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Quinsigamond #3
The Skin Palace
Quinsigamond has one attraction that puts it on the map: Herzog's Erotic Palace, the most luxurious pornographic theater in America. To Hugo Schick, triple-X auteur extraordinaire, the Palace is the one haven capable of housing his pathological ego. To Hermann Kinsky, crime king and mayor to the town's Bohemian ghetto, the theater is a plum prospect for takeover. More than another front for laundering semi-sour cash, the Erotic Palace may be the last place where the crime lord can find common ground with his son Jakob, heir to the mobster throne.
Yet the young prince couldn't care less about the gangster trade. Intent on becoming the noir-est director in the history of cinema, he sets out every night, camera on his shoulder, haunting Bangkok Park for the "elemental image."
On one of these forays he meets Sylvia Krafft, a photographer on her own odyssey. She discovers lodged inside an antique Aquinas camera, an unexpected key to her own shrouded past - as well as an augury for a future that rushes to meet them both.
Yet the young prince couldn't care less about the gangster trade. Intent on becoming the noir-est director in the history of cinema, he sets out every night, camera on his shoulder, haunting Bangkok Park for the "elemental image."
On one of these forays he meets Sylvia Krafft, a photographer on her own odyssey. She discovers lodged inside an antique Aquinas camera, an unexpected key to her own shrouded past - as well as an augury for a future that rushes to meet them both.
403 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
11 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
Jack O'Connell
41 books51 followersPart classic noir thriller, part mind-bending fantasy, The Resurrectionist is a wild ride into a territory where nothing is as it appears. It is the story of Sweeney, a druggist by trade, and his son, Danny, the victim of an accident that has left him in a persistent coma. Hoping for a miracle, they have come to the fortress-like Peck Clinic, whose doctors claim to have resurrected two patients who were lost in the void, hoping for a miracle. What Sweeney comes to realize, though, is that the real cure to his sons condition may lie in Limbo, a fantasy comic book world into which his son had been drawn at the time of his accident. Plunged into the intrigue that envelops the clinic, Sweeneys search for answers leads to sinister back alleys, brutal dead ends, and terrifying rabbit holes of darkness and mystery.
McConnell has crafted a mesmerizing novel about stories and what they can do for and to those who create them and those who consume them. About the nature of consciousness and the power of the unknown. About psychotic bikers, mad neurologists, and wandering circus freaks. About loss and grief and rage. And, ultimately, about forgiveness and the depth of our need to extend it and receive it.
"
McConnell has crafted a mesmerizing novel about stories and what they can do for and to those who create them and those who consume them. About the nature of consciousness and the power of the unknown. About psychotic bikers, mad neurologists, and wandering circus freaks. About loss and grief and rage. And, ultimately, about forgiveness and the depth of our need to extend it and receive it.
"
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 22, 2011
I wanted to give this a higher review but the book just feels incomplete. It feels like this should be the first book in a series of 3. At the close of the book there are many loose ends, plotlines that don't quite come together and characters that don't end up making sense. This author completely creates a new world as well as any of the greats. I got really immersed in the world of the book and the lives of the characters and felt let down by the ending of the book which feels not only incomplete but also rushed and sort of tacked on.
September 16, 2016
SKIN PALACE paints a picture of a certain kind of book. One where the adult entertainment industry is at the forefront and, being a crime novel, accompanied by an ever present underworld influence. That's not what SKIN PALACE is about. It's a character study and so much more; a steady evolution of character through a decrepit viewfinder.
True, criminalities seep into the seedy underworld of sex, drugs and adultery bringing together critical plot elements centered around film, photography and family drama to form a complex topsy turvy narrative depicted in equal parts night and day. Yet it's the lives of the characters that envelope the reader in a shroud of uncertainty, trying to figure out each angle, plot thread, and core direction of story.
A the center of all that happens in SKIN PALACE is Sylvia who's passion for photography leads her to the Canal Zone; a dangerous quadrant of the city and rabbit hole of sorts which brings together a mystery of a man, a bloodthirsty gang, and a cinema (The Skin Palace) owner who sees something in her that her partner (and lawyer) doesn't - exploitation or opportunity?
SKIN PALACE is complex, interesting, and certainly not what I was expecting - in a good way. Despite being book 3 in the Quinsigamond Quintet it reads perfectly well as a standalone. Highly recommended.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
True, criminalities seep into the seedy underworld of sex, drugs and adultery bringing together critical plot elements centered around film, photography and family drama to form a complex topsy turvy narrative depicted in equal parts night and day. Yet it's the lives of the characters that envelope the reader in a shroud of uncertainty, trying to figure out each angle, plot thread, and core direction of story.
A the center of all that happens in SKIN PALACE is Sylvia who's passion for photography leads her to the Canal Zone; a dangerous quadrant of the city and rabbit hole of sorts which brings together a mystery of a man, a bloodthirsty gang, and a cinema (The Skin Palace) owner who sees something in her that her partner (and lawyer) doesn't - exploitation or opportunity?
SKIN PALACE is complex, interesting, and certainly not what I was expecting - in a good way. Despite being book 3 in the Quinsigamond Quintet it reads perfectly well as a standalone. Highly recommended.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
February 20, 2016
The Skin Palace is one of the best novels about film that I have come across. I have read three novels by Jack O'Connell and I must say I enjoyed this one the very best.
March 23, 2018
The Skin Palace caught my eye in a used book store just off the campus of UVA. It was sitting on a shelf labeled, "one dollar." I figured I'd be getting a pretty crappy book for that value but thought why the hell not? It's only one dollar. I was actually pleasantly surprised by a pretty decent read.
It drew me in at first with what I felt was a skillfully constructed backdrop of a post industrial town. A bunch of characters were given believable motivations and set in motion to accomplish their goals in ways that would later interconnect. This was very well done. A Gang lord set out to indoctrinate his son into his empire. A nephew sought to please his patriarchal uncle. Artist sought to accomplish their life's works. Politicians were corrupted, and businessmen jockeyed for position. There was only one major problem. The main protagonist, Sylvia, who you follow through the majority of this story, seemed to have very little motivation at all.
She was sort of awash in a sea of everyone else's prerogatives. It felt less like she was moving of her own volition than her being swept up in some other character wanting her at dinner. Then another requiring her company elsewhere. At no point does she feel in control of her own actions or of her own story. She was a pinball being swatted around for the benefit of others. It was pretty explicitly admitted that this was an intentional artistic choice by the author but hinging an entire story on a leaf in the wind didn't feel well executed in this case. Besides that the conflicts at play were moderately compelling when other characters were involved, and the resolution was a bit surprising and satisfying.
On another note. I'd have liked a book titled The Skin Palace to have explored sexuality a little bit more without getting too tacky or pornographic. I mean the prudishness of a fictional religious sect was touched on, as well the exploitation of women by an, also fictional, radical feminist group, but I'd have liked it if this novel dug a little deeper in the direction of society's relationship to sex. Instead that relationship was more of a device to tell a story about corruption and other types of, in their own ways equally compelling, human relationships.
There were times I felt this book was worth two stars and others where I'd thought four. That puts it right in the middle at a 3/5 for me.
It drew me in at first with what I felt was a skillfully constructed backdrop of a post industrial town. A bunch of characters were given believable motivations and set in motion to accomplish their goals in ways that would later interconnect. This was very well done. A Gang lord set out to indoctrinate his son into his empire. A nephew sought to please his patriarchal uncle. Artist sought to accomplish their life's works. Politicians were corrupted, and businessmen jockeyed for position. There was only one major problem. The main protagonist, Sylvia, who you follow through the majority of this story, seemed to have very little motivation at all.
She was sort of awash in a sea of everyone else's prerogatives. It felt less like she was moving of her own volition than her being swept up in some other character wanting her at dinner. Then another requiring her company elsewhere. At no point does she feel in control of her own actions or of her own story. She was a pinball being swatted around for the benefit of others. It was pretty explicitly admitted that this was an intentional artistic choice by the author but hinging an entire story on a leaf in the wind didn't feel well executed in this case. Besides that the conflicts at play were moderately compelling when other characters were involved, and the resolution was a bit surprising and satisfying.
On another note. I'd have liked a book titled The Skin Palace to have explored sexuality a little bit more without getting too tacky or pornographic. I mean the prudishness of a fictional religious sect was touched on, as well the exploitation of women by an, also fictional, radical feminist group, but I'd have liked it if this novel dug a little deeper in the direction of society's relationship to sex. Instead that relationship was more of a device to tell a story about corruption and other types of, in their own ways equally compelling, human relationships.
There were times I felt this book was worth two stars and others where I'd thought four. That puts it right in the middle at a 3/5 for me.
May 11, 2020
Weird enough at first, but it grew worse and worse… On the whole this is a rather messy novel with too many story lines and too many undeveloped and stereotypical characters, haphazardly thrown together, all moaning and sighing under an overdose of symbolism about the way our modern world is ruled by the power of the image. Do not expect too many subtleties here.
My feeling is that Jack O’Connell had an idea for a novel – let’s have something noirish… with a big, apocalyptic city and some semi-organized crime by immigrant thugs, a few shady characters in the adult movie business, a legendary but elusive photographer, the mobster’s son who wants to be a cinematographer, an over-the-top tv-evangelist, feminists at war with everythings that’s male, runaway children, ánd a couple with a problematic relationship, sprinkled generously with endless film noir-titles to drive the point home – but it ran away with him, and went nowhere
My feeling is that Jack O’Connell had an idea for a novel – let’s have something noirish… with a big, apocalyptic city and some semi-organized crime by immigrant thugs, a few shady characters in the adult movie business, a legendary but elusive photographer, the mobster’s son who wants to be a cinematographer, an over-the-top tv-evangelist, feminists at war with everythings that’s male, runaway children, ánd a couple with a problematic relationship, sprinkled generously with endless film noir-titles to drive the point home – but it ran away with him, and went nowhere
October 9, 2021
The Skin Palace started off promising. Old movie theaters showing nothing but pornos, gangs, photography, political drama, murder, cheating, daddy issues, and mystery... It was cool, intriguing, and different... Took a few pages to pick up but I was really into it until the end. As someone who absolutely loves films I was so excited to dive into this one! Mixed with the dark and gloomy tones this was just 😚👌 The characters are disturbed and unhinged you've got your range of radicals, a reverend, gangsters, porno directors, budding pgotographers, and lawyers--the whole crew's here! Charot. And there's just the right amount of violence and manipulation that keeps you on your toes... Hay! This was really so promising the ~vibes~ were just perfectttt but it fell through at end why oh why!! The end felt off and unfinished. The book was just... incomplete and the major plot lines were concluded really poorly which was so unfortunate 😥
June 2, 2019
I enjoyed the book overall but as others have said the ending felt abrupt and left questions unanswered for things that seemed like important plot points
August 29, 2015
I wanted yo give this book 4 stars, its One of those books you just dont want to stop reading!
The problem comes in the last 30 pages, the end is so dissapointing, i think the author could've expand the story so much more.
Still is a good book, very entertaining!
The problem comes in the last 30 pages, the end is so dissapointing, i think the author could've expand the story so much more.
Still is a good book, very entertaining!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews