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The Carnivore: A Novel
The Carnivore: A Novel
The Carnivore: A Novel
Ebook307 pages5 hours

The Carnivore: A Novel

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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A wife harbors suspicions about her husband’s image as a hero cop in this suspenseful novel, a winner of the Toronto Book Award.
 
Back in 1954, Hurricane Hazel barreled through Toronto, killing eighty-one people. Ray and Mary Townes were a young married couple, and while Mary, a nurse, performed her own small miracles that night, her police officer husband was celebrated for his heroism as the newspapers reported on his lifesaving rescues.
 
As the two tried to resume their life together in the shell-shocked city, Mary felt some doubt about her husband’s story. But the truth remained elusive—until the day, decades later, when a reporter came knocking . . .
 
Suspenseful and moving, The Carnivore is a tale of both a historical natural disaster, and the quiet dangers that lurk within a marriage, with “many twists and turns [and] lots of action” (The Globe and Mail, Toronto).
 
“A cleverly constructed and evocatively written novel.” —Booklist
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 1, 2009
ISBN9781554909988
The Carnivore: A Novel

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Rating: 3.923076923076923 out of 5 stars
4/5

13 ratings3 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a well written book. I had no idea where it was leading me. It takes you back to Toronto around the time when Hurricane Hazel hit in 1954 and to the present. A young couple's lives changed from the events of that time. The marriage lasts for 50 years. Most of these years are years filled with "what if's". If the events in 1954 didn't happen the way they did would they have had a happy marriage. No one will know. It wasn't a happy book. I felt that this couple wasted their lives staying in a marriage that would never get over the past.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This story is well written, but the subject matter may not be appealing to a vast audience. I had difficulty getting into the plot, and switching between character narratives and times was a bit awkward in some places. This is the story of a marriage built on deception and nourished by mutual hatred. Ray is a cheating, less than forthright detective married to Mary, a disillusioned, cold-hearted nurse. When Ray is declared a hero after a hurricane hits Toronto in the 1950's, Mary begins to see familiar changes in him--frighteningly similar to when he was having an affair. Mary comes very close to infidelity herself, with her obstetrician, but manages to pull herself out of that temptation by her conviction that she must create the life she idolizes with the materials she has been given. The story line switches back an forth between the events surrounding the hurricane and back to present time, where Ray is dying of emphysema and Mary is once again martyred as she cares for him. She is waiting for him to die so she can enjoy her freedom, and he is hoping to live just a little longer, seeking acceptance. They both loathe each other and blame the other for destroying the life they each had hoped to live. Ray, according to Mary, has never accepted responsibility for the affair, for causing her miscarriage, or for accepting honors for heroism he did not deserve. Ray blames the failure of the marriage on Mary's unreasonably high standards and has spent the majority of his time sneaking things and keeping secrets because he was unable to present Mary with his needs with any hope of her accepting him as he really was. A sad, sad tale. It certainly speaks of a different generation where divorce was not an option and people learned to live off of hatred and spite.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mark Sinnett has written an amazingly good book in "The Carnivore". Set in 1954 Toronto, Hurricane Hazel is wreaking havoc, Ray Townes, a policeman, is having an affair. Mary, his long suffering wife is doing her best to hold things together.When Ray is proclaimed a hero and is featured in the newspapers, but Mary has her doubts. Yes, Ray did warn people and possibly even saved a few, but he also committed a terrible act against another human being.50 years later, when a reporter comes to their home to write another story about the hurricane, and its heroes, everything is churned up once more. Ray is ill, Mary is tired, and as the stories unfold to the reporter, memories are brought to the forefront, and feelings and actions of that awful night are nearly too much to bear.Will they be able to get through this terrible time? Will the dredged up memories end a marriage, hanging on by a thread? Will Rays evil deed become known? Will the truth set them free or will it ruin them?So many questions, but all is answered in the end. The exploration of a disaster and a marriage, is so well written, I felt like a fly on their wall, eavesdropping. This book was wonderful!I received this book from Shelf Monkey for review. Thanks so much!

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The Carnivore - Mark Sinnett

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