"Nothing is as it appears to be. In this dark, psychological thriller, group therapist Mariana Andros is drawn to solve the murders of a mysterious group of Cambridge University students referred to by the title of this book. Full of red herrings and a page turner, Michaelides has crafted a mystery thriller in the line of Agatha Christie and P.D. James, as well as Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. I was not expecting the denouement and ending/resolution of this mystery, which will also cause more food for thought. Is everything just an illusion? "

"Cruel. Crude. Sexual. Violent. These are some of words which can be used to describe this book. However, Tsiolkas uses the incident of an adult slapping a misbehaving four year child as a starting point to discuss a variety of issues pertaining to modern relationship dynamics, families and how they mold us, as well as the various immigrant communities that compose contemporary Australian society. I think he does a fine job describing the Greek diasporic community in Australia.

Stylistically, the writing is very fluid and it is quite a page turner. He is able to inhabit eight different characters� points of view, backgrounds, desires, dreams, and fears while telling the narrative. Are we just all selfish and uncertain of what we really want? Is the next, younger, generation going to be any better or going to learn from our mistakes? No one really knows what the future will bring, live in and enjoy the moment. Cherish the messiness that is life. "

"“Everyman’s life is an odyssey�, he said. “It does not matter if the body remains rooted to one place for it is the heart and the spirit that journey to find Ithaca.�

This one is a personal one for me. Describing the challenges faced by the titular character immigrating from a small village in Crete, Greece to Chicago with his arranged marriage wife Katerina, this tome will cause one to think about the illusive nature of time. Arriving in Chicago being illiterate in both modern Greek and English, Kostas finds employment as a dishwasher in a diner/restaurant owned by the cousin of his father. Beginning the story in 1919 and continuing until 1954, the novel explores the pleasures and pain of fatherhood, family, and work life, as well as the psychological scars we carry throughout life. Thematically, the novel is influenced by biblical, Shakespearean or Ancient Greek tragedy.

Petrakis� writing is both naturalistic and authentic when describing Chicago’s historic Greektown located on Halsted Street and the various characters that inhabit the world of the insular Greek community, some of whom are quite recognizable even today. At the same time, humor and coping with whatever challenge(s) life throws at you form an important part of the narrative. Kostas could have been my relative or a friend of my family.

“He only knew that in spite of the days of darkness he would willingly retrack his journey, encounter again the destiny of all men, and relive the strange and awesome truth of human life…to weep and smile with one face and to endure.�"