3.4 AVERAGE

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stevienic's review

2.5
challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Compulsively readable mystery with great characters. Life in a small town is as much a character as any of the principles.

Sort of Stephen King-ish without the gross parts. I liked it but found it hard to keep up with all the characters.

The fact that I asked myself “What the hell did I just read?” should tell you all you need to know.

This was my first foray into Stephen Dobyns, but I doubt it will be my last. I read it on the heavy recommendation from Stephen King and was not at all disappointed. It took a while initially to get into the multiple points of view changes, but Dobyns fully realized all his characters. Nothing was tangential and every character's voice was unique and important to the story. The plot kept me guessing and I was addicted - gobbled it whole in 4 days. Highly recommend this one for your next summer page-turner.

Mix a police procedural with a little X-files and a droll narration and twisted (and twisty) sense of humor and you conjure The Burn Palace. It's fun without being too light and tense without being too dark.

This book was incredibly well-done. It is very Stephen King-esque, but does not feel at all like someone trying to mock King. It feels like someone influenced by King in the best way.

You get to know an entire town, you're kept guessing throughout the book, and there is a perfect mix of supernatural and good old mystery.

Highly recommend for a fast, entertaining read.

Not a perfect book. But the combination of the deliciously deadpan writing and a twisty, piece-by-piece plot was worth a bump-up to five stars. At its core, the book is a police procedural, with bad guys and good guys and murders, like thousands--millions--of other crime fiction novels. What sets it apart is the narration, which sees deep into each character--their human foibles, their unique charm.

The first chapter of the book was the most fun I've had reading in months, as the omniscient narrator swoops around Brewster, Rhode Island and sets many scenes, tickling the readers with clues--are they really clues?-- and character sketches. There's a touch of the supernatural.

In the last chapter, it feels as if Dobyns is forced to corral a completely out-of-control and sprawling plot with the requisite bang of an ending. Until that point, however, it's by turns whimsical and horrifying, and always cleverly written.

UGH. This was so bad. Seriously awful. I didn't give a shit about any of the characters, then tense kept changing from past to present to past, and the author kept tossing in slurs out of context. Barf.

I picked this book up two or three times before I was able to get into it. It just didn't hook me right away-I think my main issue was that Dobyn's writing is really descriptive and often verbose. Ultimately, that worked slightly in the novel's favor by elevating the prose beyond that of a typical small-town crime story, but it made getting into the book difficult. To be honest, I didn't like The Burn Palace much until I was about halfway through. It's not terribly engaging, and the many plot threads are pretty scattered and disparate, even up to the resolution. Not to mention the fact that I really hate it when police characters break the law or fudge their responsibilities, even in pursuit of criminals. It really freaks me out, and there was a lot of police bullying other people to get evidence and warrants in this book. It was supposed to come across as powerful and determined officers of the law seeking justice and capturing criminals, but to me it read as police brutality and aggression. Not to mention that there was a pretty heavy layer of misogyny over this entire book, which I hated. On the other hand, there are a few things the book has going for it: really unique, complex, and quirky characters that demonstrate very few stereotypes, a few really bizarre mysteries, and a really successful cultivation of that small-town feeling. In sum, The Burn Palace has many weaknesses which, in my view, simply weren't be offset by its strengths. If you want to read a good small-town crime or horror novel, there are many better authors who write them: Christopher Rice, Stephen King, & Nick Antosca are all good examples. While The Burn Palace provided some solid entertainment and certainly had its merits, I probably won't be looking to read anything else by Stephen Dobyns.