His “clever rabbit” description by the narrator (who physically appears here and there throughout the book) helps us understand how sharp Corso really is. The Good: Corso is a fun character, not overly developed but enough for us to happily follow him. It’s a fun detective story with enough twists and side characters to keep things interesting. There’s a lot of history discussed throughout the story, and deep examinations of Dumas characters, their namesakes, and the possible ways in which Dumas and the occult might be connected. The idea of a somewhat disreputable, anti-hero book detective (Lucas Corso) rifling through the ancient book collections in Europe to hunt down the backstory of an original Alexandre Dumas manuscript and a Satanic/occult tome titled The Nine Gates (two books that may or may not have a deep and mysterious connection) was very appealing to a book nerd like me. The Book: I found the first 75% of the book to be very enjoyable. I’ll break down this review into four parts: The Book, The Good, The Bad, and The End. Like many readers, I saw the Polanski/Depp film The Ninth Gate before I read Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Club Dumas, and despite what I felt was a let-down ending in the film (we’re taken all the way to the final gate, and then.), I enjoyed it enough to pick up the book years later, hoping for a fleshed out story and an improved finale.īut for those wanting to dance with the devil after an eerie, mysterious, occult-infused plot, the movie may have come closer to a satisfactory ending than I first realized.

The club dumas by arturo pérez reverte