Last year, I read and reviewed Snow by John Banville, and it was a solid five-star read for me. In fact, I said “I need to read more John Banville books!” So I was happy to receive April in Spain from Harlequin/Hanover Square Press and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. 

The protagonist, Quirke, is a pathologist from Dublin who is in Spain on holiday with his psychiatrist wife Evelyn, when he happens to see his daughter Phoebe’s friend April who was presumed to have been murdered by her own brother. (whew) When Quirke contacts Phoebe back in Dublin, she decides to go to Spain and is accompanied by an inspector who is there to “aid” her. Then there is Terry, a hitman. Sounds promising, but here’s the thing: NOTHING HAPPENS for a looooong time. I confess that at about 40% I started skimming, and I’m not proud of the amount of attention I gave it…but it just didn’t do it for me. 

Banville is an outstanding writer, and he is great at developing both setting and character — but you have to be REALLY patient or just one of those readers who likes to savor a well-written story. The ending was a surprise, which is generally the case for me — and Quirke’s story is unfinished at the end, presumably to set the stage for more about him. Three stars, but only that low because of the pace, which was a bit slow for me, OK, it was WAAAAAY slow for me. I will still go for his next book, because he is SUCH a good writer, but hope either it moves along much faster or I develop more patience by then.