Simon
“If you could see the future, would you want to”
3, 3.5, 4. I am going with 4 because it's December, but it is a generous 4. To be honest this book is a little bit of a mess. The idea is great and I really liked the ending but the journey there is one strange trip. It really feels like something is missing, like something was taken out of the story, maybe to make it shorter. I don't know, it just felt like it was lacking something.
Think Alex North has set his bar quite high and this one falls a bit short of his previous two books.
A wonderful pan of tasty word soup. It's probably not for everyone, especially if you like your crime thrillers at 9 twists per hour. But, if like me, you love 2 pages worth of beautiful prose about someone using their big toe to move a coffee table so they can flick their cigarette ash into a marble ashtray, so much so that your toe curls in sympathy, then this is the book for you.
Sex (lots of sex) and self loathing in Europe and America. I suppose I always saw EW as a bit of a warrior for good, and I do still see him that way, but in this book he comes across as a bit of a twat. The ending is obviously sad and I am left wondering if EW was or is ever happy, truly happy.
Quite astonishing really that so much beauty and so much pain can be found in just 150 pages. I found it hard to feel any kind of sympathy for David, I knew somebody like him. They like to dipped their toes into the queer pool, enjoy the freedom and the excitement but when things start getting a little serious, when possible commitment beckons they flee leaving a trail of emotional destruction in their wake, back their safe lives just like in this book and with devastating consequences. If ever a book were to be described as timeless, it is this one.
I did really enjoy the story, even though I found the main character quite unlikable. The story has a nice warm feel to it, like one of those horror movies you enjoy because of the atmosphere not because it's scary. There is quite a high level of corn but Masterton really does know how to right tension, there is an underwater scene that is brilliantly written.
Quite hard to review this because a quarter of the book was misprinted, the last 100 pages were 89-188 (again), basically missing the most important 100 pages in the book.
I gave it 4 because that was my feeling while I was reading.
4 stars just for the sheer enjoyment I got from this book. Only falls flat at the end and I was second guessing a twist that never came. humph.
DNF
I'm bored, really really bored, I like a little fiction with my science, and this is probably 80% science and 20% fiction (and I'm being generous) . When the world ends in a fiery rain, here's about 4 pages dedicated to the death of 7 billion souls, and yet there are 25 pages on the complete history of hermetically sealed body condoms.
I will not insult the author by giving it a one star because I know some people love this stuff, just not for me.
3.5 rounded up, purely due to the fact I really loved the historical part of the story. Unfortunately, the bits set in the present were mostly preposterous, full of unlikeable people doing stupid things, and some of the most eye rollingly convenient plot twists in the history of flip flop fiction. The paranormal element however, works really well, the malevolent spirit Farquhar terrorising both timelines with his stink, his groping and much much worse.
Overall, completely and utterly bonkers.
pleasant retelling of the classic vampire story through a series of letters and journal extracts. fans of traditional chillers will love it others probably won't
Was going to give this 4 but I gave 4 to Susan Hills Mist in the Mirror and this is nowhere near as good as that. Still a very good read for those who like ghost stories.
I really wanted to love this book, The Forbidden and The Sleep Room are both excellent but this isn't as good. The supernatural element didn't work for me it felt like it was shoehorned in amongst the many explosions, faulty equipment and mouldy food. I did love the character of Lorenz, definitely the best thing about the book.
Well written but overlong and boggy. The second half is really hard work and the ending a massive disappointment.
I stuck to my rule of reading 150 pages before giving up. Just did nothing for me at all, couldn't get into it. Its a shame, really loved The People Next Door.
interesting well written ghostly novella. Really good ending. Reminded me of the Hammer House of Horror TV series.
THIS IS NOT THE LESTAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
This is not a novel it's a sermon, a rant even. Its all here God, The Devil, Creation, Angels, Heaven & Hell. You could call it The Gospel according to Rice. If you get to the bit where Lestat drinks the blood of Christ then you've done really really really well. You might think that is a really exciting part of the book but it really isn't. Nothing really happens apart from a tiny bit at the end.
first 180 pages ok
last 40 pages ok
The rest is preachy, bonkers and pointless.
The last two Mo Hayder books Gone & Skin were massive let downs. This is so much better, blighted only by the ridiculous ongoing back story involving the ever annoying Flea and the dead body of Misty.
The end of pleasure is pain.
Cults, secret societies, psychic children, terrorism.
This book is absolutely brilliant.
When I first worked in a bookshop this was THE book, everyone was reading it (except me). that was 20 odd years ago. Finally got around to reading it and I have to say it was a massive disappointment. Part Nordic Noir part boring X Files episode. I guess in the end I was gutted it wasn't aliens.
Every now and again I will read one of these “grip lit” books and, like this one, I am rarely disappointed. Does exactly what it says on the tin. It probably doesn't warrant 4 stars, but I read some reviews that I think are overly harsh so I upped it one because at the end of the day its all about being entertained, and I was.