Rating: Summary: Hell of a novel Review: Wow! I couldn't believe this! I thought this might be a pulpy horror novel, a stupid, disposable book. Was I surprised? Yup! Wry social commentary, superb writing and a view of Hell that has been much improved on. I could only think of what Dante would say.
Rating: Summary: One Helluva Read! Review: This is my first full length book of Edward Lee's that I have ever read. I have read some of his short stories in the past and enjoyed them alot... so this book was a little piece of "genious". I loved it. But I want MORE! Please make that trilogy Mr. Lee!
Rating: Summary: Great Book Review: I bought this book when i was in Florida cuz i needed something to read for the ride back to New York. But when i started reading it that night i couldnt put it down till i finished it. It had a great vision of hell that i couldnt imagine, so in-depth that it cought me from the first few words. one thing that i wanted more of was a little bit more elaboration at the end, i'm not goin to spoil it for everyone so the poeple who read it know what i'm talking about
Rating: Summary: FABULOUS! Review: Well, I randomly bought this book today and when I checked its reviews on here, I got a little worried that it wouldn't be any good, judging from some of the reviews. However, I LOVED IT. I devoured this book in about two hours. The characters were fabulous, the dark humor was marvelous, and the auther must have astounding creativity to come up with not only the basic shell of the story but the AMAZING intricacies of the description. I honestly think anyone who DOESN'T like this book might just be turned off by its blasphemous, macabre, and sometimes downright gross nature. I'd definitely say that this book isn't for everyone, but for its target audience it is FABULOUS. It vaguely reminds me of something almost Gaiman-esque, although few could come close to being Neil.
Rating: Summary: Best view of Hell since Dante! Review: And I mean that. Great, deep descriptions of demons and the "cityscape" as well as memorable characters and excellent plot and development. But not for the faint of heart--this is not a cutesy-poo fantasy novel. ... Hey, it's Ed Lee, for [heck's] sake! Keep them coming, Ed!
Rating: Summary: bad & stupid -- and not in a good way Review: A silly story badly written with plot holes big enough to drive an ice cream truck through. One -dimensional characters and every last piece of exposition, and there is a lot of it, is explained to us through stilted chunks of dialogue that bring what puny little of a tale there is here to begin with to a grinding halt. Avoid at all cost.
Rating: Summary: epic, gruesome, hilarious Review: This is a fun read. Great characters, a really interesting premise, just awsome reading. Highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: Dreadful Review: The only book I have ever thrown away when I was done reading it. The plot is trite, character development shallow and rushed and way too many loose ends that just don't make sense.There were some interesting ideas in this book, but they were completely smothered by poor execution.
Rating: Summary: Decent, but not outstanding. Review: I bought this book because Edward Lee was wearing a Black Flag shirt in his picture. Black Flag fans have to have interesting ideas, right? Well, I guess this was a decent time waster until Wes Eisold kicks out his novel. Yes, Edward Lee had some good ideas. Sometimes, though, they're just packed too quickly. The puns in Hell start quickly and make you gag. They lose steam fairly quickly, too, and you wish he'd just stop and take himself a bit more seriously. That's the problem overall - tone. It's a book about Hell, with Lucifer among the key characters, yet it has difficulties deciding if it should be serious or a parody. Either one could have resulted in a great novel, but a mix of the two wasn't the best choice. Of course, there's a thin line of success with subject matter like this. It's hard to find the balance I suppose. Overall it's readable. Nothing amazing, nothing memorable, but readable. Did I mention that the angel was named Angelique? I suppose all the thousands of angels in Lee's world have the word 'angel' in their name...
Rating: Summary: 2 ½ STAR REVIEW Review: What started out as a fairly enjoyable read turned out to be a less than impressive one. Lee's pen is wicked; there's no doubt about that. His horror scenes are always nasty, which is a good thing when one seeks out that sort of thing. Just try to pick up his Creekers without cringing. Hardcore stuff. Yet, behind all the gross-outs and the violence is always a Lee with a purpose, a Lee with a story to tell. Which is exactly what lacks in CITY INFERNAL. What we get instead is just an amateurish take of hell where nothing really happens except when the heroine discovers yet another God-given gift that will help her on to next level in her search of her already dead missing sister. A sort of a Nintendo game with no winning gold or, in this case, no plot rewards. Yes, Lee's prose is still clear and fast and his action scenes are somewhat effective, but his vision of horror will need some retooling if his next delivery resembles anything like this lackluster one.-----Martin Boucher
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