the Scots and their real destiny, And alongside all this, Russell also reflects the place of gay men in society, and the constraints under which women exist.
We meet Elspeth Lockwood, heiress to one of Edinburgh's great department stores, a woman who very much wants to go her own way, and I really liked Dr Cally Burr, who performs many of the autopsies for Hyde as a female doctor, she's treated with a great deal of suspicion and is short of work we see her being helped out by the famous Dr Joseph Bell, mentor to Arthur ConanDoyle who is mentioned but does not appear in the story.
Burr is smart and resourceful, practical where Hyde seems likely to wilt under the various stresses that he suffers, and certainly the kind of person you want beside you in a creepy Gothic house at night.


Because this book is Gothic, whatever else it may be, There is an isolated mansion of bad reputation, whispers of supernatural beasts, devils and ancient gods and of secret sects and guilds behind the bland face of respectable Edinburgh 'fine Presbyterians of good birth and standing leading double lives' as well as secret tunnels beneath it, at least some of which are certainly real.
There's a danger, I thinks in overdoing the Gothic, but for my money,

Russell gets it just about right: enough, combined with the theme of madness and loss of identity and control, to darken the atmosphere alongside the various horrific murders but not enough that solid, systematic police work becomes selfevidently pointless.
Truly, Edward Hyde lives in more than one world at one, but he is sufficiently rooted in the "real" one, enough of a respected, credible figure that he makes progress, gets things done aided by Burr's shrewd insights.


The book is also grounded in the medical science of the time even if it looks primitive to us and it is convincingly, pleasingly Victorian without were seeming a pastiche.
Russell has fun with erudite bits of language and Hyde will certainly broaden your vocabulary, adding words such as muliebrity, supervenient, brumous and peccancy.
I did see a couple of the plot twists coming such as the identity of the Hanged Man but there were also some jawdropping surprises and, above all, Hyde is a book that hooks the reader and builds to a tremendous climax.


An interesting counterpoint to Russell's The Devil Aspect which also dwelt on issues of good and evil, divided personality and the relation between individual responsibility and political crime.


Definitely recommended.
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