- Mass Market Paperback: 260 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Australia; Reissue edition (25 May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140280510
- ISBN-13: 978-0140280517
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,656,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Synopsis
In the wake of his brother Billy's murder, young Ray Johnson must relive the violence that has marred his family while the police track down the killer. A first novel. Reprint.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Billy Dead by Lisa Reardon reads a lot like a television miniseries, that is quite intriguing but lacks any real substance. There was a part of me that would have wanted to rant about how horrible this book was, but it wasn't. I did fnd myself pushing through this book wanting to know how things would work out between Ray, his sister, and his family, in the same way that gives miniseries and TV talk shows their appeal. You just want to learn mor about their dirty laundry and see things finally work out in their own twisted way. This is the one thing that drew me in about this book. However, Lisa Reardon should really stick to writing about what she knows. It was obvious in reading this that she has never been in rural Michigan for any amount of time. I have doubts as to how much she knows about rural life at all. I was not convinced by the narrator of much of what he was telling me much because of this. Also, the plotline and the characterizations are a major slam against lower-class families. Most of her characters are based on cheap stereotypes and lack any real substance as human beings. Finally, this book might have worked better for me if she didn't try to write it from a man's point of view. It was less than geunine, shifting from machismo sterotypes to a falsely feminine inner voice. Ms. Reardon does a horrible job of trying to speak from a man's perspective, and it shows. Overall, this could have been a better book had she taken the time to learn about her subject, and told the story from a more geuine perspective.
Format:Hardcover
As I happily read my way through this fascinating book, I, like any hopeless romantic, wanted our hero to end up carting his true love off to a pretty little cottage with a white picket fence. Every night for a week I would breathe a deep sigh, put the book aside, turn out the light, and drift off to sleep. But every night just before my brain and body yielded to a night of dreams, a jarring thought raced through my head. "Do you realize that you are hoping that our hero finds true happiness with his sister?"
The highly dysfunctional Johnson family fits nicely into the socio-economic class informally know as trailer trash. Somewhere in the history of this family an elder must have neglected to pass down information on whom one does and does not have sex with. As a result of this information gap the Johnsons seem to have established no restrictions on their sexual activity. Yet, seamy as this is, we develop a certain fondness for brother Ray, the book's narrator. Part of the reason for this is that Ray doesn't talk like someone with highly defective genes. Sure, the author has him using a few verbs in the wrong tense, but he still sounds as intelligent as many of my buddies in graduate school.
What is astounding is that Lisa Reardon, a New York City resident with a Master in Fine Arts from Yale School of Drama, would decide to get inside the head of a small town, good ole boy from rural Michigan. She does a pretty good job of it. You may well like reading it, but of course you can't tell anyone you enjoyed it. What would they think of you?
Format:Hardcover
I am a counselor. A client handed me this book and said that I needed to read it. She was right. Somehow Lisa Reardon managed to make me understand things that I would normally not look at so sympathetically. It was as if I was sitting next to Ray and watching his world right along with him. The book simply can't be put down until it is finished. I look forward to more from Lisa Reardon.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Readable, but lacking.
Billy Dead by Lisa Reardon reads a lot like a television miniseries, that is quite intriguing but lacks any real substance. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 1999
A gripping read and a beautifully written, vividly imagined
I normally don't write reviews on the spot like this, but I finished Lisa Reardon's book last night and just can't get its characters out of my head. Read more
Published on 16 Nov 1998
"Stark and evocative beauty...A genuine love story."
BILLY DEAD is a stunning piece of literature. Ray's stolid walk through the days following Billy's death is told with stark and evocative beauty. Read more
Published on 31 Oct 1998
Stunning, Shocking, and in ways, Revolting - but EXCELLENT
Stunning, Shocking and in some ways, even revolting, but an excellent, excellent piece of literature. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 1998
Excellent book, heart-wrenching, compelling story line.
This is an excellent book! The story line is compelling, you are pulled along effortlessly and I found it impossible to put the book down. Read more
Published on 15 Oct 1998
Billy Dead is a heartwrenching look into the life of abuse
I liked Billy Dead very much. I found myself not wanting the story to end as I neared the conclusion. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 1998
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