Daniel Vilmure

Advantages: Excellent Characters
Disadvantages: Quite Disturbing In Places, Plenty Of Bad Language

...Toby's Lie is the second novel written by Daniel Vilmure, and arrives with very much anticipation and promise, following his critically acclaimed debut "Life in the land of the living." This novel centres around a teenage graduate called Toby Sligh, with the story told through the eyes of this often naïve, but very complex character. Toby attends the Catholic Sacred Heart High School in Tampa, Florida, and from the early stages of the book you could quite easily be fooled into thinking that his most serious concern in life is whether his boyfriend, Ian will dance with him or not at the school prom. There are other early concerns too concerning his boyfriend Ian, a straight acting swimmer whose sexuality no-one suspects. If Toby takes him to the prom then his own sexuality will be revealed and he may suffer rejection and humiliation... Read review

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Advantages: Original, gripping, scary, exciting.
Disadvantages: It ends, and you never want it to!

...I read rather a lot of fiction as I am a bookseller, so I like to keep myself up to date on what to recommend to customers. This is one of the most original and memorable books I have read this year. The main character is a ten year old boy, called Daniel, who lives with his father in Barcelona, under Franco's reign. The story starts with Daniel's father, a bookseller, revealing to Daniel the secret existence of a huge library entitled the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. In the ancient tradition of this labyrinth, when somebody discovers it, they must choose a book that they have to keep and protect forever, to bring the book back to life, so to speak. Daniel is strangely drawn to a particular title, "The Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax and instantly knows that this is the book that he will take home with him. As he is reading... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Well written, clever characterisation
Disadvantages: Got confused about who was who

...It has taken me at least a week to read it (unusual for me, I'm a quick reader) and I must say I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. The Shadow of the Wind is one of those books which I think is a slightly acquired taste, and you need to be in the right mood to read it. Perhaps a second read is the key. The story opens with the ten year old boy, Daniel, being shown a great secret by his father. A library of lost books, where the tradition is for new visitors, who only visit on invitation from another, to take a book. They then have a duty to keep it safe and prevent it being lost in the sands of time. Ten year old Daniel takes a book, Shadow of the WInd written by a man named Julian Carax. Little does Daniel know, his selection leads him down a path where there is no turning back. His curiousity gets the better of him and he sets... Read review

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