Darkhouse
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Product Description
Review
Praise for the HB:
Darkhouse is a terrific debut by an exciting new writer’ The Independent on Sunday
'With no-hold, non-stop action moving seamlessly between North Texas, New York and Waterford, Barclay confidently delivers a knockout first novel’ The Irish Times
‘This rips along and shows great technique for a debut novel. Take my word for it we will hear more of young Barclay' The Irish Independent
‘Darkhouse meets all the criteria of a good thriller – scary moments, twists, and page-turning hooks…Darkhouse will guarantee you a few sleepless nights’ Irish Evening Echo
‘Alex Barclay’s dark, suspenseful novel is the chiller-thriller of the Summer’ Saga Magazine
‘Darkhouse is a ride worth buckling your belt for’ Sunday Business Post
Review
Praise for the HB:
Darkhouse is a terrific debut by an exciting new writer’ The Independent on Sunday
'With no-hold, non-stop action moving seamlessly between North Texas, New York and Waterford, Barclay confidently delivers a knockout first novel’ The Irish Times
‘This rips along and shows great technique for a debut novel. Take my word for it we will hear more of young Barclay' The Irish Independent
‘Darkhouse meets all the criteria of a good thriller – scary moments, twists, and page-turning hooks…Darkhouse will guarantee you a few sleepless nights’ Irish Evening Echo
‘Alex Barclay’s dark, suspenseful novel is the chiller-thriller of the Summer’ Saga Magazine
‘Darkhouse is a ride worth buckling your belt for’ Sunday Business Post
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this up in a second-hand bookshop,(sorry Amazon!) taken in by glowing blurbs(which I had failed to notice were mainly Irish). The scene setting first few chapters were quite encouraging. Funny enough from an Irish writer the action set in the USA seemed much more authentic than that based in Ireland. The murderous Duke and Donnie are given a chance to develop their characters in their Texan playground, unlike everyone else. Fifty pages in everything is heading downhill. The attempt to create a flawed hero in ex-NYPD Joe, with his aching jaw, collapses so completely that you wish for the end to come soon but alas there is still 400 pages to go. Maybe Joe's wife deserves some sympathy as much for living with this loser and his nonentity of a son as for the situation he drops her into. But she is the only one. The many characters and the numerous artificial subplots are so poorly developed and so pointless that your head hurts trying to identify them and their meaningless intrusions. The attempt to create tension in the end results in an absurd melee of headless chickens frantically rushing around to no avail. The ending is so clearly cynically enginered with an eye to the next masterpiece that I swore that I wouldn't be wasting my time on it no matter what the Irish brotherhood said about it.
Format:Paperback
Someone else has written a review on here that advises not to waste time reading this book when Harlan Coben is out there. Well in the last week I have read firstly a Harlan Coben novel, which admittedly I did enjoy, and then Darkhouse by Alex Barclay. Had I to choose my favourite of the two, it would undoubtedly be Darkhouse.
I don't know what all the negative reviews are about, this is an interesting, enjoyable read; perhaps not exactly fast paced and full of action, but genuinely page turning and captivating, with a surprise twist at the end. Highly recommended.
I don't know what all the negative reviews are about, this is an interesting, enjoyable read; perhaps not exactly fast paced and full of action, but genuinely page turning and captivating, with a surprise twist at the end. Highly recommended.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like other reviewers I started out with high hopes for this book however these soon evaporated after crawling through the first fifty or so pages. It soon becames clear that this is a debut novel as the style of writing is at best average, at worst mediocre. The plot is just so sloooooooooow and to be honest, not really that great yet it's somehow incredibly strung out to over 500 pages in paperback form. The characters, though many in quantity, simply aren't interesting enough and the dialogue between them ranges from frequently lame to sometimes downright painful, especially that of the lightweight son. There are no strong characters to be seen anywhere apart from that of the killer - who we don't see enough of - while everyone else seems to cry whenever the slightest thing goes against them. This probably should have been a 300 page novel at most with much of the unimportant fluff removed.
Taglines such as the menacing book title, "He watches He hunts He kills" and "International Bestseller" may mislead some into thinking this is up there with the best of the American authors such as Deaver, Cornwell, Patterson etc. It isn't and some will be left high and dry. I may still yet read Alex'es second novel as she may have improved with criticism but I'll wait with bated breath for that one if or when I should see it.
Taglines such as the menacing book title, "He watches He hunts He kills" and "International Bestseller" may mislead some into thinking this is up there with the best of the American authors such as Deaver, Cornwell, Patterson etc. It isn't and some will be left high and dry. I may still yet read Alex'es second novel as she may have improved with criticism but I'll wait with bated breath for that one if or when I should see it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
long haul fight lit
This is easily the dullest book I have ever had the misfortune to waste precious reading hours on. Advertised as an international bestseller I can not quote the nations I have in... Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2008 by David Spanswick
The jury's out for me.
I was rather looking forward to reading this book. I was ultimately disappointed.
The storyline is a good one and the killer is, at best, most unpleasant. Read more
The storyline is a good one and the killer is, at best, most unpleasant. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2008 by Michael Watson
An impressive debut
I read this book after reading Barclays second novel 'The Caller' as i was given the second book as a gift. After reading it I was very impressed and decided to buy this one. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2008 by molko
A poor book
A poor book lacking pace, clear plot and likeable characters. It's what you write that matters, not how you write it, and the author should take note of that. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2008 by Emanon
Satisficatory debut
This is the story of an American detective who moves to Ireland with his family after one of his cases goes badly wrong. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2007 by A. Edge
Lighthouse or Darkhouse?
This is a great debut novel. Whilst I agree with other reviewers that it sticks broadly to a formula, it is definitely a gripping crime thriller. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2007 by Lance Mitchell
All very depressing
The reviews on the book said "Excellent" "A terrific debut by an exciting new writer" "A knockout". It was none of these. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2007 by Wynne Kelly
Wow
I bought this book not expecting too much...but wow!! Moving between a murder in modern day Ireland and flashing back to Texas in the 1980's, it is fast-paced and gripping. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2007 by Ms. K. P. Hindley
A surprising excellent debut novel
I'm a big reader of crime fiction and love to try out new authors when they bring out debut novels. This was one of the best. Read more
Published on 14 May 2007 by KM
surprise
After finishing reading a book by my favorite author,(DEAN KOONTZ).I visited my local supermarket looking for a cheap read!! I found darkhouse for a surprise £1... Read more
Published on 11 April 2007 by KOONTZ FAN
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