A resilient young woman must outwit a sadistic psychopath in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of The Silence of the Lambs, a “master still at the top of his strange and chilling form” (Wall Street Journal). Twenty-five million dollars in cartel gold lies hidden beneath a mansion on the Miami Beach waterfront. Ruthless men have tracked it for years. Leading the pack is Hans-Peter … tracked it for years. Leading the pack is Hans-Peter Schneider. Driven by unspeakable appetites, he makes a living fleshing out the violent fantasies of other, richer men.
Cari Mora, caretaker of the house, has escaped from the violence in her native country. She stays in Miami on a wobbly Temporary Protected Status, subject to the iron whim of ICE. She works at many jobs to survive. Beautiful, marked by war, Cari catches the eye of Hans-Peter as he closes in on the treasure. But Cari Mora has surprising skills, and her will to survive has been tested before.
Monsters lurk in the crevices between male desire and female survival. No other writer in the last century has conjured those monsters with more terrifying brilliance than Thomas Harris. Cari Mora, his sixth novel, is the long-awaited return of an American master.
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Quick and ruthless
Nobody writes about evil like Thomas Harris, in all its nuances, ranging from fear to fascination. Also for this reason he is my favourite author, despite (or perhaps thanks to the fact that) he isn’t very prolific. Therefore, when I learned that a new book of his was about to come out thirteen years after the previous one, I was looking forward in anticipation of his reading. Obviously, I didn’t buy it as soon as it was published. Like all the books of my favourite authors, I let it mature, I looked around, I read the unflattering reviews that it collected and, with every bad review I came across, I felt it would be a great read. And I wasn’t wrong.
“Cari Mora” is concise. A captivating prose with no frills or unnecessary information. Each word is a precise brush stroke on the protagonists of this story and on the ruthless world in which they move, where nobody is good, but everyone is bad or damaged (or both). Someone more, someone less.
It’s quick. There are no reflections, pauses. Everything happens very quickly. It looks like a story designed to be turned into a film. It would be a great film in the hands of the right screenwriter and the right director.
The title is nothing more than the name of the main character, but the author doesn’t just linger over her. He enters deeply the minds of the supporting characters and in particular of the antagonist. And a shiver runs through your back as you face, even if only for a moment, the thoughts of the latter. But there is no time to mull over it, because the story continues, fast and inexorable.
As in all Harris’s books, you can’t just stop reading. The book calls you during the day, it demands your attention. I’m not a compulsive reading person who forgets everything else to read. Only Harris’s books have this effect on me.
The most exciting part is undoubtedly the ending, in which you feel in serious danger like Cari, but fight for your life, breathless, your heart racing. Here the character expresses itself to the fullest and shows a glimpse of the immense potential it possesses.
If I didn’t know how much Harris is reluctant to write with a certain frequency, I would think that “Cari Mora” has the purpose of presenting this character (and that of the policeman), as the first of a series of books. But perhaps what Harris wants is only to offer us the elements for our imagination to go ahead on its own. Or we must expect a TV series inspired by this novel in the future.
I don’t know. I only know that I hope Harris will write again.
The ruthless search for lost gold, plausibly hidden in a Miami Beach mansion once owned by Pablo Escobar, quickly turns deadly. The fast pace of the story kept me hooked right from the start. The emphasis is on action, not feelings, and character motivations are easy to follow. The author brilliantly weaves in subplots, betrayals, and twists of fortune.
During the search for cartel gold under a house in Miami, Hans-Peter Schneider sets his eyes on Cari Mora and thinks of all he can do with her in his violent fantasies. What he doesn’t know is that Cari Mora escaped the unthinkable from her native country and has skills and a fierce determination to survive.
This was an interesting tale about a treasure hunt with a dangerous end game. The story did not hold my attention as much as I thought it would, but the ending had me hooked. I was unable to put it down. There are a lot of characters and it can get confusing at times. There are also multiple storylines that come together at the end.
More of a 3.5
Hmmm…I’m still not sure what I read and what’s funny is I didn’t hate it
It starts out as a story about treasure hunting and Cari Mora is just an employee of the notorious house rumored to hide said treasure being sought. Then it turns into a story about Cari Mora’s upbringing as a child soldier. Then it turns into a story about this man (Hans-Peter) who was hunting the treasure but after seeing Cari Mora, wants this treasure too as she will be valuable for his side business.
Throw in some other mini-stories in between, because why stay the course and have just one, introduce a new character (or ten) and boom…what did I just read. Regardless, I didn’t hate it, nor did I love it. I ended up somewhere in-between as it did make a good, creepy Fall read which is what I was looking for.
Good, but not as good as his other books.
I wanted to love this so bad I love Thomas Harris and it’s been 13 years waiting for a new thriller. This book was so bad I was bored I had trouble finishing it. I think the story was boring and there was nothing thrilling about it. The characters had a few cool back stories but they didn’t go anywhere. Cari could have been awesome she never seemed scared but her story was so flat.
Hans- Peter was weird and creepy but he didn’t match what his main mission was. His back story and side story was just off. He kind of reminds me of a stupid Hannibal which made me sad.
The rest of the story was just ok. I really wanted to love this book because he’s the master of thrillers.
This one is tough to review. I understand why it’s getting such rough reviews, but I happened to enjoy it for many of the reasons others hated it. Thomas Harris’ minimalist style is on full display here. He is the master of painting clear pictures using only the smallest brush strokes, which you get plenty of in this latest work of his.
Cari Mora is an easy, fast read. If you set your expectations appropriately and don’t use the Lecter books as a benchmark, this can be a fun time. It feels like Harris’ take on a beach read. It’s brutal and weird, with good characters (though I did think the main “villain” came off a little cartoony at times) and a plot that’s good enough to keep the reader loosely hooked. This is 3.5 stars for me, and it’s T. Harris so I’m rounding up. I will say, though, this is one of those books where you should maybe ignore the reviews and just dive in and see if it’s for you. This one really seems to be polarizing readers. It seems they feel they are owed something better for having waited the last 13 years for this book.
Perhaps, my expectations for a book from the guy who wrote Silence of the Lambs were higher than they should be. Everyone and his brother is trying to write a female heroine these days, and Thomas Harris gives it a shot with the same failings as Michael Connelly. I’m not sure why, because he did so well in Silence. While the heroine, Cari Mora, is a fully drawn character with a deep and resonate past, the story never feels realistic. All the pieces are there, but somehow, they just don’t come together. Like I said, I may hold Mr. Harris to a higher standard than other authors.
I loved Cari, she is complex and someone different.
But, there’s always a but, I was expecting a little more. Especially after the Lecter series.
I love all of his books, though I have not yet read Black Sunday. Harris has a special way of creating an almost B-movie fun that somehow feels elevated and important, like a cinematic blockbuster feel balanced with a poignant intimacy.
Though the book is short and efficient, it definitely has a bit of a slow middle. It’s not an intense page-turner for much of the story. Lots of characters to keep track of, even though many of them are kind of small parts without a lot of significance. Still, the writing and story have great personality throughout, with that tone I love about all of his books. It just doesn’t read like a Silence of the Lambs or Red Dragon type of thriller.
Wow, does the book pay off in the end. The last 10 percent of this short book comes like a surprise wallop after that slow middle, and all the setup becomes worth it. I was left with chills, goosebumps, and tears. If you’re reading bad reviews or are midway through and getting bored, I highly recommend you stay with it. I’m loving the afterglow.
I try not to compare writers books with their previous works but there is a certain expectation that is inherent when you read numerous works by one author. That being said I guess I went into this one with high expectations! And I am sorry to say they were not met! I had thoughts of DNF’ing it but as I have never done that with any book I continued on just wanting to get to the end!
I am sorry to say that the groups of characters were confusing to me! I had a hard time remembering which group they were in, what they were going after and if they were the good guys or the bad guys! The sad thing was by the middle of the story, I didn’t really care! It wasn’t till the middle of the book that we learn anything about Cari Mora and it wasn’t much! In my opinion there was no character development, therefore this story did not draw my in, which is something that I cherish in an author’s work!
With CARI MORA Thomas Harris does what he does best – takes us on a spine-tingling, edge-of-your-seat ride steeped in intrigue and nail-biting suspense. You will not sleep. You will not eat. This book screams to be devoured in one sitting. On sale May 21, 2019.