Michael

Noir in the 21st century

Revisado: 12-31-23

Ellroy’s essay on the D.A. Was brilliant, as was his creative memoir on his weird sh*t. The Rick loves Donna trilogy of novellas was exuberant and over the top delicious in its fascist hyperbolic style that sends up right wing extremism and corruption in police departments. Craig Wasson is in top form with this narration.

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Pleasant and Nostalgic

Revisado: 09-06-23

The book starts off gritty but ends up being sticky sentimental. The turning point of the book is shocking though and redeems it.

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More than an eye in a pyramid

Revisado: 02-16-22

This is a great overview of the esoteric and hermetic influences in American thought and culture. Spiritualism and Theosophy influenced our cultural development profoundly. I enjoyed this book very much and will likely listen to it again.

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Ugly Vampires

Revisado: 02-12-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

What I liked: Narration. Very clear, very even, flows.
The setting. Authors describe NYC extremely well, Always see it clearly in the mind's eye.
Concept. The concept of the vampire plot is good, and original for the time it was written.
Technique. The writing is excellent, you always know what the characters want and where they are in space, and what they look like. Descriptions are super vivid, cinematic.

What didn't work so well for me: Too many characters. Very difficult to keep track of them all. And they all seem to have the same weight in the story. So storytelling here suffers from clutter. I get why the authors do it that way, they want it to seem like a horror movie, where characters are introduced just to then get killed. This adds to suspense and dread in a movie, but in a book it doesn't work as well. Still, I think this book will be very satisfying to certain readers. It is dated firmly in the 1980s, and there are references to 80's popular culture that may be over the heads of younger readers. A couple of respectfully rendered LGBTQ characters.

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Really Good Ideas

Revisado: 04-23-18

There are really good ideas here, primarily that of a pharmaceutical doorway into an alternate dimension (which is Hell). The book is firmly in the horror genre, with elements of science fiction and detective. The story plays out through the points of view of many characters, each with a vested interest in the drug, either to produce it in order to open the gateway for the "godhead," a gigantic Lovecraftian deity who is building a stairway to our world using the bodies of human beings who have "come to him," or to oppose that plan. Joe Hempel gives an excellent reading, making clear distinctions between characters, and evoking the lush prose without sounding affected. I liked the book for the ideas. There were a couple of surprises, where I thought a thread would lead and it went off in a totally surprising direction. The writing is really good too. You really root for the good guys towards the end, but remember, the book is horror, not fantasy, and no matter how much you want the good guys to win, the overall results are bleak.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Lackluster writing

Revisado: 01-29-17

The background of the Obeah magic was really well researched and authentic. I found the writing to lack depth. I never had the feeling that the book was other than an adapted screenplay, except for the backstories, which were interesting. Hard to maintain interest in the main character. That gets better in the last third. Peter Berkrot's performance is fine, he's a master narrator and he did his best with this book. I just didn't like the writing, I found it dull and inert. The setting and background of the story however, are superb, so it isn't a complete waste of time.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Superb Cosmic Horror

Revisado: 01-29-17

I didn't know what to expect from this book, I selected it because of the narrator. But I was almost instantly hooked. The book is a frame story with a triptych of shorter narratives within. These brought in elements from history (which were accurate) and spun them in original ways. For example the second story the one that takes place in eastern Europe, the Scholomance figures. I remember reading Dracula, and the Scholomance is mentioned twice in Bram Stoker's book, but I remembered it only from World of Warcraft. There's quite a bit about it on the internet and I was delighted to learn something about the folklore the author borrowed for his story. I love little bits of historical accuracy in period books, and this had plenty. In the third story, the whole history of Danvers State Hospital is detailed. All of it was historically accurate and also fit nicely into the narrative. This doesn't do justice to the little bits of history and literature. Like Dan Brown, the author is a polymath. It's like the Call of Cthulhu meets The DaVinci Code.

The book is a winner. I don't tend to like Lovecraft pastiche because nobody can even hold a candle to the master (except for Robert Bloch, perhaps), but Talley comes close enough for horseshoes. The idiom is antiquated, which is to say, it sounds like it might have been written in the 19th or early 20th Centuries. So it's not the kind of modern language you find in most books. That won't appeal to everyone, but I liked it; it gave a sense of mood and set the action firmly in time.

David Stifel's narration is excellent, his accents have authenticity and his characters are multidimensional. I always understood what the characters were feeling even if it wasn't explicit in the words. He knows the secret of how to make characters live.

The frame story borrows heavily on the classic Call of Cthulhu, and I resisted that for a bit until the author AGAIN put a new spin on it. Impressive writing indeed.

The horror is cosmic and I felt that several times during the book--especially during the Captain's story--being lost in a cosmic sea. This book really cooks and I'm going to listen to it again I'm sure. I'm also going to get the sequel. If you like Lovecraftian horror you will love this book--I think if you're a Lovecraft purist you might not; maybe not right away, but there's a lot here that transcends the Mythos, that draws on threads of ancient world history. It's extremely satisfying.

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In My Top Ten

Revisado: 09-17-16

This audiobook is brilliant, and among my favorites of all time. John Lee gives a stellar performance, full of heart, menace, irony, passion, triumph and wisdom. I've heard a lot of his narrations, and this is his best. The quality of the book helps, of course, and One Hundred Years of Solitude is an eternal classic. This is a recording I will treasure and will listen to again.

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Nothing to see here

Revisado: 09-17-16

I don't like to just trash a book, because writers almost always put their hearts into it, but this one is the worst I've heard in a long time. The characters are nondescript and flat. There's no tension or mystery at the heart of the story. There are too many point of view characters, so there's no tension built into the story telling. The story doesn't start until Chapter 9; everything before that is exposition and backstory. There's a kernel of a good idea here, which can be found in the story of the two brothers. The book could have been just about that relationship and it might have been more successful. And if all that isn't enough to prove its mediocrity, there's a deus ex machina in the form of a ghost that talks and behaves just like a living person. This book is a bad first draft.

Peter Berkrot is one of the best narrators in the business and he does a fine job here. But without any compelling reason to listen, I had to speed it up just so I could finish it as quickly as possible.

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Horrific Dark Fantasy

Revisado: 09-05-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. The story is great, the narrator is superb.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the frame story best, the Jaff and his eternal conflict with Fletcher. Of course, the romance is the counterpoint to that, and necessary for the book, but it didn't interest me as much. However, the plot of the book is intricate and extremely complex, and may take multiple readings to get it all.

Which scene was your favorite?

All the scenes that deal with the Art and its background.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, I loved the moment in Trinity when [SPOILER OMITTED]

Any additional comments?

I read this book in print when it first was released in 1989. I became a fan of Clive Barker after reading Weaveworld, which is my favorite, and I enjoyed this book when I read it. The final scene in Trinity is well worth the effort. Chet Williamson does a superb job differentiating the characters so you always know who's speaking. His tone is pleasant and his delivery smooth. I enjoyed this book and recommend it. Clive Barker reminds me of Neil Gaiman in idiom and diction. But he's far darker, less precious, and more interesting. Gaiman has a world-class storytelling talent that Barker can't quite match. Clive Barker's world building talent leaves Gaiman in the dust. I like them both but Barker has the edge. All of Clive Barker's books feature byzantine plots which are constructed of layered subplots and because they're so epic sometimes they aren't as satisfying as other books.

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