Rating: 
Summary: I wish I hadn't read this.
Review: This book is not that bad. The idea is original. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. I wish I hadn't read it. After I finished this book, I was like "What the hell? You can't be serious, Charlee!". I wasn't repulsed with all the blood and gore. I bought this book expecting blood and gore.
Well, if you haven't read this book yet, then don't. This is one weird book.
Rating:
Summary: Started off great then got pretty corny.
Review: This book started off great,like it was going to be a dynamite grisly murder mystery. Then it took a nose dive into,well just plain old corny. We start off with grisly murder images of women with no idea of the motive or killer. It was edge of your seat. Then all of the sudden we got a vampire a werewolf,and a video tape of some kind of demon,who shows people there biggest fears and kills them. It wasn't a total loss. It was gruesome and like I said started off great,but just too much unrealistic things going on at once. I will read other books by the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the fuss?
Review: This Symbiotic Fascination was nominated for a Stoker award as well as a few more horror fiction awards. The book has been praised for its darkness, grossness, violence, beautiful prose... It seems that everyone in the horror field loves this book. So I ask you, what's all the fuss about?This Symbiotic Fascination offers nothing new. The book is overwrought and its long-winded prose is often distracting. I have to admit that I didn't enjoy reading this book. Not because it's too violent (it's not- I've see much worse), not because it's too original (it's not - It's yet another vampire story), not because it's too dark (it's not - some authors have done the dark thing way better), but because it really has nothing to say. The story is about two very strange characters. Tawne is an overweight woman who's shy, reserved and who never knew the full meaning of popularity. She is fascinated by beauty and wishes herself beautiful. Her wish is about to be answered when she is tortured and then made into a creature of the night by a strange shape-shifting man. Tawne's infatuation revolves around a man named Arcan. He's dark, brooding, violent. He enshrouds more than one personality (its seems that he's part man, part animal. He has raped and brutalized many women, and the guilt of it all is slowly ravaging him whole.
These two characters are brought together, both becoming part of the undead world. But the thing is, you never care or feel for these two. In any book (even a horror novel), you need a character you can sympathize with. That doesn't meed that you need to love the character. You just needs someone who's experiences you can share and maybe even identify with. But Tawne is just a winy woman who needs to be pulled out of the misery state she's inducing on herself (her self-pity is just annoying at times). And Arcan... Well, there isn't much to love there either. Jacob tries too hard to stuff as much as she can in her vampire novel. She even introduces a plot about a video tape that makes people go insane. As interesting as this plot is, it goes nowhere and just ends up feeling superfluous. I understand that Jacob is primarily a poet. It shows in her writing. Her prose is often beautiful in its descriptions. Only, she has a tendency to over-describe everything. She has pages after pages of rambling that just slows down the pace of the book. I love horror fiction. I love a good story that is original and interesting. I love a story that can frighten you, a story that can make you care about the characters even if they really are to be despised for the things they do. That said, it took me everything I had to finish this book. Nothing about this book really intrigued me. The story feels tired. It's been done before by better authors (Ed Lee, Jemiah Jefferson, Poppy Brite) much better. Reading This Symbiotic Fascination was a great disappointment. I just hope that Jacob's next effort will live up to the fuss.
Rating: 
Summary: Yikes!
Review: Welcome to the world of Charlee Jacob. After I stumbled over the other reviews here, I decided to pick this book up and give it a shot. I always love a good, gory horror novel. What I wasn't expecting was THIS----this ultra-sick, grue-filled extravaganza of blood and guts. Practically every page is filled to the brim with disgusting, multi-dimensional violence and perversion. There is stuff in here you've never imagined in your worst nightmares. Here is a sampling of what you will find in this book: cannibalism, murder, torture, dismemberment, disfigurement, suicide, and coprophagy. I think I left something out, and I really don't want to remember what it is. I am no babe-in-the-woods when it comes to horror books and novels, but this takes the cake. Is this what they are writing nowadays? This makes the sickest horror film look like a Disney feature. Don't be fooled by the cheesy cover or the fact that Charlee Jacob is a woman. This book is unbelievable in the gore category. It's off the charts. That's my take on the gore. Now it needs to be said that this is an excellent horror novel, overflowing with great prose, great characters, and fascinating plot development. Essentially, the story is a vampire tale, but Charlee takes that tired genre and crafts a gem of a novel. There is no debonair undead duffer tooling around medieval castles in this book. Instead, Charlee introduces us to Tawne Delaney, a 37-year-old virgin who is angry at the modern world because its emphasis on beauty has left her out in the cold. No man wants anything to do with Tawne; she is a large woman with big hands who is usually seen, if seen at all, in the background of life. Tawne works in a clothing store, but only in the stockroom because the beautiful girls work as salesclerks. One of Tawne's coworkers, Arcan Tyler, also is a major character in the story. Arcan is also an outcast of sorts. The biggest reason for his social exile is the raving beasts running amok in his body. A cat, a wolf, and a ghoul all swirl in Arcan's diseased soul, leading him on a bloody rampage as a rapist and general sicko. It seems that Arcan inherited these particular traits from his dear old Mum, and he is barely hanging on as he tries to control these monsters. After Tawne sees a weird dude (a vampire with the power to change his looks) kill her only friend, she begs him to help her acquire the power to project images so she may do the same thing to attract men. The rest of the book describes Tawne's adventures as a vampire and her eventual relationship with Arcan. I am not really giving away much with this detailed description, something that would be impossible to convey in this review due to the gore and the number of twists and turns in the plot. There are a few subplots that are great fun. Tawne's conversion to beast is captured by a local sleaze reporter on videotape. The story of the reporter and the subsequent incidents with the tape is very clever and entertaining, almost worth meriting treatment in a separate book. Arcan's victims, who were left alive to suffer from his attacks, also provide a good story on their own. Charlee attempts, with fair effect, to blend all of these story lines together at the end of the book. I don't think I need to spend too much time telling you the end of the book is grim and not at all pleasant (well, maybe Arcan finds some peace). The chasm between the sexes certainly plays a large part in this book. Ideals of beauty and power are viciously attacked, as is the media that perpetuates sex roles. Jacob doesn't seem to favor one side or the other, as everyone is (or ends up) becoming a victim of some sort. Even Arcan's rape victims end up slaves to their own healing process and revenge. This is Charlee Jacob's first novel, and there are some problems. As great as the plot and subplots are, they are a bit uneven. The videotape subplot starts out great but runs down towards the end. There is almost no explanation concerning Denise Cross's change from a good cop to a weird sicko. I am also still trying to figure out exactly what happened to Arcan's brother, Harry. Also, how could Tawne's car be left at a crime scene without bringing the police into the picture? These are problems, but for a first novel they are minor problems. I'm looking forward to her second novel.
| 
