On, Off: A Novel

As a fan of McCullough's _Tim_ (one of my all-time favorite books), and also of _The Thorn Birds_ and _The Ladies of Missalonghi_, I was incredibly surprised to spot this book at the bookstore. That didn't stop me, of course, from buying it immediately.

Briefly, the book takes place in 1965 in Connecticut and follows a detective, Carmine, as he attempts to solve a "multiple murder" case that is closely tied to the heavily endowed neurological research center, the "Hug," in the earliest days of forensic science and criminal profiling. This is a difficult case with many details and characters, and the climax and resolution, along with a surprise twist, occur in the last few pages.

McCullough is expertly detailed and accurate (from what I could tell), from the intricacies of neurological research to the 1960s setting and chronology. She is an excellent writer, but I agree with another review that pointed out that the first part of the book was overwritten - I was surprised to find quite so many details about a woman's outfit coming from a male detective, even if it was explained by one sentence, that a detective had to be observant of everything. Also, in the beginning, some descriptions are overdone. McCullough does fall into stride, however, and the writing isn't an issue within a few chapters.

Like other reviewers, I found this book to be impossible to put down - I read it in a little more than a day, even with working full-time. The story never stumbles or bores, and the characters, even though there are a lot of them, are easy to know and keep track of.

My biggest criticism of the book is the same as that of other reviewers, that there are a few red herrings and details that are not explained or tied up by the end of the story. Although I understood the overall outcome and general motive by the end of the book, I was left with many unanswered questions, such as the Hug's specific involvement and why the crimes were committed in the exact way that they were.

Other than the niggling of those questions, I really enjoyed the thrill of this book, and am wondering if there will be a sequel.

Before Collen McCullough became Australia's most famous novellist, she was a neuroscientist who worked in many areas, including teaching at Yale before the release of her first novel "Tim" (which is just beautiful). From there she went on to many great books, and this her latest, is quite a departure from the norm. It concerns a serial killer in the 1960s who leads the local police a merry chase, leaving apparently no clues, and yet who appears to be associated with a neurological research centre named colloquially "the Hug". It is this latter connection that gives Ms McCullough the opportunity to revisit her past.

It is an easy read, and the characters are all well defined and quite interesting in themselves. However, there is a little something missing which is hard to define. For one thing, apart from a small twist which I must confess that I didn't see coming, I had figured out "who done it" about half way through, which can be frustrating as you are then waiting for the police to come to the same conclusions as you. And there are some small red herrings that are never quite resolved to my satisfaction, and an odd sub-plot relating to African Amercian rights which is a little distracting and strangely unsatisfying. But again, readers of murder mystery do like to try and figure out who the killer is - its just that I am rarely succesful in this area - usually figuring it out as the police do.

All in all it is an interesting read, but if you want something truly wonderful by Ms McCullough, go for her first and best "Tim" - you won't regret it.

As I was reading this book I was planning to rate it with 5 stars, describe it as one of the best ever, and check the library for her other books. Her writing talent is marvelous - there were many sentences and short passages that I re-read just to savor the language. McCullough's serial killer suspects, primarily the scientists and other staff at a research facility, all have their little secrets, hideaways, peculiarities, history, making this a book with quite a few "bad guy" possibilities. The problem for me came around the last 1/3 of the book. The killer(s) changed methods, which was never explained by McCullough. S/he/they started leaving the corpses around other suspects' property, which she never developed. The police zeroed in on the probable killer(s) too soon to maintain the suspense. The cover blurb, promised a "terrifying and unexpected twist" on the last page; the twist was neither terrifying nor particularly unexpected. However, I must admit given the knowledge that there would be a final twist I spent much of the book trying to predict it and came up with quite a few possibilities.

Nonetheless, this is a beautifully written book, and I look forward to more McCullough mysteries.

Colleen McCullough is at her best when she writes sweeping epic novels that span generations. I found On, Off to be too much in a short period of time. I got lost with her introduction of the "suspects," one after the other, and as each suspect was revisited later in the book I had to flip back to refresh my memory as to who each one was. The ending was odd, and I didn't completely understand it. I felt it didn't tie up all the loose ends or answer all the questions, and in fact didn't quite make sense with a plot point that had been established before, namely, that an opthamologist had confirmed the "sister's" "blindness."

The subplot of a Black Panther-like group protesting the killings was unnecessary. I felt it was a contrivance to eliminate the murderer before he went to trial.

It was a good first effort, but Ms. McCullough needs more practice to perfect her forary into this new genre.

In 1965 in Connecticut, body parts of a young, dark skinned female are discovered in the refrigerated section of a neurosciences research laboratory. A police team, lead by Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico, begins a thorough investigation of the laboratory and its staff. A month later, the decapitated body of another young, dark skinned girl, is discovered, followed by yet another the following month. Delmonico forms a relationship with one of the laboratory staff after initially finding her to be so much a "Brit" that her aloof attitude causes him to think her stiff and unbending. The story which follows is a very clever weaving of the backgrounds and home lives of all of the occupants of the laboratory, leading up to the final denouement. I'm not being a smarty pants when I say that I guessed the ending, as it didn't spoil the read, but, readers beware...there are some horrifically gruesome details included and this book is not for gentle readers!

Colleen McCullough is an amazing author, I have liked everything of hers that I have read, however I am the first to admit that she is a difficult author. I have noticed that when I begin one of her novels, if I haven't read any of her writing for a while, I am put off by her prose style, and the admittedly very stilted way in which she writes dialogue. Much of it, though, seems to be a question of accepting and getting into the rhythm of her stylized way of writing. Once I get accustomed to it, I find her books to be very interesting. "On, Off" was no exception. It is an exciting mystery story about a serial killer who stalked teenaged girls in Connecticut in the 1960s. Unlike some other novels in the genre ("Silence of the Lambs" for example), this is less of a thriller and more an old-school whodunit, with a unique and distinctive cast of characters, any one of whom could be the murderer.

The mystery itself was full of twists and turns and red herrings and kept me guessing right up until the end. It actually kept me guessing past the end, really, because even after the killer has been revealed for all to see, almost none of mystery of the novel has been explained. In a rather contrived epilogue to the story, McCullough attempts to explain all the unexplained portions of the book. As this is all done in the space of three or four pages, it is rushed and not very satisfying. There were glaring jumps in logic which she attempted to explain away, gloss over, or just ignore. There is never even a really satisfactory explanation of the book's title "On, Off" anywhere.

Bottom-line: McCullough paints an incredibly elaborate word picture of a truly mysterious series of crimes. Her story had me rivetted with the hope that by the time I had finished it, I would understand what was going on. The ending fails to deliver. The mystery was too complex and not resolved well at all. So all in all, it is a beautiful book to read, but the ending is rushed and not satisfying.

I should have taken a clue from my own review list. I have only ever finished one of Ms. McCullough's books. The rest I've found to be tedious and slow. I could never get past page 50. This time I've made it all the way to page 84, but if it doesn't pick up soon, the book is outta here!

One glaring error I found on page 65 that has really been bothering me is a description of a woman who is all glammed up to go to a theater opening in 1951 and says she is as excited as a kid going to Disneyland. Ms. McCullough needs to research her American history a little better--Disneyland did not open until 1955.

Other phrases and comments just don't fit, and there are far too many characters. I am completely bogged down with all the staff members of the Hug!

But other reviewers claim this to be a story worth finishing, so I will persevere for as long as I can stand it, just to get the big bang at the end.

I had my doubts that an author who had written on Rome or the First Fleet (Morgan's Run) could write a good murder mystery. I was astounded by this story. The suspects are varied, the detective is intelligent while human, and the overall effort is cleaver. This is an excellent book.

Colleen McCullough is probably best known for her novel set in Australia, The Thorn Birds, a passionate story of forbidden love. The novel was made into a TV miniseries starring Rachel Ward as Meggie Cleary and Richard Chamberlain as Father Ralph de Briccasart, the local Catholic priest with whom Meggie falls in love.

McCullough is also the author of the historical fiction series, "Masters of Rome": The First Man in Rome, The Grass Crown, Fortune's Favorites, Caesar's Women, Caesar: Let the Dice Fly, and The October Horse. Filled with violence, this series reveals McCullough's self-confessed "passion for blood." "My novels always have plenty of blood in them," she says, "no matter what the subject."

It should come as no great surprise, therefore, that McCullough has tackled an entirely new genre--the whodunit crime novel. And in On, Off, McCullough's "passion for blood" has a field day. A serial killer dubbed "The Connecticut Monster" and "The Ghost" is terrorizing mid-1960's Connecticut.

The good guy in the story is Lieut. Carmine Delmonico, who is assisted by his sidekicks, Sgt. Corey Marshall and Sgt. Abe Goldberg. In the fall of 1965 they are called to an Ivy League university called The Chubb, in Holloman, Conn., and to its affiliated Hughlings Jackson Center for Neurological Research ("The Hug") to investigate a murder.

"A piece of woman," a torso, has been stashed in as freezer at "The Hug." And so begins a police procedural that uncovers a dozen other bodies, 16-year-old women who are brutally raped, tortured, hung upside down on a meat hook and drained of their blood, and then decapitated--their severed heads grisly trophies of the killer's art.

An extremely intelligent psychopath, "the Ghost" deftly eludes every police scheme to entrap him. Like the benighted man in Poe's "The Raven" who is visited by an incarnation of evil, Delmonico felt like shouting in frustration, "Ghastly grim and ancient monster wandering from the nightly shore, Tell me what thy hellish name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" (paraphrased).

McCullough throws a lot of red herrings across the path. There are at least 32 suspects (the staff of "The Hug") and many of these have secret hideaways that must be investigated. As the case progresses, or, more correctly, fails to progress, a discouraged but determined Delmonico theorizes that there may be two "ghosts," rather than just one.

However, all is not blood and gore. Delmonico is attracted to the business manager at The Hug, one Desdemona Dupre, and if he can break through her icy facade, a meaningful and lasting romance may blossom.

McCullough also recreates scenes reminiscent of he social milieu of the 1960's, as a Black Power group marches in protest of the killing of young women "of color."

Just when it seems "The Ghost" will never be apprehended, the first real break in the case occurs. Delmonico literally stumbles upon a clue to the killer's identity. The full truth is not known, however, until the final page of the novel!

Although there is nothing illogical or contradictory in McCullogh's tale, the plot of On, Off stretches one's credulity. To be sure, all murder mystery novels are contrived, but this one seems especially so. In the end, one fails to see how so shrewd a detective as Carmine Delmonico could be so completely blind to the killer's identity. While the ending is a shocker, something about the revelation is unconvincing and, therefore, unsatisfying.

What's next for the writer? Well, Colleen McCullough plans to write a novel about Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian, the seventh and final book in the "Masters of Rome" series. After that, she may try her hand at another whodunit. "They're fun to write," she says.

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville, Tennessee ([email protected]) is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house. He is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, classical music lover, and an aficionado of fine literature.

When I first heard that Colleen McCullough was writing a mystery novel, I had my doubts that she could pull it off.

If found the first half chapter a little slow, but I soon found myself wrapped into the story and characters.

McCullough breathed some surprisingly fresh air into a genre that had become tired to me along time ago. All the other protagonists in this genre are brilliant detectives who are held back by everything in their lives. They are usually divorced, bitterly so, and hung up on that fact. Then, they have no help from their colleagues and superiors. Their superiors usually try to hold them back at every turn and their colleagues are usually inept at every turn.

McCullough brought us a character who is divorced, yet has grown from the situation and harbors no bitter feelings. Carmine actually has a supportive cast around him and is very likeable.

I would like to see McCullough revisit the genre after a strong first showing.

McCullough fans should be drooling now over the news that she is returning to the MASTERS OF ROME series now to write a 7th and final volume (ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA) in the series after she prematurely ended it.

After she leaves Rome for a final time, I am anxious to see what other genres she contributes to.