Helpful Score: 11
If you like sunny happy endings or stories with characters who are clearly good, then this book isn't for you. The main character is dark, morally ambiguous, intense, obsessive, and volatile. One really gets the feel of 17th century England. The dialog is perfect, the historical details are spot on, the plot is suberb.
Helpful Score: 8
The older I get the more I want my Disney "and they all lived happily ever after" ending. Well, this isn't that. In fact, as much as you'd like to sympathize with the main character, from whose point of view the whole book is written, you can't get over the feel that he is steeped in evil. Afflicted with the Devil (or would we call him schizophrenic these days). The book is set in England in the 1600s and it is fun to figure out what the vernacular is then. The author does a great job of drawing you into the story and no sooner than you think this isn't the book for you then you realize you're hooked. I will not shy away from other novel's written by this author.
Amazing in it's detail, in the foreshadowing, in the research. One of the best books I've read all year
Helpful Score: 5
I very much enjoyed this dark novel. The historical detail is well researched and does transport one to the mid-1600's of England. The story is the inner struggle of a physically large man against his mental demons--quite a novel storyline, with some twists. If you love historical fiction, or psychological/erotic thrillers, this book will not disappoint you.
Helpful Score: 4
This story was very stark. The hero is a villian, but you find yourself accepting his frailties and hoping that he can find redemption. His weaknesses are sometimes difficult to find compassion for but that's what gives this book depth.
