Reviews

The End of the Night by John D. MacDonald

sledge_hm's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

kathrinpassig's review

2.0

Vor zwanzig Jahren mochte ich John D. MacDonald, aber beim Wiederlesen habe ich mich über dieses Buch (und die Leseprobe von "The Last One Left") geärgert, vor allem, weil Frauen hier auf die blödestmögliche Weise nur Dekomaterial sind. Aber auch alle anderen Figuren bestanden aus aufeinandergestapelten Klischees. Gekauft, weil es technisch interessant anfing (Verbrechen von der Hinrichtung an rückwärts erzählt anhand von Briefen und Dokumenten), aber die vielversprechende Konstruktion zerfällt bald (Autor steckt dann eben doch überall mit drin, Täter tut ihm den Gefallen, im Gefängnis noch schnell alles auf feine literarische Art aufzuschreiben etc.)

daviddiamond's review

4.0

Dean Koontz wrote the introduction to the edition I read and Stephen King once said: "John D. MacDonald has written a novel called The End of the Night which I would argue is one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century. It ranks with Death of a Salesman, it ranks with An American Tragedy."
Enough said.

kfrench1008's review

5.0

I've never read MacDonald before and chose this one because it's been so highly praised by Stephen King. Way ahead of its time in many ways, especially the use of multiple POV narrators. The crime is pieced together little by little and becomes more devastating the more we learn about it.

thosh's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Crime novel with many voices, moving from the execution of the killers as told by the officers on duty during the execution, to the defense attorney’s memoranda, to an omniscient third-person narrator’s account of one of the victims, to the jailhouse diary of one of the perpetrators.  Dark and painful, but very gripping tale. 

bearforester's review

3.0

This book apparently is apparently a classic of sorts. I thought it was interesting. It tells the story of a murder and a group of people on a murder spree from several different points of view. This device was done well at times, but overall, I felt it left a little lacking because some of the points of view were too incomplete. By far the most interesting part of the book to me (and the most detailed) was the accounts of Kirby, one of the murderers. His story read at times like a work of literary fiction with an ominous future hanging over it, and was fascinating.

3.5

booksaremagic's review

4.0

Unholy page turner! Couldn't put it down. It's similar to In Cold Blood in subject matter but has its own style.