The Cloud of Unknowing [Large Print]

by Thomas H. Cook

Book Overview

David Sears grew up in the shadow of his brilliant younger sister, Diana, convinced by their father that she would accomplish great things. Instead, she married and had a son, Jason, who--like David... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786296313
• ISBN13: 9780786296316
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Length: 379 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.9" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

The Game of Writer and Reader

Thomas H. Cook is at the top of his game as he writes The Cloud of Unknowing. A well thought out mystery which ended surprisingly yet somewhat predictably. I guess that when reading a mystery novel, you are playing a game with the writer, a game you would rather lose. In The Cloud of Unknowing, I think I won, or at least tied. It is an amazingly written story that, though I could predict the ending, had a few really good red herrings thrown in just to cast the shadow of doubt on my own sleuthing abilities. T.H. Cook has been my favorite author for a couple years now, and this book is one of the reasons why.

Amazing!

Wow - this was one of the best books I've read so far this year, and I've read a lot of good books already! I got it through my Mystery Guild Book Club membership, and although I'd never heard of the author, I wanted to try something new. I'm glad I did! Dave Sears is the 1st-person narrator of the story, which begins with an inquest into the death of his sister's son, Jason. Jason, who was schizophrenic like Dave's and Diana's father, was found drowned in a pond near his family home, and soon, Diana comes to suspect her ex-husband, Mark, of killing him because he was unable to deal with the child's disability. Dave wants to help Diana get to the truth and even thinks she might be right, but at the same time, he's seeing in her what may be the ominous signs of the family's unfortunate legacy - the development of acute paranoid schizophrenia. The mystery itself - what really happened to Jason - actually takes something of a back seat to the rest of the story, which is a piece-by-piece, slow unveiling of the nightmare-ish life Dave and Diana suffered as children and teenagers, living with a brilliant academic father who was slowly going completely and irretrievably mad. In the present, Dave is torn now between the love and obligation he feels towards his sister, and the suspicion that she uses her razor intellect and quiet charisma to seduce others into her way of thinking, and this becomes more sinister as Dave's daughter, Patty, is drawn into Diana's complex web. There is no clean wrap-up here and some readers might find that dissatisfying, but I was just completely taken in by the story. The writing is beautiful - very sparse, but no wasted words and full of imagery that stays with you long after you've turned the last page. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

Between madness and intuition

When writing at top form Thomas H. Cook is the best American writer of psychological thrillers currently publishing. Fortunately THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING is one of his best and ranks with THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR and BREAKHEART HILL. This is an intelligent thriller with several interesting ideas proposed including a comparison of the insane hearing voices and what the sane think of as intuition and good sense. The earth and its very stones being alive and witness to all we do is another strong theme. The book is also full of allusions to classic literature and mythology. And unlike other reviewers I was satisfied with the ending and I am a reader who likes all loose ends very firmly tied.

The Best In Mystery

Thomas H. Cook is one of the few crime writers who consistently give us literate, intelligent, carefully crafted suspense novels, and his new title is one of his best. THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING is the story of a family plagued by mental illness, and the murder and mayhem that result from it. There is something inexorable, almost fatalistic, about the evil that permeates these people, and Cook's masterful tale builds from a quiet beginning to a harrowing finale. That is his signature, the theme he comes back to in all his stories. You won't soon forget these characters, and they make you think about your own family and friends in a new way. The very best crime writers show us the horror in everyday life, and that is Cook's specialty. This novel joins BREAKHEART HILL, THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR, and RED LEAVES at the top of my list of favorite "Cook books." Highly recommended.

Another winner from the master of suspense

David Sears is a small town lawyer with a troubled family history. His father was schizophrenic, his sister, Diana, is schizophrenic as was her son Jason, who recently drowned. Diana suspects that her husband, Mark, is responsible for Jason's death in that his condition was an embarrassment and inconvenience for him. Diana begins to collect information on ancient murders as if the Earth itself is a witness to her son's death. David becomes very concerned when his daughter, Patty, is slowly drawn into his sister's suspicions. He fears for his daughter while being troubled about his sister. Things particularly heat up when Diana begins to send threatening messages to her ex-husband, Mark. David must establish some sort of control on the situation before others get hurt. Yet, from the first page we are told the story involves four deaths- so who are the victims? In a sense, every book written by Thomas H. Cook, places the reader under a cloud of unknowing. Again, there is a family mystery which only slowly and inexorably begins to weave its web while only giving out small bits of information until the very end when almost all is revealed but never quite the whole picture. This latest book is even more puzzling in the beginning and does take it's time in establishing the mystery. Told in a first person narrative form alternating with a police interrogation, the reader is given information only from David's perspective as he takes his time divulging all. The writing is, as usual, lyrical and evokes well the small town setting. The fact that we know almost from page one that there will be four deaths before the end of the novel and the fact that David is in prison, adds to the increasingly heightened suspense. What did David do wrong and who died? The solution is both surprising, satisfying and just a bit mystifying. This is another superb work by one of the suspense genre's master storyteller's.