Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ham and cheese please..., 14 Jun 2007
Firstly, let me say why I read this book. I have become so disillusioned with recent best sellers, especially the po-faced pretentious dross that ends up on the Richard & Judy list of shame. I generally prefer books with lots of short chapters that end on a cliff-hanger and this is a great example. Now what you need to understand is, this book begs, borrows, steals, rents, flaunts and scavenges from literally dozens of other films and books - often very clumsily. And so on to the plot. Vampires, cowboys, monks, sluts, tough guys, gringos, dodgy bars, blood and gore. Any questions? A novel which contains large amounts of the above is not going to win prizes for subtlety or character development but for pure entertainment value it is pretty good. Trashy? Yes. Tacky? Definitely. Engrossing? You bet. I really enjoyed reading this book, it was like a breath of fresh air, or rather, cigarette smoke (as an ex-smoker, I still crave that...). I know why some reviewers would give this no stars but as a holiday read it works. The plot actually only touches on the idea of the book with no name, the central theme in the novel is just unfiltered violence. Give it a try.
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147 of 193 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprising, 18 Aug 2006
It's fair to say that when my girlfriend gave me this as a present I wasn't best impressed. The plot suggests that everyone who reads the book ends up dead, so I thought she was trying to get rid of me in a particularly cowardly fashion. In fact maybe she was, I guess I'll never know. Fact of the matter is, I plucked up the guts to read it anyway, and it was good enough that I managed to persuade the girlfriend to read it too.
I'd be keen to know if the anonymous author is an established writer or a total nobody, but either way I'd happily buy another of his/her books. The story flows from the outset and the plot unravels at a rapid pace from about a third of the way in. There are some really original ideas in here, but this is definitely not to everyone's taste. There's a lot of bad language and some truly unpleasant characters. It's often hard to tell who the good guys are, because all of the characters have flaws. I often found myself rooting for characters who were liars, thieves or even murderers simply because they were somehow likeable. There's lots of references to films too, sometimes unneccessarily so, but often to humourous effect, although if you haven't seen the film(s) in question this could prove irritating. However, almost every chapter ends in a cliffhanger of some sort that make this book damn near impossible to put down. I read it in two days and I'm looking forward to reading it again to see if I can spot more of the clues I missed first time round. There are some really cool characters in The Book With No Name and it's them as much as the story that make this such an entertaining read. Not for the squeamish (or indeed those who fear they might be killed after reading it!!) but definitely one for anyone who likes a good murder mystery and a few laughs in amidst all the bloodshed. Of course you could just buy it for someone you don't like and then if they don't get killed you'll know it's safe to try it yourself!!
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41 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!, 17 Oct 2007
`The Book With No Name' is such good fun to read. The beginning is a little confusing as you get to know all of the characters but it soon unleashes into a fabulous adventure. Vampires and demons abound in this quirky novel. I don't think you have to worry if you aren't into vampires as it's generally a good mystery.
The characters are too numerous to mention and revealing too much about them will spoil the plot. I think there is an element of `tongue-in-cheek' about the novel (but that could just be my take on it). I like everything about it, from the title page - `a novel (probably)' and to how it links in so well with the title throughout the novel. Having not read `The Da Vinci Code' I can't comment on whether, as the back of the book says, it is `Tarantino meets The Da Vinci Code' but I can vouch for the Tarantino bit. The official website is great and is worth checking out. If you have a look at the website you'll see the characters have myspace pages!!! lol!!!
It truly is a great adventure and I was disappointed when I had finished the novel. The precious stone that they are chasing is steeped in mythological and biblical references and there are heaps of film references throughout the novel - only a few of which I could identify. My favourite character was Jessica; there was just so much about her.
This is a writer who can use literary tools to hook a reader and keep them motivated and intrigued throughout without overloading us with all the conventions. A brilliant read which I hope you enjoy as much as I have.
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