João Tordo - The Night the Summer Ended

Comment: This will be a short comment on a book by Portuguese author João Tordo. I have already commented on some of his books here, usually in those posts where I do shorter posts with two books in a row, to simplify.

This is the first thriller type of novel the author wrote. He sets part of the story in Portugal, where, in the 80s, the protagonist is on holidays with his family and they meet the American Walsh family and the protagonist becomes friends with the oldest daughter, Laura. They are teenagers and bond over the usual stuff but it seems something might be weird about the family. Years later, we have the protagonist traveling to America to study at a university and he randomly finds Laura again. But her family is devastated, Laura' father dead and the main suspect is her younger sister Levi. While they join forces to see what they can find and clear Levi's name, what can they truly do? The case turns cold until the day, years after, Levi is finally released and travels to India... the documentary a reporter wants to do then might be the spark that finally will uncover the truth...

The title can be loosely translated as "the night the summer ended" and is centered on two friends who met during a summer and somehow lost contact, to get it back but everything is ruined due to the events related to one of them. Between an investigation and many musings by the protagonist and what happens in his life, this is a rich but somewhat confusing story.

The author is certainly talented but after reading four of his novels, in different genres and with different plots, I must say what comes to mind the most is how his protagonists are all so similar! If I had to read passages on any of his books without any obvious detail, I wouldn't guess who belongs where... at the same time, part of me still likes the books because the formula is consistent and the writing appealing. It's just that he does get distracted by many useless information...

The books could easily all be shorter (this one has more than 600 pages) and the main plots and development could be maintained with the same pace and importance. In this book, the tone is both romance and thriller, although I must say that, to be honest, the thriller label probably indicates something we don't really have here. There isn't any of the urgency nor of the demand we expect when reading a thriller and the characters need to do accomplish things or run against time or are always a nerve wreck doing whatever they have to. I feel part of the problem was that huge amount of scenes and stuff that doesn't really matter.

However, part of the issue is the structure, the story is linear, makes sense but most of the things are being dealt with afterwards. We don't really have a lot of scenes on the "right now" that could influence what we are reading about. Since this is a story where everything is a reaction and not an action, there's this mix of having things steady so we just need to go with the flow, and the feeling that nothing can't be changed anyway, so the reading process can seem a little boring at times.

When the secrets are finally revealed at the end, it was interesting but I wasn't as impressed as that, likely because I was already eager to finish, but considering this is his first attempt in the genre, it was good and I will read others by him, hopefully some issues might be improved.

Grade: 6/10