Book Description
Ross Poldark sits for the borough of Truro as Member of Parliament—his time divided between London and Cornwall, his heart divided still about his wife, Demelza. His old feud with George Warleggan still flares, as does the illicit love between Morwenna and Drake, Demelza's brother.
Customer Reviews:
1798-1799.......2006-10-24
Metaphorically The Angry Tide is a novel well-named. This is the watershed volume in the series, and also the one that breaks from the eighteenth-century which readers of Poldark had heretofore known, and brings to conclusion many storylines, situations....and characters. Death is more plentiful in this Poldark book than in any other, if not in all others combined. Several central figures do not survive this story, and one who is lost here is not only someone known from the series' start, but a person surely everyone had thought truly irreplaceable: which this person was, for the series is never the same afterward, nor is the shadow cast by this figure's death ever absent in the five books that bring Poldark to its 1820 conclusion.
In The Angry Tide, Captain Ross Poldark, a man of independent thought, is elected a member of parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall, and he and Demelza travel by coach across the breadth of England, arriving in a London splendidly described by Winston Graham. (After the chapter that sets the characters firmly in the capital, you'll feel as if you've just taken a guided tour of the world's largest city in the concluding years of the 1700's.) In London, Ross and Demelza settle in only to be swept up into the tide of political life and intrigue, as the nation gossips of little else besides the new man of the hour, whose reputation as a master of warfare carries his name fearfully to every mind: Napoleon Bonaparte. Elsewhere, Elizabeth, desperate to heal the rift in her marriage to George, takes the most drastic step imaginable and consults with a famed foreign obstetrician, intend on inducing premature birth of the child she carries, hoping a second premature delivery might lay to rest George's doubts about his being the father of her son, Valentine. In another marriage in the series, the portly, despicable Reverend Osborne Whitworth, far from a sinless clergyman, rediscovers the charms of a more than willing substitute for his psychologically traumatized wife Morwenna, and in so doing gets more than he could ever have bargained for. And lastly in London, the calculating George Warleggan befriends a sadistic former infantry officer, a man who loves killing and fears no one, a celebrated marksman who has emerged the victor in many past duels, and whose lust for Demelza---and distaste for Ross---comes to a head with pistols at dawn in one of the city's parks...
Book Description
Amy and Kelly have made a home in the sleepy community of Bath Island, Maine. However, their three year relationship has become choppy and Kelly wonders if she wants to spend the rest of her life being the target of her lover's razor-sharp tongue.
Then Susan arrives on the Island with a new venture that would be long on economic opportunities but short on maintaining the island's natural beauty.
Sparks fly, not only over how the island will be developed, but also as Susan's interest in one of the women becomes more than a friendship.
As complications develop, Susan finds herself at odds with everyone - including her new love interest. Will Susan be able to hold it all together and finally find the one woman who touches her soul?
Customer Reviews:
How long do you hold onto a relationship?.......2006-05-29
Diana Tremain Braund has written a number of books and this one adds to her record for rich story telling. The central question in this book is, how long do you hold onto a relationship that is no longer working? How long do you stay loyal to a commitment and resist the temptation provided by what could be a more fulfilling life? Amy Day and Kelly Burns live on Bath Island, Maine. Their relationship has been unsatisfactory for Kelly for a long time. Amy can be loving and kind, but most of the time she is emotionally abusive towards Kelly and hypercritical of whatever she does. Kelly is trying to hang on to make the situation work because she doesn't believe that you walk out on a commitment, but she is suffering greatly in silence. All of that will begin to change when Susan Iogen arrives on the island. Susan is the publicity representative for a company that wants to use the island for a liquid natural gas depot. The opposition to the project organizes quickly with Amy as its leader, but Kelly stays out of most of the activities because she is busy at work. Eventually, Kelly meets Susan, who represents the antithesis of everything Amy believes in, but who holds a special attraction for Kelly. As Amy becomes more immersed in the fight against the company, Kelly and Susan are drawn together, leading to an eventual betrayal. Kelly breaks the rules and the reader is left to decide if her actions are a justified reaction to Amy's behavior or a selfish indulgence. How will Kelly resolve the situation she then finds herself in? This is a book worth reading.
Book Description
This dazzling novel from a fiercely talented young writer -- winner of the 2001 National Magazine Award for Fiction -- follows a woman whose indelible crime of passion leaves no one and nothing unscathed. The City Is a Rising Tide unfolds against a stunning backdrop of history, culture, and landscape -- from the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze to the refined vistas of Central Park, from the Cultural Revolution to the surreal world of moviemaking.
In New York City, Justine Laxness works as a money manager at a nonprofit, the Aquinas Foundation. Justine's love for her boss, Peter, is unrequited, despite their deep friendship and extensive history: they first met in the early 1970s, when Justine was a child living in Beijing with her Christian family. Peter, then twenty-eight and stationed in China while working for Richard Nixon, had fallen in love with Justine's nanny, Su Chen -- a Communist revolutionary under Mao -- and still feels guilt for his part in her disappearance and death.
Justine's obsession with Peter spurs her to embezzle funds from Aquinas and lend the money to James Nutter, a screenwriter and old college flame who has resurfaced in Justine's life after ten years. But every action she takes will have unforeseen ramifications, creating a tidal wave of betrayal and destruction. Lyrical and suspenseful by turns, The City Is a Rising Tide is an enchanting work of luminous prose and uncommon imagination.
Customer Reviews:
Great characters.......2007-07-06
What a terrific read. Lee's lyrical prose is put to great use in this novel. The characters feel like old friends.
WONDERFUL, MAGICAL PROSE.......2007-07-05
As a poet (Sunlight from Another Day) I strive for the kinds of comparisons that Lee uses. They're deep and distinctive - and lyrical. I'll just say "ditto" to all the 5-star reviews here. Lee is a Master. A transformational writer.
(I thought the ending made for a fine sense of the continuing Journey Home that we're all on - no matter what else may happen in our lives. See Harold Klemp's books for the best on this?)
The City is a Rising Tide is a masterful, absorbing novel.......2007-04-09
Lovely, witty The City is a Rising Tide is full of lyrical prose and insight: "it seems ridiculous that you can just reach out and touch a person whenever you feel like it"; "sleep in its mercy pulling the plug on their personalities." Each short chapter has moments of richly rendered, unconventional wisdom. And each character in the book's absorbing, unusual plot is singular and idiosyncratic, not one of them representative of any idea or genre, only themselves.
If Only the City Were a Vistula.......2007-01-09
I first became a Rebecca Lee fan years ago when I came across her story "The Banks of the Vistula" online. It's a great story. The prose is limpid. It's lucid. It's luminous. Seriously. I've had people tell me they feel the prose is overdone, but those people are crazy. It's great prose, and a great story. In fact, I think it's one of the best short stories to be written in, oh, let's say, the last 30 years.
I even wrote Lee a fan email at that time. She didn't write back, but hey, I don't hold a grudge.
Needless to say, then, I was very much looking forward to the publication of her first novel, which is this. She published; I ordered and read it. And enjoyed it, very much. I'm sorry to say, though, that I agree with the earlier reviewer who mentioned that the ending of the book felt rushed.
I'm just guessing, of course, but to me it seemed like the writer couldn't decide quite what to do with the ending, and thus lingered over it a long time. Perhaps overly long. Who knows, perhaps she didn't want a traditional narrative arc. Maybe she doesn't like packages tied up with ribbons.
If so, I respect that.
Nevertheless, this package felt dumped into the gift bag a little too hastily. I could have used just a tad more "Hi this is Holden I'm writing to you from the looney bin to let you know everything is okay" at the end.
Does this mean, though, that I do not heartily endorse the book? Certainly not. I mean really, do you read for plot? Or do you read for great, perfect, singular characterizations; for lucid, limpid, luminous prose; and for books and stories that, regardless of the scope of the world they protray, turn a searchlight onto some aspect of human nature?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
lyrical madness.......2006-11-10
This story is disquieting, off-beat, humorous, thought-provoking, but most of all, it is written in a compelling lyrical voice that slowly draws you in. I'll look for more from Rebecca Lee.
Average customer rating:
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At Passion's Tide
Manufacturer: A Jove Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0515056391 |
Product Description
Romance Novel
Average customer rating:
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Fortune's Tide
Manufacturer: Paradise Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1576574040 |
Product Description
A proud, beautiful woman pays the price of passion ovr a man with a fearsome secret.
Average customer rating:
- Unforgettable
- Great read
- A great read
- The best book I have read for ages.
- ADDICTIVE READING
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Tides Must Turn
Gaynor Hensman
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1412033691
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Book Description
Her hands lay limply in her lap and if Joyce looked closely she could see the small broken pieces of skin and minuscule areas of scar tissue, which were the remnants of Melissa's habit of biting at her fingers around the nails when she was anxious, nervous or excited. Her legs swayed very slightly in the space between the high hospital bed and the floor below. Then very slowly, her voice almost inaudible like a whisper from the past, she began to speak and as she did so Joyce took her hand and stroked it affirming an unspoken trust that now seemed to exist between them.
Autumn, 1971 - what will Melissa reveal to the midwife, Joyce, about the three years preceding the birth of this baby girl she seems determined to reject? Will she reveal who the father is? More importantly will she be able to share with Joyce the most awful secret of all?
Spring, 1969 - Melissa is 15 and her world changes forever when she meets the artist and teacher - Jonathan. He tells her she looks uncannily like Lizzy Siddal the artist's model who married Rossetti and died so tragically. When Melissa models for Jonathan secretly can they develop a friendship that is purely platonic when both of them want more?
This is a story of the pain and pleasure of first love, of friendship and unconditional loyalty, of sexual awakening and discovery, of unbearable choices and ultimately of hope - without which there is no future.
From Lancashire and London in England to Toledo and Barcelona in Spain we touch on the lives of many characters most of whom harbour their own secrets. Often hilarious and at times heartbreaking this powerful and evocative novel contains a devastating twist that is totally unpredictable.
Customer Reviews:
Unforgettable .......2006-07-20
I honestly could not put it down when I read it in May and have even begun to read it over again. A great book to take in the garden with a glass of wine and some chocolates. I was carried away by the superb storytelling and descriptions. It is a book most women would identify with - the challenges and emotional roller-coaster of Melissa's life certainly reflect some of my own. I came to the end of this book wanting answers and felt that perhaps there would be a sequel. I hope so.
Great read.......2006-05-02
I do not usually write reviews but when I had finally put this novel down I felt that I had to say how great it was. I was gripped from the prologue until the final page of the epilogue . I really felt transported especially when the story took us to Spain. I loved the characters in the village.They made me laugh out loud which embarassed my husband!
I was moved by the awful choices that the main character had to make and it was not until the final pages that I realsied why she made them. This caharcter, Melissa, was so believable and likeable too.
A good book to take on holiday especially if you have a long plane journey - it will transport you. Take care though you may laugh or cry out loud.
A great read.......2005-06-21
My wife bought this book and really enjoyed it.
I found myself reading it one day and even though I suspect it is aimed mainly at women, I found myself turning the pages and getting involved in the story.
It helped that I was a young man in the sixties and remembered much of the music and also was a fan of Leonard Cohen. The atmosphere of the time is well brought out and I enjoyed the humour. There are some very funny scenes in the village in Spain which appears in a few chapters.
What happened towards the end came as a shock - it was cleverly done - I won't give it away.
I think men can enjoy this book - I did.
The best book I have read for ages........2005-06-09
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel which I was unable to put down. I read it in two days and felt both sadness and hope at the end. All the characters are believable and the storyline has a twist towards the end that I was totally unprepared for.
I felt that the chapters in Spain were very well observed and I especially enjoyed the school trip to Barcelona. Gaynor Hensman skillfully recreated the atmosphere of the 1960s and I could almost have been back there telling off my own daughter for listening to Leonard Cohen in her darkened room with joss sticks burning.
Can't wait for the next book.
ADDICTIVE READING.......2005-06-05
I simply had to keep reading this wonderful book to see what happened to Melissa and Jonathan.
Why did she love Leonard Cohen's music so much and why did her best friend, Susan, think it was depressing? Would she sleep with her teacher Jonathan when she went to model for him in his secluded studio? What would happen to them both if she did? What was the secret she kept for so many years until a stranger knocked on her door?
What was the surprise Jonathan's Spanish mother, Maria Luisa, had in store when she revealed what had happened to her towards the end of the Spanish Civil War?
So many questions posed. The whole book was filled with humour and sadness and reflected the world as it had been in the late 1960's. I am so glad I did not have to make the choice Melissa was faced with and I am so glad I discovered this book.
Average customer rating:
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Tides of Passion
Sara Orwig
Manufacturer: Onyx
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0451400356 |
Book Description
A devil's bargain
Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!
Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.
But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.
Download Description
"
A devil's bargain
Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!
Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.
But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.
"
Customer Reviews:
Devil In Winter.......2007-09-16
I like the humor, the romance, and the way the female took control of her life in the beganing. I like how he protected her and took care of her.
I wish the there was more of a challege for him for her,with another man in the picture (good or bad person).
Shy Stuttering Wallflower Propositions Rake.......2007-09-11
The third in the Wallflower series is Evie Jenner, the painfully shy stuttering girl who is being abused by her fortune seeking relatives. Upon discovering that they are going to force her to marry her grossly obese and cruel cousin to gain her fortune, Evie escapes and goes to the home of the shameless rake, Sebastian St. Vincent, the same man who tries to kidnap Lillian in the second book to marry her for her fortune. Sebastian has never given Evie a second look, trying to hold a conversation with her is a nightmare but when she proposes marrying him to escape her relatives he knows he can't refuse, he must marry a fortune. Evie's proposition is to go to Gretna Green for a hasty marriage and even hastier consummation to make it legal, but from then on out no more intimacy. All Evie wants is to take care of her father until he dies and to have enough money to live comfortably on...Sebastian should be happy at his good fortune...a wife who is giving him permission to take her money and to pursue any other woman he wants...the problem is he doesn't seem to want any other women anymore. However, can he convince Evie that the best husbands really are reformed rakes. Evie can't help it, she sees things in Sebastian that he has taken great pains to conceal but she will not allow him to touch her if he can't guarantee monogamy...to test his self control, she makes a deal...if Sebastian can remain celibate for 3 months, she will resume physical relations with him...
This was a passionate, sweet story. I wish the author would have taken a little bit more time explaining what made Sebastian act the way he does, but still nothing is lost in the story you just want a little more sometimes.
splendid...........2007-08-02
While the second book (It Happened One Autumn) to this quartet still holds the number spot on my book shelf...this one does come close! It was a pleasant surprise to see the author include characters from her other novels (characters like Derek Craven, Ivo Jenner...). It did not click in my mind that Evie was the daughter of Ivo Jenner... the same Jenner that I read about in "Dreaming of You", who was also portrayed as the antagonist in that book. He was mentioned in the first book of this quartet, but not until this particular book did it all come together...and it was quite a delight!
I also loved the story itself...I was never bored with this book. It wasn't as funny as the second book, but I liked how Evie and Sebastian bickered playfully. The characters were great...Evie finally developed into an outspoken little vixen and Sebastian was able to give his heart to a woman he least expected! I loved the passion and the excitement and of course the re-appearance of the other wallflowers- esp. that little scandalous scene with Daisy. I can't wait to read the 4th book! I'm starting it tomorrow.
I definitely reccomend this book...fantastic and splendid to the core!
Umm was he supposed to say that?.......2007-07-27
I really love LK's wallflower series. I couldn't say enough nice things about it. But something truly bothered me with this particular book. It wasn't the fact that Evie was weak because she proves to be strong. It wasn't the romance or the steamy love scenes because they turn out to be very hot. It was the way that St. Vincent (Sebastian) spoke to Evie. This really bothered me for some reason. In the book he calls her a bitch and a coward and a few other things that are sort of degrading. She just came from a home where she was physically and mentally abused. Yet she still manages to fall in love with the cad. I think Evie could've done without some of the abuse he was laying on her.
However, as the story proceeds, you can tell that Evie's just the girl to break the ice around Sebastian's heart. She cracks a little piece every day they're united, all while gaining her sense of self worth. The love that finally blossoms between these two is something that just makes you smile. Wonderful read (even with the some of the harshness) highly recommended.
Great book...although it seems very familiar........2007-07-16
This book is very entertaining...but the hero seems very like Derek Craven from "Dreaming of You", not that I'm complaining because is one of my favorite characters of all time! So I still thoroughly enjoyed this book!
Customer Reviews:
Lisa Kleypas "The Wallflowers" Series.......2007-03-15
"The Wallflower" Series by Lisa Kleypas includes 4 novels. All four were very enjoyable. I couldn't pick a favorite. They were all books that you just didn't want to put down. I highly recommend them and think that they are four of her best books.
Average customer rating:
- True horror?! The fact that this book even got published.
- Duet for the Devil - HORRIBLE AND BORING
- Worthless and Disappointing...
- Four Stars for Effort, but Geez...
- An Unprecedented Reading Experience...But Be Prepared!
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Duet for the Devil
T. Winter-Damon , and
Randy Chandler
Manufacturer: Necro Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1889186163 |
Book Description
DUET FOR THE DEVIL is a brutal and grim tale of The Zodiac Killer, serial slayers, drugs, dark gods, black magicks, detectives, and a dog-a road trip to oblivion. You've never read a hardboiled crime/erotic horror novel anything like this before- DUET FOR THE DEVIL completely redefines the meaning of extreme...and shatters, once and for all, the perceived limits of hardcore horror...
Customer Reviews:
True horror?! The fact that this book even got published........2006-08-30
Reading some of the other reviews of this book, makes me wonder if we were all reading the same book. I have been a fan of "gorror" or extreme hardcore horror books for some time but this book scared me in a totally new way. I have never read a book so incomprehensible in my life. When I started reading this genre, I never expected to be astounded by any level of literary masterpieces, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
Maybe it was the intentional poor use of punctuation or the use of "&" instead of "and", but this book was seriously painful to read. In fact, I think the writing was so bad that I lost all interest in the plights of the characters in the book as I felt too much pity for myself in trying to read this book. I finished it in about 20 sittings (which should say something for itself) and even now, I have no clue what the book was about.
Who knows, maybe there is a gem of a storyline in there, but with that writing... I really could not care less.
Duet for the Devil - HORRIBLE AND BORING.......2004-03-29
When I first got this book, I could not wait to read it. I got thru the first 50 pages, and had to throw the damn thing in the garbage. It was like reading a book written by 10 diffrent people, none knowing what the other was writing about. Was it gory, sure but it was also horribly boring!! I love books, and would not throw away any book that comes into my hands, but there is always a first, and this was the one that did it. I would not suggest this book to anyone for any reason (except maybe to tranzilize you before bed).
Worthless and Disappointing..........2002-12-01
After reading the reviews here, I had braced myself for the gore and sex. I knew it would be an issue. But after reading the paragraph exerpts posted by a reviewer below, I was too slicked up for this novel to not pursue it. What I was shocked to find out, was that the gore and sex did not offend (though it is most certainly a five star effort at being the most offensive), but rather that it bored.
After getting a few pages into the book, I began to wonder if this was anything but an exercise in the production of one extended, violent paper orgy. Much to my disappointment, every section I skipped to seemed to dawdle in the explanation of every disgusting orgasmic detail of some murderer, rapist, or teenage slut.
Granted, I'll give you that Lee does know how to turn a phrase now and then. And that's what's so disappointing. He knows how to write. He shows you that. Then proceeds to dawdle in these bloody rape fantasies that show only the most thin shreds of some boring plot, a plot that's used as an excuse only to delve deeper into some teenage masturbatory outburst.
I can't help but feel that Lee gave up a few miles back down the road; found it too difficult to pursue a real talent that shines somewhere, underneath, and has now succumb to whatever this mess is. I hate to see talent wasted, but if you enjoy watching that kind of trainwreck novel, by all means. Pick up this book.
Four Stars for Effort, but Geez..........2002-11-06
The back cover of this book trumpets the statement, "Quite Possibly The Most Extreme Novel Ever Published." There is even an introduction written by gross out king Ed Lee, who proclaims this book, "Grosser than anything I've ever written or ever read." With a tagline and endorsement like that, "Duet for the Devil" has a high mountain to climb. How could this possibly be worse than anything the Marquis De Sade wrote? Well, it isn't. But that is not saying much. "Duet for the Devil" is still an obscene, disgusting, pornographic romp through a modern day America filled with serial killers, rapists, drug users, evil corporations, Satanists, and general freaks.
The book starts with almost fifteen pages of quotations and excerpts from the works of such diverse artists as Charles Baudelaire, Robert De Grimston (founder of the Process Church of the Final Judgment), Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, David Berkowitz (the Son of Sam killer), Richard Ramirez (the L.A. Nightstalker), Zodiac, and Charles Manson. The inclusion of these quotes and statements is apparently supposed to set the tone of the book, and it does to some extent, even if it is a tone that will leave a taste akin to burning tires in your mouth.
It is a bit difficult to summarize the plot lines of this story because the two authors like to engage in numerous word plays, stream-of-consciousness constructions, and the use of "&" in place of "and." On the surface, the story is about the Zodiac killer, the maniac who killed several people in California back in the 1970's. Unfortunately, Zodiac did not go away, but has been rambling about America for some twenty years killing scads of people along the way. Accompanied by a scuzzbag and his sociopathic prepubescent daughter, Zodiac likes to change his methods of killing to confound local police and mix up the madness a bit. We discover that Zodiac is a genius with a propensity towards fits of rage and frothing at the mouth diatribes that invoke satanic themes and other such nonsense. In a country full of sickos, Zodiac is the high priest of human detritus.
Hot on the trail of Zodiac is former FBI agent Warren "Frank" Hawkes and his faithful canine sidekick Elijah. Hawkes is obsessed with tracking Zodiac down and putting an end to his sick rampage once and for all. Frank roams the highways of America in his constant pursuit to track down a killer who makes Theodore Bundy look like Captain Kangaroo.
Also weaving a gruesome path through this story is Professor Punk (yes, that's his name), an old acidhead with a talent for mixing up new and exciting drugs. His most effective concoction is Blue Devil, a drug that allows the user to mentally connect to other people's minds. When one nasty thug (by the name of Slice) happens to overdose on the junk, he turns into a rather nasty sort of chap. Punk must then track down the metamorphosing Slice while trying to locate his old buddy Zodiac.
This is truly a taxing book to read, as even the most jaded horror fan begins to wear down under the sheer onslaught of pornographic violence, murder, and general mayhem found on every page of the book. It really isn't the graphic nature of the book that gets under your skin; it is the duration of the sickness that grates. Reading dozens and dozens of pages concerning the torture/murder of a young woman or a detailed account of sexual depravity just isn't fun. In fact, it is sick beyond belief. Not the type of people to leave well enough alone, the authors try to break down accepted boundaries and create something truly dreadful, but give me a break! It is hard not to read this and wonder, "What do the parents of these two guys think about what their sons do for a living?"
Having voiced some well-deserved displeasure over the gratuitousness of the whole thing, it should be said some parts of the book are clever and show the authors to be well read individuals with a flair for the English language. A section deciphering clues Zodiac left in his letters to the cops in San Francisco is fun to read as well. Regrettably, these sparks nearly sputter out due to the excessively brutal aspects of the book.
There are no heroes in this novel, as even Hawkes turns out to be a degenerate. Every character turns out to be deeply flawed; perhaps in an attempt to show that good in the world is nonexistent (The authors refer to humanity as "mancruel" versus "mankind," emphasizing their beliefs about the true nature of our species). There are better ways to be nihilistic, however, and "Duet for the Devil" teeters precariously on the precipice of utter garbage. Still, serious gorehounds will want to add this to their library, even if it does become too much at times.
An Unprecedented Reading Experience...But Be Prepared!.......2002-01-19
During the 1990's when "Duet for the Devil" was a work-in-progress, excerpts from the novel appeared in small press, underground and specialty press publications whetting the appetite of readers who craved something beyond the conventional, run-of-the-mill serial killer novels typified by the likes of John Sanders' tediously repetitive "Prey" series and James Patterson's downright insulting "nursery rhyme" nonsense.
Despite the high concept and top-notch writing, mainstream magazines shied away from the material deeming the content too controversial and the presentation too provocatively graphic. Most major publishing houses refused outright to even consider the novel, while others demanded extensive cuts that the authors refused to accept. "Duet", it seemed, promised the real thing: a startingly original and ferocious take on what had become a genre unto itself in which writers cannibalized each other's ideas and regurgitated what amounted to the same-book/different-title every month.
After more than a decade in development and arriving, appropriately enough, on the cusp of a New Millennium, "Duet for the Devil" not only surpasses expectations, it pulverizes the competition. Its pyrotechnic, hallucinatory style translates into a poetry of pain and perversion, each sadistic stanza a catalogue of concentrated cruelty and hemorrhaging horror-haiku. It's a bad brown-blotter acid trip where your worst nightmares are on steroids and coming at you from all sides...including the depths of your very own soul.
Centering around the hunt for the notorious Zodiac Killer, the characters include former FBI agent Frank Hawkes and his faithful pooch, Elijah, together a tormented "Todd" and beastial buddy "Buzz" barreling down Route 666 in search of some very real demons; Mal, Snuff and his daughter, Julie, a viciously twisted trio of a nuclear "family" that slays together using the most horrific, almost unimaginable, methods; Slice, the erstwhile "Bard of Bones" now into "creative carnage" whose artistic abominations are experienced vicariously by hitman Pynchon and Professor Punk via a mind-linking drug called "Blue Devil".
Clever sleuthing, posited on some remarkably logical suppositions as to the true identy of the Zodiac Killer, adds an unexpected dimension of real-life suspense to an already tense narrative packed with an arsenal of condensed, over-the-top descriptive passages, such as:
"Pedro draws his .45, but two rounds hit him in
the throat, ripping fist-sized bursts of flesh from
his neck, all but tearing his skull from his shoulders,
his head connected only by stray strands of nerve &
tendon & the shattered links of vertebrae, like some
obscene parody of one of those red glistening candy-
apples-on-a-stick..."
and
"He clenches the hefty six-inch cylinder in his fist.
Whips it out, blitz-flicking his wrist, sleek chromed
shafts telescoping, slithering out with a metallic
whisper & a clink, as 10 inches of cool tactical steel
snap-lock into fixed position, extending his reach
beyond the baton's hilt..."
"Duet for the Devil" is by no means an "easy read". It makes emotional, intellectual and psychological demands that some readers may not be able to accomodate. It is an audacious, extraordinarily uncompromising sledgehammer of a novel, relentless in its depiction of mayhem, depravity and psychotic disintegration, and quite unlike anything you have ever encountered. It is one mean road trip to Oblivion, but if you think you can handle it then, by all means, hitch a ride.
Product Description
Set of Five mass market paperbacks. Various dates of publication.
Product Description
Four condensed books...A Cry in the Night, Indian Summer of the Heart, Touch the Devil, and Winter of the White Seal.
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