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Nom oficial: Pattison, Joseph Eliot
Data de naixement: 1951
Gènere: male
Nacionalitat: USA
Llocs de residència: Pennsylvania, USA
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Washington, D.C., USA
Professions: lawyer
Agent: Natasha Kern
Biografia breu: Eliot Pattison has been described as a "writer of faraway mysteries," a label which is particularly apt for someone whose travel and interests span such a broad spectrum. After reaching a million miles of global trekking, visiting every continent but Antarctica, Pattison stopped logging his miles and set his compass for the unknown. Today he avoids well-trodden paths whenever possible, in favor of wilderness, lesser known historical venues, and encounters with indigenous peoples. An international lawyer by training, early in his career Pattison began writing on legal and business topics, producing several books and dozens of articles published on three continents. In the late 1990's he decided to combine his deep concerns for the people of Tibet with his interest in venturing into fiction by writing The Skull Mantra. Winning the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery--and listed as a finalist for best novel for the year in Dublin's prestigious IMPAC awards.

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The Skull Mantra de Eliot Pattison

his was about a Tibetan detective who had been sent to a work camp for having gotten too close to the truth in some key cases. He is asked to help the prison director with a case. He does. A bit slow moving, but interesting insight into Buddhist culture.
Wife Sharon has read another book by this author (Water Touching Stone), which she loved, so I stayed with this book, otherwise, I probably would have given up.

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jjbinkc | Hi ha 36 ressenyes més | Aug 27, 2023 |

The Skull Mantra (Inspector Shan Tao Yun, 1) de Eliot Pattison

it took like 300 pages for this one to get going for me, and by then i was too lost to really understand all he was doing here. i think, actually, that this is a really interesting and complicated mystery and i like his messaging. he has a lot to say about the government in china and what is going on with tibet, the abuses and mistreatment that is rampant. there is a lot to learn in this book; about that and about buddhism. but mostly it was just too much of a slog for me, and too hard, even though he is obviously a good writer, and cares about this place and these people. it was probably just the wrong time for me to read this, and i wish i had liked it more, but this wasn't for me right now.

"'It is a mistake to think of courage as something you show to others. True courage is only something you show to yourself.'"… (més)

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overlycriticalelisa | Hi ha 36 ressenyes més | Sep 20, 2022 |

Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America de Eliot Pattison

5 intriguing stars I🌟

The Bone Rattler by Eliot Pattison is a complex Historical Mystery set in the mid 1700’s. I cannot say how much I have enjoyed this book other than stating on my 2nd reread I am keeping my original 5 star rating. This book has everything I love about good historical fiction; complexity of storylines, characters with depth and involved backstories, and most important for a mystery, a resolution that keeps one guessing till the end. This is historical mystery at it’s finest!
The novel begins in the mid 1700’s aboard a convict ship bound for the North American territories. It is carrying Scot’s Highlanders who have been convicted of crimes ranging from grave digging to aiding and abetting a fugitive, but their main offense is being Highlanders. It is post Culloden, the final battle between the Scot’s and the British. After Culloden the British were determined to teach them a lesson and wipe out their culture and their very existence. The men aboard the ship have each had their prison sentences changed to transportation to America and and a period of indentured servitude to Lord Ramsey. He is a relative of the King who is developing land into settlements in the untamed territory around New York.
During the ships passage several suicides occur. Duncan McCallum, our protagonist, as a former student of medicine, is the only educated Scot amongst the convicts. He is tasked with investigating the suicides and the presence of a strange circle made up of strange symbols, bird bones, feathers and a heart. Duncan determines that one of the suicides is actually a murder. The victim is the man hired to be Lord Ramsey’s children’s tutor. This position will now be filled by Duncan upon arrival in the New World. Who killed the tutor, who left the cryptic circle and who is the strange woman being kept sedated in a cabin by the Vicar Arnold, Lord Ramsey’s representative? These form the basis of the mysteries that need to be solved. Very few answers are given and clues come at a fast pace but are often vague and contradictory. This is not a mystery you will have figured out by page 100!
This book is not just a great mystery but it’s also great Historical Fiction. Upon arrival in New York, Duncan finds himself in an unknown yet vaguely familiar world. It is the time of the French and Indian Wars, when the Huron aided the French and the Iroquois aided the British. Pattison does a great job comparing and contrasting both the Celtic Culture of the Highlanders and the Culture of the Indigenous Peoples, both groups fated to lose their way of life due to the British. This all adds multiple layers to the story and to the mystery and adds greatly to the readers enjoyment!
I have barely touched the surface of this story! If you love Historical Fiction with a healthy dose of mystery this book is for you.
I want to touch on the way I read this book. I recently joined Scribd, a monthly subscription service for Ebooks and Audiobooks. Having read two out of this six book series via kindle I wanted to try the audiobook version. Because I owned the ebook version and the first five audiobooks are on Scribd I tried immersion reading for the first time. Some of you may know that I went blind in my right eye this year making reading very difficult. The combo of audiobook and the kindle version was perfect for me. Reading was a pleasure again! I cannot recommend this service highly enough! Furthermore at a cost of $12 a month it’s a great value!
Whether you try immersion reading or not I highly recommend trying the audiobook version. I usually do not like male narrators since I find their female voices creepy. Having said that this narrator, Matthew Waterson, did a phenomenal acting job. His accents were spot on and he delineates all the different characters very well, even the females, minus the creep factor! I will be listening to the remainder of this series using the immersion technique!… (més)