Rating: 
Summary: Inflated and without enough substance.
Review: While it was good to read a novel by Clive Barker again after such a long interval, I have to say I was disappointed by "Coldheart Canyon." It was a good concept--movie stars staying young as a byproduct of a magical, slowed-time prison--but not one suited for a 600+ page novel.This concept had the earmarks of being a long or short story or novella. It seems like it was inflated to fill out a whole book. I never really felt invested in what happened to the main characters, especially Todd Pickett. And the character of Tammy seemed suspiciously like one of the female characters in Everville (not Tesla..her name escapes me). It makes me wonder if that's how Barker sees women in general--the earth mother image. My point is that I think Barker can do better than he did.
Rating: 
Summary: Clive wrote this?!
Review: This book was horrible. I was about 3 quarters of the way through it when I realized I no longer cared about the main characters and was hoping they would die and get the story over with. Aside from a couple of the more erotic parts, the writing style in this book didn't seem anything like Clive Barker. The characters were shallow and under developed, the plot didn't have any of the usual complexities you'd expect (total no-brainer), and it was almost painful to read. I actually read it to fall asleep at night which is something I never thought I'd do with a Clive Barker novel. If you want to read a great book by Clive Barker, skip this one and pick up 'The Great and Secret Show'. It's amazing. Hopefully Clive's next book will be more on par with the rest of his work.
Rating: 
Summary: A Secret History of Tinseltown.
Review: Seeking to bounce back after a number of personal and professional setbacks, actor Todd Pickett gets a facelift, which goes badly awry. While he heals, Todd rents the former residence of 1920s screen siren Katya Lupi, located in a little frequented part of Hollywood called Coldheart Canyon. An astonished Todd discovers the youthful Lupi still living there. Seducing Todd, with whom she wants to spend eternity, Lupi reveals the secret of her youth and the myriad phantasms haunting the grounds. Deep in the bowels of her home lies "The Devil's Country," a room-size mosaic depicting a 17th century hunting scene, a strange tableau worthy of Bosch. A portal to another reality, the mosaic bestows youth upon its visitors. At
first permitting most of Hollywood access, Lupi came to fear that these numerous visits might drain the mosaic's power. She thus denied her former friends access to the room, causing them to wither and die. But even death provides no relief, as they are drawn to the mosaic from beyond the grave. Todd nearly succumbs to Lupi's charms and the lure of the mosaic, but is rescued by obsessive fan Tammy Lauper, who has tracked him to Coldheart Canyon. Todd is not yet safe, however, as he is destined to visit Coldheart Canyon a final time to settle his fate. A secret history of Hollywood, Coldheart Canyon reflects that city's reputation for making and breaking dreams, for blurring the line between reality and fantasy. Transformed into unapologetic voyeurs, readers are drawn into Barker's narrative by his edgy, enthralling, brutal and erotic storytelling, and by his lush, assured prose. With nary a misstep, Barker deftly exploits Hollywood stereotypes and clichés. Thus, readers encounter a number of stock characters, including a washed up actor, a ruthless agent, a perky heroine, a reclusive actress (replete with devoted manservant, of course), and a blowhard producer we just KNOW will die a violent death. Barker also explores such timeless themes as excessive ambition, fleeting loyalties, easy sex, movieland's obsession with youth, and the symbiotic relationship between obsessive fans and artists. Throughout, he remains true to his very vulnerable, very human central cast, providing telling insights into their characters that handily win readers over. One example is the portion of the book where Todd deals with the illness and death of his dog Dempsey, drawn from Barker's own experience. Another is the hollowness of Tammy Lauper's life before she actually meets Todd -- a good person, her potent energies are wasted on her all consuming passion for a total stranger. Once again, Barker explores the border between dream and nightmare, expertly shifting from love to brutality, from the banal to the fantastic. Subtitled "A Hollywood Ghost Story," Coldheart Canyon is simultaneously a paean to and condemnation of "Tinseltown," a fierce, edgy, enthralling, and eloquent exploration of the stuff our dreams are made of.
Rating: 
Summary: Clive Barker is one of the most imaginative writers there is
Review: ColdHeart Canyon is a book filled with surreal imagery. Namely the tile in the bowels of the Devil's Country. Clive makes everything come to live when fleshing out this world within a world. But this is just one aspect of this book which I thought was not as good as "The Great and Secret Show" but then again, what book is?
Rating: 
Summary: Evil Incarnate
Review: I tried to stop reading this novel several times out of disgust and horror. The scenes of inhumane, cruelty and bizarre sex among humans, ghosts and half-human animals were repelling and horrific. But somehow, I plodded on out of sheer curiosity or voyeurism. I wouldn't recommend this book for the weak of heart or overly sensitive person. It's shocking and appalling, only redeemed by the fact that it's obviously pure, unbelievable fantasy. Todd Pickett, one of the top Hollywood action movie stars, is suffering from insecurity after his last film bombed, so has decided to have plastic surgery. The surgery went horribly wrong, and his agent whisked him away to a deserted 1920's home in Coldheart Canyon, owned by 1920's movie star Katya Lupi. Katya still lives on the estate, in the guesthouse, but in some bizarre twist of nature, appears to be 30 years old, rather than her actual age, which is closer to a hundred. Todd is instantly drawn to her and she woos him He also soon discovers that the canyon is haunted with the spirits of the hedonistic movie stars of yore, and their lack of a corporal body hasn't dampened their libidos. The source of Katya's perennial youth and the attraction for the ghosts is a tiled room in the basement, imported from a Romanian castle in Katya's heyday. The tiles depict a hunt and tell many stories of depravity and blasphemy in Devil's Country. Incredibly, when the tiles were transported to the canyon and painstakingly reconstructed, they take on a new power in that anyone who occupies the room steps into the fantasy world.
Enter Tammy Lauper, President of the Todd Pickett Appreciation Society, an overweight unsatisfied, obsessive housewife from Sacramento. After Todd's disappearance, she decides to pursue him and manages to trace him to the canyon. She brings the only note of sanity among all of the characters in the book. After the house is virtually destroyed in an earthquake, and Todd is believed to be dead, Tammy returns to the villa to try to rescue Todd because she believes he can still be saved. The healing and redemption of her actions offer the only sanity and saving grace in this novel. Fans of Clive Barker will revel in his vivid and horrible imagination, and the fantasy world he has created in Coldheart Canyon.
Rating:
Summary: slips into self-parody
Review: I had long thought Clive Barker to be one of the most imaginative writers around today. Books like Imagica, The Great and Secret Show, Weaveworld and even Galilee kept me enthralled and kept Barker at the top of my favorite modern authors list. Coldheart Canyon almost seems as if written by another, less talented writer. I never really got into the rhythym of the book. The characters are flat -- I didn't care what happened to Todd the movie star. Even the "classic" Clive sections (horror & fantasy) seemed to slip into self-parody -- the grotesque wasn't gross, just descriptive and boring. It was an effort to finish this book, whereas with his other books I had to pace myself not to finish them too soon. I still highly recommend the above titles for fans and those new to his work, but this is one to avoid.
Rating:
Summary: none
Review: Clive Barker is one of the most esteemed writers in imaginative fiction today. Just when you think there's no place left to go, Barker opens another secret panel and lets the imagination flow. Coldheart Canyon is Barker at his most powerful and chilling best. A non-stop flight of fantasy and subtle, nerve-wracking chills. Not since Straub's Ghost Story has there ever been a novel like this...intense... Gary S. Potter Author/Poet
Rating:
Summary: Another Amazing World
Review: I start to read Clive Barker and I am transported to another world; isn't that what reading is supposed to do? And noone has more amazing worlds that Barker! While The Great and Secret Show is still my all time favorite, what appealed to me about this story was that it was just your basic ghost/love story...with a twist. I became so involved with the characters, that even though I didn't like them all the time, I understood their "motivation". I loved the legend of the Duke and Devils Country, and how he made it all seem so...real. I must admit, I was a little taken aback by the eroticism, but I am not complaining :) So, sit back and relax in Barker's world. Share the idiosyncracies of the Golden Age of Hollywood, revisit the silent Stars of the day, and enjoy. Debbi
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: For years I'd been awaiting Barker's newest publication, constantly checking and rechecking as the dates kept being pushed back, but perhaps they needed to be pushed back even more so that Barker could have turned this pale reflection of his talent into something more moving and cohesive. All of the things I normally love most of a Barker creation were missing or malformed in this work -- the characters were forced into absurd situations, merely so the dodgy threads of this murky story would somehow weave themselves together. The story itself was forced forward instead of propelled by its own momentum of character and imagination. Everything felt out of place, I didn't care about a single person throughout the book's nearly 700 pages, all while I'm desperately trying to like a mediocre work from one of my favorite authors. It just didn't work. Better luck next time, Clive. I'll still be waiting.
Rating:
Summary: Beauty and drudgery...
Review: This book is terribly disappointing. So much so that I am awed. For the longest, I felt that I could buy a Barker book with no reservations . . . but this book is so boring and long-winded that that has changed for me forever, I fear. I finished Coldheart Canyon happy to be away from it. There are only moments where Clive's style, imagination and ability to both move and shock a reader come to the murky surface. The dialog is atrocious. The characters are mind-numbingly simple--and Barker goes absolutely nowhere in getting you to either like or hate them. They are just there, creeping along, spewing out their cardboard dialogue. There are brief, brief moments in the book's small corner of Hell where things are as nightmarish and purely imaginative as one would expect in a Barker novel. Overall, though, the book is very, very tedious . . . crawling into a deep nothingness and dragging you with it. If you are a longtime fan of Clive Barker, I would be VERY wary of this work. The Hollywood angle is completely uninteresting. Where normally Barker takes you somewhere you've never been and makes you believe in it . . . he now only rehashes things that you hear about every day and are already sick of. His poetic style and unique, horrific visions ARE there occasionally, but for the most part of this lengthy book they are overshadowed by something needlessly bigger, far more boring and drudgingly unfulfilling.
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