Rating: 
Summary: At Last, A LITERATE Genre Writer!
Review: Be it called "horror," "SF," or "suspense," THE FALLEN is nothing if not literate. It is a grand read that grabs one from the initial page and will not turn loose until the last. Morever, one finds oneself saddened to see it end as Henry Sleep and Sam and all the rest of the inhabitants of Saul's Run become hugely interesting. Bailey's ability to draw the reader into the characters and elicit empathy for them is an important part of the successful suspense novel. Only when the reader truly cares for the charaters can any suspense be drawn. One only worries about someone one cares about; the characters in THE FALLEN are those people. As a final positive to this finely crafted first novel I say this: any book that has me wondering what the characters are doing while I am at work is a great book. Only Dan Simmons, Robert McCammon, and Chet Williamson have ever accomplished this. Now, add Dale Bailey to the mix. Try THE FALLEN. You will love it.
Rating:
Summary: At Last, A LITERATE Genre Writer!
Review: Be it called "horror," "SF," or "suspense," THE FALLEN is nothing if not literate. It is a grand read that grabs one from the initial page and will not turn loose until the last. Morever, one finds oneself saddened to see it end as Henry Sleep and Sam and all the rest of the inhabitants of Saul's Run become hugely interesting. Bailey's ability to draw the reader into the characters and elicit empathy for them is an important part of the successful suspense novel. Only when the reader truly cares for the charaters can any suspense be drawn. One only worries about someone one cares about; the characters in THE FALLEN are those people. As a final positive to this finely crafted first novel I say this: any book that has me wondering what the characters are doing while I am at work is a great book. Only Dan Simmons, Robert McCammon, and Chet Williamson have ever accomplished this. Now, add Dale Bailey to the mix. Try THE FALLEN. You will love it.
Rating:
Summary: A SENSATIONAL WRITER
Review: Dale Bailey has the rare talent of combining chair-gripping suspense with breathtakingly magnificent prose. He is the most promising new writer to hit the fantasy/horror scene. Readers of short fiction will also love his short stories, some of which have appeared in publications such as THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. What a remarkable gift he has!
Rating:
Summary: The Fallen Soars
Review: Every once in a while there comes a novel that incorporates the best of several genres, that crosses and blends and makes startlingly new. The Fallen is one of those rare treats, a murder mystery, a contemporary fantasy, a meditation on religion. The cherry on top: the book is beautifully written, a musical tumbling of words. Fans of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction already know Dale Bailey, author of such stories as the Nebula-nominated "The Resurrection Man's Legacy," Touched," "The Anencephalic Fields," and "Death and Suffrage," In his first novel, Bailey returns to his beloved West Virginia Appalachia, the hardscrabble lives of miners, and makes it as heart-breaking as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha, as gritty as King's Castle Rock. When his father supposedly commits suicide, Henry Sleep is called back to his hometown, the sleepy mining hamlet of Sauls Run. Upon return, Sleep discovers secrets by the dozen: murder, intrigue, and something utterly fantastic. Henry, his ex-girlfriend, and a cancer-riddled newspaper reporter unite against the forces that hold Sauls Run, venturing deep into the Appalachian mines. What they discover is a wonder that could quite possibly change their world. This is an amazing first novel, one that introduces a marvelous new writer, one who simultaneously handles words like silver and forges a wonderful story. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Well written story with great plot!
Review: I am sometimes a little hesitant to try a new author, but Dale Bailey came highly recommended. It was wonderful to find that his novel was extremely well written and highly addictive. Seemingly small things such as sentence structure, word choice, and rhythm combined to make the writing itself enjoyable. But, more importantly, it is a great story! The plot is complex. The characters are well drawn. It's a page turner!!
Rating: 
Summary: Deja vu?
Review: I enjoyed the book but it's not very original. While I was reading it I kept thinking I had read something similar by one of the other horror writers like King, Koontz or Little.
Rating:
Summary: Deja vu?
Review: I enjoyed the book but it's not very original. While I was reading it I kept thinking I had read something similar by one of the other horror writers like King, Koontz or Little.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and cliched
Review: I expected a lot more from this book. There is no difference between this novel and any number of pulpy horror novels. I realize Bailey has a reputation from his short stories, but that's no reason to overlook the flaws in this novel. It is mediocre at best. I was very disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: WHENCE COMES THIS RUSH OF WINGS
Review: I found THE FALLEN to be a much more enjoyable book than Bailey's subsequent HOUSE OF BONES. Bailey gives the story a foundation of atmospheric tension, a puzzling mystery, a connection between past and present events which he brings together in the final pages.
Henry Sleep is a likeable character; his past haunts him still and his relationship with Emily is strong, though tentative. Ben Stranger is another good character, a newspaper writer given a reprieve; Harold/Grubb is a complex and unique type of psychopath, whose conflict with his two personalities forms an important part of the plot.
Set in a rural West Virginia town, Bailey knows how to use blizzards and small town life effectively.
There are no real surprises here, but it's an entertaining journey and displays the writing talent of Mr. Bailey.
Rating:
Summary: WHENCE COMES THIS RUSH OF WINGS
Review: I found THE FALLEN to be a much more enjoyable book than Bailey's subsequent HOUSE OF BONES. Bailey gives the story a foundation of atmospheric tension, a puzzling mystery, a connection between past and present events which he brings together in the final pages.
Henry Sleep is a likeable character; his past haunts him still and his relationship with Emily is strong, though tentative. Ben Stranger is another good character, a newspaper writer given a reprieve; Harold/Grubb is a complex and unique type of psychopath, whose conflict with his two personalities forms an important part of the plot.
Set in a rural West Virginia town, Bailey knows how to use blizzards and small town life effectively.
There are no real surprises here, but it's an entertaining journey and displays the writing talent of Mr. Bailey.
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