'The Silkworm': Here's what critics are saying about J.K. Rowling's latest
It might just be the most anticipated detective novel of the summer. 鈥淭he Silkworm鈥� hits shelves later this week, and readers are as excited about the release of the second Cormoran Strike novel as they are about its author 鈥� Robert Galbraith, a.ka. J.K. Rowling, whose identity was leaked聽last year.聽
A sequel to 鈥�The Cuckoo鈥檚 Calling,"聽which focused on the stratospheric world of supermodels, rock stars, and movie producers, 鈥淭he Silkworm鈥� turns its focus on Rowling鈥檚 ilk 鈥� literary London, with its bloated egos, haughty snobbery, and bloodthirsty competition.聽
The novel centers around the disappearance of star novelist Owen Quine, whose gruesome death, revealed later in one of the goriest scenes Rowling has ever written, has London鈥檚 literary scene stunned. Quine leaves behind a scandalous manuscript, a roman 脿聽clef skewering his closest intimates and many in the book world with libelous caricatures 鈥� and possibly clues. One-legged detective Cormoran Strike and his sidekick Robin use those clues to exonerate their client, whom the authorities have singled out as Quine鈥檚 killer.
While it鈥檚 unlikely to garner any literary prizes, Rowling鈥檚 second detective novel will be well-received, if early reviews are any indication.聽
calls it聽鈥渁n entertaining novel in which the most compelling characters are not the killer or the victim, but the detectives charged with solving the crime.鈥澛�
And although reviewer Michiko Kakutani says 鈥淢s. Rowling has some difficulty in the opening chapters of 'Silkworm' establishing the personalities and peccadilloes of the chief suspects,鈥� she praises Rowling鈥檚 鈥渋nstinctive sense of storytelling and her ability to make the reader sympathize with Strike and Robin.鈥�
calls it聽鈥渁 great detective novel: sharp, immensely readable, warm-hearted but cool-headed, with a solution worthy of the immaculately plotted Harry Potter series.鈥澛�
The newspaper also has high praise for Rowling, which it compares to Charles Dickens. 鈥淸L]ike him, she has prodigious, otherworldly gifts of invention, and like him she has a fierce satirical instinct鈥�.鈥�
贵辞谤听聽reviewer Louis Bayard, "likable鈥� was the first word that came to mind after completing the novel; Bayard says Rowling鈥檚 pleasure in her newly chosen genre is 鈥減alpable.鈥�
Like many reviewers, Bayard says Rowling particularly shines within the confines of genre, where she seems to embrace the rules of the literary category to great effect.
Rowling 鈥渃rafts a plot as well as anyone alive,鈥� writes the , adding 鈥渟he鈥檚 not too shabby in the character department either.鈥� It calls 鈥淭he Silkworm鈥� 鈥渁 genuine mystery with an altogether satisfying resolution.鈥�
鈥淭he Silkworm鈥� hits shelves聽June 19.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
