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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2023
This had an intriguing premise -- guy wakes up and finds himself trapped in a strange, secluded community/hospital called Sunnyview, ran by an eccentric mad scientist type, with no memory of how or why he's there -- and it had me hooked through the first hundred or so pages. But the endless annoying sarcasm of the main character (who also narrates the story) really grated on me over time, as did the fact that the women staff there couldn't help but sleep with him immediately upon his arrival even though he had no personality traits other than "slightly assholish". Also, there's an excessive amount of that I could not abide. I don't have many triggers when reading, but that's always been an instant turnoff, especially in a semi-realistic setting.
The mystery wasn't as compelling as it initially appeared, and my interest waned once I got the general idea of what the hell was going on. I kept hoping it'd all get weirder and more puzzling as it went as opposed to becoming more clear, but that, as well as the aforementioned negatives, are more due to my own biases and expectations, and not necessarily failings of the novel itself. It's relatively well-written, but the descriptions of day to day life in Sunnyview became monotonous after a while. Similar conversations over and over, like Groundhog Day, only dull and tedious. Your mileage may vary, but I pretty much mentally checked out at the halfway point and only continued due to some deranged sense of obligation.
It gets an extra star for the opening chapters, however.
The mystery wasn't as compelling as it initially appeared, and my interest waned once I got the general idea of what the hell was going on. I kept hoping it'd all get weirder and more puzzling as it went as opposed to becoming more clear, but that, as well as the aforementioned negatives, are more due to my own biases and expectations, and not necessarily failings of the novel itself. It's relatively well-written, but the descriptions of day to day life in Sunnyview became monotonous after a while. Similar conversations over and over, like Groundhog Day, only dull and tedious. Your mileage may vary, but I pretty much mentally checked out at the halfway point and only continued due to some deranged sense of obligation.
It gets an extra star for the opening chapters, however.
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February 29, 2012I know its a cliche, but I'm a sucker for novels with an amnesiac narrator, especially if that narrator is in the Zelazny/Heinlein vein of cutesy/sassy wise-ass who drinks too much and partakes of just-for-fun sexism and grandpa sex fantasies.
This novel was a sort of lesser The Ninth Configuration, and did sort of live up to the hype on the cover that says it's a "gripping, terrifying novel that combines the best of 1984, Brave New World and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." There was perhaps too much golf and descriptions of esoteric hand signals, and the ending was pretty lame, but I chose to read it like an 80's thriller movie, starring Ray Wise as the Moonraker-like mad scientist, Andie Macdowell as the girl, Daniel Stern as the best friend and, oh, let's say David Naughton or Steve Guttenberg as the hero. Worth a rental.
This novel was a sort of lesser The Ninth Configuration, and did sort of live up to the hype on the cover that says it's a "gripping, terrifying novel that combines the best of 1984, Brave New World and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." There was perhaps too much golf and descriptions of esoteric hand signals, and the ending was pretty lame, but I chose to read it like an 80's thriller movie, starring Ray Wise as the Moonraker-like mad scientist, Andie Macdowell as the girl, Daniel Stern as the best friend and, oh, let's say David Naughton or Steve Guttenberg as the hero. Worth a rental.
March 24, 2016
I enjoyed this book, although the ending leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews