A Small Dark Place

Rating:
Summary: Great book, from beginning to end.
Review: A great book from the beginning to the very end. A poor family in Kansas with nothing to go on in their lives decides to stage a fall of their 8-year old son into a 90-feet deep shaft, so that they will get media coverage and support from people all over US. Instead of the son, their even younger daughter falls in. When she is rescued, she doesn't return as the same person, she brings something back with her. The family gets rich and Andromeda returns to avenge her fate along punish those who benefited from her tragedy. Dark, creepy, scary, gory... one hell of a book.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific! I was both tantalized and terrified.
Review: A quick, compelling read that I found extremely well-written. The author has a good, clear voice that sheds light on the terror lurking within "A Small Dark Place." Even though I was creeped out by the evil antagonist (I don't want to give anything away so I won't say who or what it is), I was also weirdly attracted to (him/her/it). This multi-dimensionality of character made the tale so much more believable and interesting for me. The plot moved swiftly and sucked me in, and at one point even made the hair stand up on the back of my neck (and I don't even have hair on the back of my neck)! I also really liked the author's occasional injections of wry humor, which were delightfully on target. I look forward to reading more from this demented new talent.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable revenge thriller
Review: Derivative of Stephen King's "Carrie", this tale is nevertheless highly readable and entertaining. The story involves a plan gone awry when down-on-their-luck parents hatch a dangerous plot. They set their son up to fall in a mine shaft and hope that the resultant publicity will bring them fame and fortune, and restore their family resources. Unfortunately, their other child is an unintended victim. The first half of the book that describes the family, its decline, and the subsequent accident are quite gripping. Once Andromeda is rescued; however, the book becomes quite predictable and it's only a matter of time before she wreaks the havoc the reader knows is coming. Still, one can't help wondering if the author will let Andromeda "go all the way" and you will just have to read the book to find out for yourself!

Rating:
Summary: Predictable revenge thriller
Review: Derivative of Stephen King's "Carrie", this tale is nevertheless highly readable and entertaining. The story involves a plan gone awry when down-on-their-luck parents hatch a dangerous plot. They set their son up to fall in a mine shaft and hope that the resultant publicity will bring them fame and fortune, and restore their family resources. Unfortunately, their other child is an unintended victim. The first half of the book that describes the family, its decline, and the subsequent accident are quite gripping. Once Andromeda is rescued; however, the book becomes quite predictable and it's only a matter of time before she wreaks the havoc the reader knows is coming. Still, one can't help wondering if the author will let Andromeda "go all the way" and you will just have to read the book to find out for yourself!

Rating:
Summary: great story
Review: i liked the book alot but i could have come up with a better endind despite that it was really good goes into good detail.

Rating:
Summary: Unputdownable
Review: I really wanted to award Martin Schenk more than two stars for this novel. It started off so promising. I actually read the entire first half in one night, just because I couldn't put it down. Really great characters (even though they were a bit stereotypical) were engaged in an original and believeable tragedy of greed and media hype. Then...I started the last half. It was so predictable, and by the time I was nearing the end, I was actually skipping paragraphs at a time just because the writing was so overdramatic and absurd, I couldn't wait to finish. The entire "revenge of the roots" storyline almost made me laugh out loud. Martin Schenk could have done SO much more with this novel. He definitely has talent, as was apparent in the first half. I just wish he would have used his talent in the second half.

Rating:
Summary: I wanted to give it more stars
Review: I really wanted to award Martin Schenk more than two stars for this novel. It started off so promising. I actually read the entire first half in one night, just because I couldn't put it down. Really great characters (even though they were a bit stereotypical) were engaged in an original and believeable tragedy of greed and media hype. Then...I started the last half. It was so predictable, and by the time I was nearing the end, I was actually skipping paragraphs at a time just because the writing was so overdramatic and absurd, I couldn't wait to finish. The entire "revenge of the roots" storyline almost made me laugh out loud. Martin Schenk could have done SO much more with this novel. He definitely has talent, as was apparent in the first half. I just wish he would have used his talent in the second half.

Rating:
Summary: Early promise, later a let-down
Review: I was thoroughly captivated by the first part of the story - the desperation, the plan and the going awry of said plan. Unfortunately the second part of the book just didn't cut it. At least one chapter read as though the story had been serialized and was catching readers up on previous events and should have been better edited. The havoc visited on the town was exciting, but not exceptional. The ending was really the downer. I'm not certain what I would like to have seen, but this wasn't it, especially when the dust jacket talks about an old evil. This was just plain wishy-washy. Nonetheless, I give it a 7, still interesting enough to spend my time reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Early promise, later a let-down
Review: I was thoroughly captivated by the first part of the story - the desperation, the plan and the going awry of said plan. Unfortunately the second part of the book just didn't cut it. At least one chapter read as though the story had been serialized and was catching readers up on previous events and should have been better edited. The havoc visited on the town was exciting, but not exceptional. The ending was really the downer. I'm not certain what I would like to have seen, but this wasn't it, especially when the dust jacket talks about an old evil. This was just plain wishy-washy. Nonetheless, I give it a 7, still interesting enough to spend my time reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Unputdownable
Review: I was very, very impressed with this first novel by Mr. Schenk. It seems like with some of the other reviews, people loved the first half (everyone agrees on that) but didn't like the second. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so I'll give mine...yes, the first half and second half of the book are pretty different. I did feel myself wish part 1 was longer, but then I also wished part 2 was longer. The plot of the first half concerns a down-on-their luck family who are at the end of their rope. The mother hatches a plot to trap the son in a mine shaft a la Baby Jessica, for media attention and money. The parents finally decide to do it, despite feeling like slime, because they figure the son is emotionally stable and will not be too traumatized. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry and their little girl falls into the trap instead, and she is younger, more fragile, and worst of all, terrfied of the dark. Even though I needed to get to sleep I read the first half all in one greedy sitting, there was no way I could put it down. The second half takes place 15 years later, when the girl decides to return to town. It is obvious to her older brother that she is not the same person she was before she was trapped, and in fact may have brought something very unpleasant back up with her. The various ways she takes revenge are great, and I was glad to see some of the people who profited off her trauma get what they deserved. This would make a great (but sick) movie. I was let down slightly by the last 15 pages or so--it seemed sort of anticlimactic, though I did find it beleivable. I still loved this book, however, and just wished it was much longer. If you want a great, gripping read with characters you can really feel for, you won't be sorry if you pick this book up--even if you don't like the second half, the first half alone is well worth the price of admission.