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Title: Dismember
Author: Daniel Pyle
Number of pages: 300
Genre: horror
Book Number/Goal: 8/52
My Rating: 5/5
Review:
A seven-year-old boy is the only survivor in a car accident in which all his family was killed. He's adopted and brought up by a creepy perverted woodsman. Upon growing up, he decides to reconstruct his family by kidnapping appropriate substitutes for each family member.
There's a generous amount of blood & gore (plus hints on child sex abuse) but it's not a simple slasher - the story is highly emotionally charged. The main character is clearly a psycho, but even though I didn't root for him, it was impossible not to feel sorry for him and empathize with him, at least a little. His motives are clear, and he tries to be a good father in his own way; it's not his fault that he's so screwed up and completely misunderstands what does it mean to have a family. (This reminded me on one of my favorite Punisher comics featuring Bullseye, the episode when he tries to recreate Frank's family, even though the resemblance is only tangential.)
The atmosphere is generally creepy, and includes a lot of foreshadowing. A few chapters focused on secondary characters are unnecessary long, IMHO, but it's a minor flaw. Also, I absolutely loved the ending.
(I think it's the first book since the start of my book challenge that I've enjoyed that much... read it in one sitting as I couldn't put it down, wanting to know what comes next.)
Author: Daniel Pyle
Number of pages: 300
Genre: horror
Book Number/Goal: 8/52
My Rating: 5/5
Review:
A seven-year-old boy is the only survivor in a car accident in which all his family was killed. He's adopted and brought up by a creepy perverted woodsman. Upon growing up, he decides to reconstruct his family by kidnapping appropriate substitutes for each family member.
There's a generous amount of blood & gore (plus hints on child sex abuse) but it's not a simple slasher - the story is highly emotionally charged. The main character is clearly a psycho, but even though I didn't root for him, it was impossible not to feel sorry for him and empathize with him, at least a little. His motives are clear, and he tries to be a good father in his own way; it's not his fault that he's so screwed up and completely misunderstands what does it mean to have a family. (This reminded me on one of my favorite Punisher comics featuring Bullseye, the episode when he tries to recreate Frank's family, even though the resemblance is only tangential.)
The atmosphere is generally creepy, and includes a lot of foreshadowing. A few chapters focused on secondary characters are unnecessary long, IMHO, but it's a minor flaw. Also, I absolutely loved the ending.
(I think it's the first book since the start of my book challenge that I've enjoyed that much... read it in one sitting as I couldn't put it down, wanting to know what comes next.)
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