Darkmans (edit title)

• Rated 3 stars

“A little disappointing. I bought this book for the sole purpose of it having a lot of pages, and me needing something for the summer holidays.
I have to say it is a fast read, as Barker keeps pace, and gives the characters enough interesting aspects and actions to want to keep on reading.
The story ends unsatisfactorily though; the plot is not well worked out, and ends with a sigh. Pity, as this work definitely had the possibility to be great.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I was mesmerized by this book and read it compulsively, frustrated that I couldn't put it all together myself but then disappointed, at the end, when Barker ties some (but definitely not all) of the loose ends all too neatly. The moment-to-moment details are so perfectly drawn, though, that they make the bigger, weirder (definitely captivating) story of nasty history insinuating itself into the present more immediate and make the loose ends (and not loose-enough ends) all more tolerable. But, really, what happened to Fleet?”

• Rated 2 stars

“There was a lot of backstory that I liked quite a bit, but overall I found the book confusing and lacking cohesion. True, everything was connected in the end, but it was unsettling and not always convincing enough for me to suspend disbelief. I did like some of the odd relationships that evolved, and most especially the 2-legged dog. I don't know that I'd read through it again, though.”

• Rated 4 stars

“The writing is beautiful and fluid, and the characters are all amazingly three-dimensional and fascinating. For these reasons alone, I loved the book. As I finished, I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that I had missed a much larger point in the subtext, but I don't think this diminshed my enjoyment of the book at all. Big picture or not- I couldn't put it down.”

• Rated 1 stars

“Horrible book - difficult to follow and pseudo intellectual.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Just finished this. Amazing book and yet I wanted to scream at the end. It is rather like a psychological mystery in a way and I really, really wanted it to end with all if the i's dotted and t's crossed. No such luck. Instead I was left with a familiar but ultimately mysterious alphabet that left me feeling restless. I would recommend this book as it is intriguing and well written, but don't read it if you need a pat ending.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Ms. Barker's novel is LONG - 800 pages or so - but it flies by. A funny, sometimes disturbing, a few times scary, look at a few lives in Ashford, England, and what happens when history, language, and a potentially evil jester named John Scogin refuse to be contained by modern life and burst into the present at opportune and inopportune moments. The novel places many questions before the reader and Ms. Barker doesn't provide easy answers or, scratch that, answers at all. I found this a bit unsatisfying in an otherwise great read.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Amazing. I started to lose it sort of towards the end but then I came back. The problem is, as much as I loved this book and found it laugh out loud funny, I am not sure who I could recommend it to. It's hard to imagine a lot of people loving it. Sure, the reviews have been positive, but are there many casual readers who can truly love this book? I'd love to know... ”