Original Title: Speculation
Author: Edmund Jorgensen
Publisher: Inkwell & Often
Release Date: December 22nd 2011
Genre: Mystery
Andrew Wrangles has a decision to make. His best friend Sothum, a philosophical and financial genius, has just died and left him a choice in his will: ten million dollars or a sealed envelope.
Andrew's wife Cheryl doesn't see this as much of a choice. She wants Andrew to take the money, and what little patience she has for his speculating about what could be worth more than ten million dollars is wearing thin very quickly.
But as Andrew digs deeper into the secret life that Sothum lived, he finds more questions than answers. Does the envelope contain the fate of a vanished mutual friend? The answer to a terrible cosmic riddle? The confession to a crime? Is Sothum just playing a final private joke? Or has Andrew become a pawn in a game--a game that Sothum died playing against a bigger opponent than Andrew can imagine?
See that envelope in the book cover? That is the prime cause of all the speculation and mystery, behind this book.
Your best friend is missing for some days now. And you are suspecting some foul play. The problem is your other very rich friend (say his name is Sothum and you are idolizing him from your teen age for his talent) knows something about it and is avoiding you since. Now comes the twist. This Sothum guy has a brain tumor and dies one day. He has mentioned you in his will giving you a choice.
Here are your choices:
So, what will you choose, if you are allowed to pick only one of the above two options?
Many may answer to this question immediately. But, this novel's protagonist, Andrew Wrangles, has some problems in choosing the first option. He is speculating what will his friend have thought, that is worth more than the ten thousand dollars money, in that envelope. When he takes time to decide on which to choose, he searches for some answers with some paper bundles his friend had left him. What he uncovers with all this is not the mystery. Nobody knows where he goes with all his speculations. THAT is the actual mystery, that we are a part of.
Well-written and beautifully crafted plot. The idea of such a different mystery novel is interesting. Edmund has given his best in explaining the relationship of the protagonist with his wife. And it really paid off. Their bonding with one another is really enjoyable and heartfelt.
There are so many areas, where I had trouble understanding, especially on the literature terms. And whatever you do, one thing I can't stand more than five minutes, is --- philosophy. So, that is the major problem and this stands for many others. The book is filled with long periods of philosophical discussions.
As you would have known by now, it's definitely not an easy or light read. But, one thing is for sure though - this author has a great talent in writing. And if he writes a book, which doesn't involve philosophy at his core, I am reading it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmund Jorgensen was born in Chicago. He studied classical languages and has maintained a love for all things Greek and Roman. He fell in love with his wife in Mexico; they now reside, happily but considerably more chilly, in Watertown, Massachusetts. Edmund is currently hard at work on his second book, a set of interconnected short stories. Connect with Edmund on his website, Facebook, Twitter or GoodReads.
Wanna win a $50 gift card or an autographed copy of Speculation? Well, there are two ways to enter...
Author: Edmund Jorgensen
Publisher: Inkwell & Often
Release Date: December 22nd 2011
Genre: Mystery
Andrew Wrangles has a decision to make. His best friend Sothum, a philosophical and financial genius, has just died and left him a choice in his will: ten million dollars or a sealed envelope.
Andrew's wife Cheryl doesn't see this as much of a choice. She wants Andrew to take the money, and what little patience she has for his speculating about what could be worth more than ten million dollars is wearing thin very quickly.
But as Andrew digs deeper into the secret life that Sothum lived, he finds more questions than answers. Does the envelope contain the fate of a vanished mutual friend? The answer to a terrible cosmic riddle? The confession to a crime? Is Sothum just playing a final private joke? Or has Andrew become a pawn in a game--a game that Sothum died playing against a bigger opponent than Andrew can imagine?
REVIEW
See that envelope in the book cover? That is the prime cause of all the speculation and mystery, behind this book.
Your best friend is missing for some days now. And you are suspecting some foul play. The problem is your other very rich friend (say his name is Sothum and you are idolizing him from your teen age for his talent) knows something about it and is avoiding you since. Now comes the twist. This Sothum guy has a brain tumor and dies one day. He has mentioned you in his will giving you a choice.
Here are your choices:
Option 1: $10 Million Dollar money
Option 2: A sealed envelope addressed to you, of which no one knows nothing about.
So, what will you choose, if you are allowed to pick only one of the above two options?
Many may answer to this question immediately. But, this novel's protagonist, Andrew Wrangles, has some problems in choosing the first option. He is speculating what will his friend have thought, that is worth more than the ten thousand dollars money, in that envelope. When he takes time to decide on which to choose, he searches for some answers with some paper bundles his friend had left him. What he uncovers with all this is not the mystery. Nobody knows where he goes with all his speculations. THAT is the actual mystery, that we are a part of.
Well-written and beautifully crafted plot. The idea of such a different mystery novel is interesting. Edmund has given his best in explaining the relationship of the protagonist with his wife. And it really paid off. Their bonding with one another is really enjoyable and heartfelt.
There are so many areas, where I had trouble understanding, especially on the literature terms. And whatever you do, one thing I can't stand more than five minutes, is --- philosophy. So, that is the major problem and this stands for many others. The book is filled with long periods of philosophical discussions.
As you would have known by now, it's definitely not an easy or light read. But, one thing is for sure though - this author has a great talent in writing. And if he writes a book, which doesn't involve philosophy at his core, I am reading it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmund Jorgensen was born in Chicago. He studied classical languages and has maintained a love for all things Greek and Roman. He fell in love with his wife in Mexico; they now reside, happily but considerably more chilly, in Watertown, Massachusetts. Edmund is currently hard at work on his second book, a set of interconnected short stories. Connect with Edmund on his website, Facebook, Twitter or GoodReads.
Get Speculation on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
GIVEAWAY
Wanna win a $50 gift card or an autographed copy of Speculation? Well, there are two ways to enter...
- Leave a comment on my blog. One random commenter during this tour will win a $50 gift card. For the full list of participating blogs, visit the official Speculation tour page.
- Enter the Rafflecopter contest! I've posted the contest form below, or you can enter on the tour page linked above.
Thanks for your review, Vidya. It's been interesting to read through all the bloggers' thoughts--some love the book because of the philosophical underpinnings and others deduct stars for that reason. Just goes to show how subjective the reading experience is. One thing everyone seems to agree on so far is that Edmund's writing is beautiful :-D
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining this tour, and if you have a moment to cross-post your review to Amazon and GoodReads, that would be awesome :-D
Emlyn
This sounds like an interesting book and I enjoyed the excerpt. Great review! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDelete~Jess
http://thesecretdmsfilesoffairdaymorrow.blogspot.com/
Lovely review!
ReplyDeleteIntriguing review. If I don't win it, I will plead with my library to get it.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to check this out. I tend to like books with a bit of philosophy! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to see I wasn't the only one stymied by some of the long philosophical waxing in this book...glad that my hubby was a philosophy minor and we've talked about these topics before! :) BUT I loved the book anyways and I can't get a lot of its topics out of my brain!
ReplyDelete