Helpful Score: 2
Thriller novel fanatic? Horror movie lover? Obsessed with old Hollywood? Well, then, you've found a book that will feel as if it were uniquely and intimately written just for you.
The main character is damaged goods, an investigative journalist who discredited himself by jumping the gun and making statements he couldn't back up when looking into the life of a hermit-like underground movie director. Years later, the journalist gets a redemptive chance to look into the private life of that same genius/madman again, a powerful director who may very well have reared the perfect child...just to see to it that she sacrificed her life to a cult of pagan Satanists. But then again, when Hollyweird is involved, is any of it true? And could the protagonist go crazy trying to figure it out?
The characters are quirky and gritty, and all have solid motivations. The pace and style are both pretty good. The story involves hints of the dark internet, bitter movie goddesses of yesteryear, underground movie clubs, the supernatural, and a director who may or may not be either Dario Argento or Stanley Kubrik, depending on your viewpoint.
I loved this book and I think you will too.
The main character is damaged goods, an investigative journalist who discredited himself by jumping the gun and making statements he couldn't back up when looking into the life of a hermit-like underground movie director. Years later, the journalist gets a redemptive chance to look into the private life of that same genius/madman again, a powerful director who may very well have reared the perfect child...just to see to it that she sacrificed her life to a cult of pagan Satanists. But then again, when Hollyweird is involved, is any of it true? And could the protagonist go crazy trying to figure it out?
The characters are quirky and gritty, and all have solid motivations. The pace and style are both pretty good. The story involves hints of the dark internet, bitter movie goddesses of yesteryear, underground movie clubs, the supernatural, and a director who may or may not be either Dario Argento or Stanley Kubrik, depending on your viewpoint.
I loved this book and I think you will too.
I was initially torn between whether to give this a three or a four star rating, but the longer I've been away from the book the more it's grown on me in hindsight. I didn't like the beginning but it's an engaging thriller and hooked me within 50 pages. I guess my biggest complaints are that there are places where it seems really obviously written to be turned into a screenplay (awaiting the film deal for this one) and that the ending, while thematically appropriate, didn't really wow me. If the description seems interesting or you like thrillers in general, I would recommend it, I think it's better-written than many others in the genre if nothing else.
A little too gimmicky for me, although I did like the main characters and how they developed.
