The Poison Tree: A Novel

How to review The Poison Tree without getting out my poison pen?

I was so excited to read this book, because I heard great buzz about it, and maybe that was the problem.  I read the prologue and thought "Great, this is going to be another Tana French type book, can't wait".  By the time I was on chapter four I knew this was no Tana French mystery.  I tried to get into the type of book it is, but I just never could.

The Poison Tree is billed as a psychological thriller.  Let me tell you the thriller part is lacking.  This book is no more thrilling than watching the snow fall for the millionth time this winter!

As I said, the prologue is great and you want to dig right in and find out what has this woman running from her home and into the night.  Unfortunately you have to read through too many tediously told chapters to find out.  The story is told in a one chapter present day, one chapter past format. 

The main character, Karen, starts out as a promising college student in her last year who has an amazing talent for linguistics and all kinds of promise for jobs, scholarships, and leading a wonderful life.  Then fate steps in and she meets Biba who is in need of a tutor to help her learn a song in German for a play she is in.  Needless to say we are suppose to believe that Biba's wild bohemian life is so alluring that Karen chucks all her good sense out the window and gives herself over to life with Biba and her brother, who of course Karen develops a relationship with.  And there you have half the book.

The other half is spent showing everything unravel as Biba makes a fateful mistake that changes all their lives for the worse.  Without giving away the story, for those of you who are into tedious reading that's all I'll say.  My problem with the book is that we are asked to believe too many outlandish behaviors.  There is not one character that I could call a hero, though a few we can call matyrs.  I didn't find myself liking anyone in the story and therefore had a hard time caring about them through each long chapter.  The twists and turns of the book to me felt predictible and contrived.

Now, this may be a case like the Seinfeld Episode where Elaine hates The English Patient while the rest of the world loves it!  The Poison Tree has four and half stars on amazon so obviously a lot of people are enjoying this book.  So read it, if you dare, and give me your review if you loved it.