Scan barcode
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
J. Robert Lennon does a masterful job of depicting a damaged human being in Castle. When Eric Loesch returns to his home town to live, we are sure that something else is going on from the first few sentences. Although the end of the novel is foreseeable, the path to get there is full of suspense.
See my complete review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/castle/
See my complete review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/castle/
cseibs's review against another edition
3.0
While I read knowing there inevitably would be some sort of twist, I was genuinely surprised by the direction the novel took. Lennon has taken a very interesting and thoughtful look at an intractable subject.
liketheday's review against another edition
1.0
This. Book. Was. Awful. Do not read this book. Do not pick up this book, because you will think that maybe it can redeem itself and you will be wrong but you will finish the book and then your brain will hurt and you will have nothing to say except that this book is awful.
read more...
read more...
mehitabels's review against another edition
3.0
I still can't decide if I liked this book or was just too terrified to put it down without finishing it.
Reading it was like an exorcism of my bookshelf.
Reading it was like an exorcism of my bookshelf.
petitshoo's review against another edition
1.0
Not finished yet, but not digging the main character. The mystery part is finally kicking into high gear though and is keeping me reading.
UPDATE: I finished the book tonight. I only kept reading in hopes that it might get better and the storylines would come together. It just didn't work for me. Glad I"m done and can start something better.
UPDATE: I finished the book tonight. I only kept reading in hopes that it might get better and the storylines would come together. It just didn't work for me. Glad I"m done and can start something better.
robynryle's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this book off the new titles shelf in the library kind of at random, though the story line seemed really familiar, so maybe I read a review somewhere. The first part of the book, I kept thinking, this is either really good or really bad. Really good in the sense of creating a first person narrator who at first you think is somewhat normal, but for whom huge cracks start to open up in his story and his life. But then at the end it gets bad and somewhat implausible, like Lennon just got kind of lazy. But hey, the bad guy is a sociologist. That's cool.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
4.0
Lennon is one of those authors whose books I always get excited about, although I don't always love them. I think I've read all of them (six?) and they're all very different, which in itself is fascinating. This one was creepy as hell. Eric Loesch returns to his hometown, buys a house and a piece of land and starts exploring the surrounding forest. The townspeople aren't thrilled to meet him, which is understandable since he is haughty and aggressive. His parents died a violent death, and something traumatic occurred in Eric's life recently. It's obvious to the reader, though not to Eric, that he is completely unhinged. The answers to his condition turn out to be terrifying.
I stayed up all night reading this, thinking: "Surely it can't get any worse than this?" And then it did, and I thought "Well there's gotta be some hope for redemption here at least", but there wasn't. There's just evil and darkness, and it's not exactly enjoyable but it's damn good.
I stayed up all night reading this, thinking: "Surely it can't get any worse than this?" And then it did, and I thought "Well there's gotta be some hope for redemption here at least", but there wasn't. There's just evil and darkness, and it's not exactly enjoyable but it's damn good.
crazycardigan's review against another edition
3.0
This book had a really promising start. There was sort of a dark atmosphere and a slow building of suspense. Then it just sort of got ridiculous.
jdsatori's review against another edition
2.0
Spoilers!
The premise of this story is solid: an abused child returns to his hometown to get revenge on his abuser. Everything else stumbles along. The timing, for instance, is off. The first third of the book is spent watching the main character's home renovation. He "discovers" a strange, giant rock in his vast acreage of woods. He "discovers" the fact that, in the center of his acreage, someone mysterious owns a plot. He "discovers" a castle on that mysterious plot. Lo and behold, the castle and the plot are owned by his former abuser. If we're supposed to think that the main character has amnesia or PTSD (he's an Iraqi war vet, we're finally told, in the last 50 pages), it was not at all clear. Motive -- at least one of them -- should come a bit closer to the beginning of the story, not as it's wrapping up.
Also, the main character's tone was off. He snaps at people, but we don't know why this guy who's just renovating an old farm house is so bitchy. His language was stiff and formal, and felt out of place.
I kept reading to see how things ended, but even there, there were things I felt the author assumed we would figure out. I can assume, but I wanted to know. Oh, well.
The premise of this story is solid: an abused child returns to his hometown to get revenge on his abuser. Everything else stumbles along. The timing, for instance, is off. The first third of the book is spent watching the main character's home renovation. He "discovers" a strange, giant rock in his vast acreage of woods. He "discovers" the fact that, in the center of his acreage, someone mysterious owns a plot. He "discovers" a castle on that mysterious plot. Lo and behold, the castle and the plot are owned by his former abuser. If we're supposed to think that the main character has amnesia or PTSD (he's an Iraqi war vet, we're finally told, in the last 50 pages), it was not at all clear. Motive -- at least one of them -- should come a bit closer to the beginning of the story, not as it's wrapping up.
Also, the main character's tone was off. He snaps at people, but we don't know why this guy who's just renovating an old farm house is so bitchy. His language was stiff and formal, and felt out of place.
I kept reading to see how things ended, but even there, there were things I felt the author assumed we would figure out. I can assume, but I wanted to know. Oh, well.
_pickle_'s review against another edition
2.0
A quick read. Interesting, but occasionally silly. Awful dialogue, though.