Reviews

Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell

lulublanche368's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Minor: Rape

kmt75's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

It's not very good. 

kylionsfan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

evesn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

defaultnamespace's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kurbanski's review

challenging dark mysterious

4.5

lydzzz357's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

shelbys_shelves's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I knew Cold Moon Over Babylon was going to be a 5 star read just by the description. A girl is murdered and comes back from the dead as a vengeful spirit to exact revenge on her killer??? Sign me up!

This was such a well written, tense read. It had me pacing in my kitchen while flipping page after page. Michael McDowell has such a wonderful writing style and he really knows how to write villains/unlikable characters. Absolutely one of my favorite books.

the_enobee's review against another edition

5.0

Have I ever enjoyed reading any book as much as I enjoyed this? That's a close one, and good enough for 5 stars in my book. I was genuinely shocked at the human exploits, incredibly sympathetic to the characters, in awe of the dialogue and adept rendering of scenes, and the ghosts are amazing in spook factor and creativity. McDowell is so good, it's not really fair to rate him in comparison to others. In comparison to himself, the only thing I've read better is The Elementals, and I rate that highest because I absolutely adore those characters and practically view them as real people.

Of course, still have the big bad daddy of Blackwater to read, so my verdict is premature. Looking forward to the upcoming Valancourt releases of McDowell this year in print and audio!

knightofswords's review against another edition

4.0

Utterly merciless Southern gothic - I'm amazed that McDowell hasn't been re-discovered by a larger audience in recent years, he was a fantastic writer.