Psychological drama
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
I started to read this book at five o'clock this afternoon, and have just finished it. I haven't done that in ages. What a brilliant piece of work.
John Dexter is an extraordinarily mentally disturbed man who has done some terrifying things (many of which are, frustratingly, only hinted at), but he's also oddly likeable. After a while the problems created by his extreme fear-of-abandonment issues seem sort of - well, understandable. You feel sympathy for him, and want to help him. Yes, this is story of love and obsession but it's also a study of the type of psychological disorders attributed to him. The book is witty, clever, street sharp and kinda cool. I loved it. Mark Barry, thank you from saving me after a short run of abandoned books! This was a breath of fresh air, albeit a psychotic one.
A couple of things I loved about the Kindle version - when John, the narrator, digresses onto another subject, usually about a film or book that might interest you, he gives the exact phrase to type into the 'search' on your reading device so, if you like, you can skip the digression and get back to the story. Marvellous! I took him up on it a few times but not in others (I found myself wanting to read Norman Mailer's 'An American Dream') - and it worked! But this book is a perfect example of something I believe - never mind all the current trends in what are or are not acceptable in novel writing, when someone writes as well as Barry does they can stray from the plot all they like.
I've had this book for over a year, and am so glad I finally got round to opening it. If you've got it on yours too, please do the same!
THE NIGHT PORTER by Mark Barry reviewed HERE
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE CITY OF CRIMINALS by Mark Barry reviewed HERE
ULTRA VIOLENCE by Mark Barry reviewed HERE
Terry, thank you for reading Carla and thank you for leaving such a positive review. You are a star! Take care, Mark xx
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