J. K. Rowling Writing as Robert Galbraith: Lethal White

Fox

Sat, Sep 29 2018, 8:49 pm

Anyone else reading the latest in the Cormoran Strike series, Lethal White? I've loved all these books, and this one seems good, too.

Btw, the series is not too hard-boiled in terms of gore, language, or explicit s-x. Not a "cozy," but I didn't feel like I needed to take a shower after reading it, either.

smss

Sat, Sep 29 2018, 10:50 pm

Good to know! Casual Vacancy is really awful. Graphic and inappropriate to the point of just being gross. But I did hear from someone else over YT that the Cormoran Strike books aren't like that.

Fox

Sat, Sep 29 2018, 11:21 pm

smss wrote:

Good to know! Casual Vacancy is really awful. Graphic and inappropriate to the point of just being gross.

I heard the same thing -- plus that it required an interest and background in local British politics that most Americans might not have the patience to acquire for the sake of the book. I skipped it.

jerusalem90

Sat, Sep 29 2018, 11:26 pm

I read Casual Vacancy about a year ago and I liked it. Interesting, and I don't remember it being nasty but the beginning was depressing/painted a dim view of humankind. There was some redemption in the end though, not exactly a happy ending, but a bit of hope.

Question: why would JK Rowling write under a pen name? Especially if it gets out that that's a pen name, what's the point?

Fox

Sat, Sep 29 2018, 11:29 pm

jerusalem90 wrote:

Question: why would JK Rowling write under a pen name? Especially if it gets out that that's a pen name, what's the point?

Originally, she wrote under "Robert Galbraith" because she wanted the freedom to work in an entirely different genre without Harry Potter hanging over her head. The problem was that the initial book started getting really good reviews and solid sales. The book press started trying to track down "Robert Galbraith" and discovered he didn't exist. So she and her publisher finally came clean.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Sep 30 2018, 3:20 am

smss wrote:

Good to know! Casual Vacancy is really awful. Graphic and inappropriate to the point of just being gross.

I hated that book so much! I have a high tolerance for things that actually advance the plot, but this just seemed gratuitous. I was severely disappointed in Rowling for this one, and was happy to donate the book to the library. I'm just glad that someone gave it to me for free, because I would be really mad if I paid for it. Not worth the paper it's printed on.

smss

Sun, Sep 30 2018, 6:27 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Yes! I am a huge Harry Potter fan and felt personally betrayed by JKR after reading that book!

newbie

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 8:59 am

Interesting you say that, I actually found Nr 2 or 3 in the series (where someone delivers a severed leg to him!) too gruesome and only read the ending to find out who did it. Wasn’t for me. I do like her writing so I hope this one is less focused on gory details like this.

trixx

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:44 am

Fox wrote:

The publishers wife leaked her name. The book had barely hit the shelves.

Also that book was horrible. The writing, characters, plot, there was nothing redeeming or remotely interesting about it.

Orchid

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:48 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Yes, this!

smss

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 12:38 pm

Fox wrote:

Ok, so Fox, I took your advice and tried out the Cormoran Strike series. Overall really enjoyed the first 3 books, though the crimes were a little too gory for me...

Could not get through Lethal White though! I ended up skipping around to the good Strike/Robin parts and didn't really read the rest of it...