Story Line – DaneCobain.com

Title: The Big Four

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 160

Rating: 4/5

This is a Hercule Poirot book in which the great detective comes up against a criminal network called The Big Four, which is hell-bent on world domination. It’s arguably one of the books in which the stakes are the highest, and I think that in itself makes it interesting.

But I also thought that the story line was pretty good, and I think that it would even be a decent one to go to if you’re relatively new to Poirot. It would make a good movie too, especially if you could get an ensemble cast, and so I’m kind of surprised that it’s not more popular than it is.

Still, there was at least something about it that stopped it from making its way into my top tier of Agatha Christie books. It was good but not great, I guess.

Learn more about The Big Four.

Robert Louis Stevenson – Kidnapped | Review

Title: Kidnapped

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 232

Rating: 3.25/5

I’ve had this for a while but had been putting it off because I didn’t much like Treasure Island. My issue there was that I thought the story line was good but that the writing let it down, which is why I tend to enjoy adaptations of it more than the source material.

Here, I quite liked the character of David Balfour and I found the story a little more balanced with better pacing, and I also thought that Stevenson’s writing was a little more approachable. The downside is that there aren’t any pirates, but I can live with that.

True, I still don’t think that Stevenson is the writer for me, but I did think that was perhaps more accessible. I’m sure there are some pretty cool adaptations of it too, although I can’t say I’ve ever seen any. Now that I know the story, though, I can go ahead and check some of them out, I guess.

So would I recommend it? Well that kind of depends as it’s a complicated question with no easy answer. It’s not a bad shout if you’re into classics and you’re looking for something that’s a little more of an adventure. If you’re more of a general reader then perhaps you’re better off just skipping it. Huh.

Learn more about Kidnapped.