Rating: 
Summary: Adams Fell (short of my expectations)
Review: Adams Fall by Sean Desmond has a great concept, but the execution of it falls by the waistside. I wasn't impressed by this new author's writing style or story development. I didn't care about any of the characters, and the story seemed pretty rudimentary, like back in Creative Writing 101. And the story -- supposedly scary -- didn't send any chills down my spine. Sorry...
Rating:
Summary: Adams Fell (short of my expectations)
Review: Adams Fall by Sean Desmond has a great concept, but the execution of it falls by the waistside. I wasn't impressed by this new author's writing style or story development. I didn't care about any of the characters, and the story seemed pretty rudimentary, like back in Creative Writing 101. And the story -- supposedly scary -- didn't send any chills down my spine. Sorry...
Rating: 
Summary: Great Debut! Desmond could be a young Steven King
Review: ADAMS FALL is a great, atmospheric read. I haven't read a scary book in a while that had me turning the pages the way this one did. The characters are so nuanced and believable that it's hard to believe that ADAMS FALL is a first book. The main character's slow descent into insanity really gets inside your head, and he really makes the dark corners of his unnamed college campus (I think it's Harvard personally) come alive with shadows that could be ghosts. I promise you won't want to put this one down.I'm giving it four stars just because I think the writer will show us bigger things in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Blown Away & Freaked Out
Review: After finishing the intriguing novel called "Adams Fall" by Sean Desmond, I was blown away and a bit freaked out. I couldn't put it down, and was fascinated with the story. Several times while reading the book I actually got the chills, and was afraid to be by myself. It is packed with paragraphs that are hilarious and wonderfully descriptive. I really was drawn into the main character's perspective of the college, and it was very easy to identify with him. It is a novel that is cloaked in secrecy, yet it reveals a powerful insight into the depths of the dark side of the human experience. After reading "Adams Fall," the first thing I did was flip back to the first page to start the ride all over again.
Rating:
Summary: Blown Away & Freaked Out
Review: After finishing the intriguing novel called "Adams Fall" by Sean Desmond, I was blown away and a bit freaked out. I couldn't put it down, and was fascinated with the story. Several times while reading the book I actually got the chills, and was afraid to be by myself. It is packed with paragraphs that are hilarious and wonderfully descriptive. I really was drawn into the main character's perspective of the college, and it was very easy to identify with him. It is a novel that is cloaked in secrecy, yet it reveals a powerful insight into the depths of the dark side of the human experience. After reading "Adams Fall," the first thing I did was flip back to the first page to start the ride all over again.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Wait to Start This One Again
Review: Although this is a skinny little book and today it's dark and dreary, a perfect day for reading, I didn't expect to read Adams Fall in one sitting. But I did. I just couldn't wait to find out what else was - or wasn't - going to happen to this poor, crazy guy. I don't usually read a book for the second time so soon, but I think I will start this one again right away. Believe me, I will be looking at everything with a slightly different eye this time. Gosh, what does Harvard think of this book?
Rating: 
Summary: The old college try!
Review: Desmond shows promise as a writer, however if you are looking for a psychological thriller or just a plain scary story, this isn't the one for you. While most of the story is worth reading, it has the feel that he used a thesaurus to make his book "smarter." It is a fast read, only taking a few hours to complete as it lacks the depth and ability to captivate the reader. The books comes off as the typical first book. It is worth reading and has many good points to it. Once you hit chapter 3 the book becomes a little more enjoyable and a bit lass pretentious, but still lacks the pizazz of more skilled writers.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking but ultimately disapointing
Review: Desmond's "horror" novel shares themes and motifs with Hamlet - fitting, seeing as our nameless narrator is doing his thesis on Shakespeare's middle plays, including Hamlet. We have drownings, a ghost, and a protagonist who slowly decends into madness. It is a novel that illustrates just how many uncertainties our lives are built upon. For me, a key point to understanding the story comes when the narrator's thesis advisor agitates him by stating that the ghost in Hamlet doesn't really exist. So does the ghost really exist in this story? Or is he a figment of the narrator's "overstimulated by all the pressures of The College" brain? The problem with this novel is that ultimately, you don't really feel like trying to answer those questions. The tale just doesn't feel authentic overall, although occasionally Desmond hits the bullseye with his observations of college life - case in point: "It was like going to a party, having a few beers, and cresting on that first wave of mild drunkeness....Then you go to the bathroom and catch yourself in the mirror....You don't even recognize yourself on the outside, never mind all the thoughtless reasons that lurk behind the eyes." Side note: This novel has been recently made into a movie called "Abandon". As Katie Holmes plays the main charater, I have to assume it is a very loose adaptation.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking but ultimately disapointing
Review: Desmond's "horror" novel shares themes and motifs with Hamlet - fitting, seeing as our nameless narrator is doing his thesis on Shakespeare's middle plays, including Hamlet. We have drownings, a ghost, and a protagonist who slowly decends into madness. It is a novel that illustrates just how many uncertainties our lives are built upon. For me, a key point to understanding the story comes when the narrator's thesis advisor agitates him by stating that the ghost in Hamlet doesn't really exist. So does the ghost really exist in this story? Or is he a figment of the narrator's "overstimulated by all the pressures of The College" brain? The problem with this novel is that ultimately, you don't really feel like trying to answer those questions. The tale just doesn't feel authentic overall, although occasionally Desmond hits the bullseye with his observations of college life - case in point: "It was like going to a party, having a few beers, and cresting on that first wave of mild drunkeness....Then you go to the bathroom and catch yourself in the mirror....You don't even recognize yourself on the outside, never mind all the thoughtless reasons that lurk behind the eyes." Side note: This novel has been recently made into a movie called "Abandon". As Katie Holmes plays the main charater, I have to assume it is a very loose adaptation.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking but ultimately disapointing
Review: Desmond's "horror" novel shares themes and motifs with Hamlet - fitting, seeing as our nameless narrator is doing his thesis on Shakespeare's middle plays, including Hamlet. We have drownings, a ghost, and a protagonist who slowly decends into madness. It is a novel that illustrates just how many uncertainties our lives are built upon. For me, a key point to understanding the story comes when the narrator's thesis advisor agitates him by stating that the ghost in Hamlet doesn't really exist. So does the ghost really exist in this story? Or is he a figment of the narrator's "overstimulated by all the pressures of The College" brain? The problem with this novel is that ultimately, you don't really feel like trying to answer those questions. The tale just doesn't feel authentic overall, although occasionally Desmond hits the bullseye with his observations of college life - case in point: "It was like going to a party, having a few beers, and cresting on that first wave of mild drunkeness....Then you go to the bathroom and catch yourself in the mirror....You don't even recognize yourself on the outside, never mind all the thoughtless reasons that lurk behind the eyes." Side note: This novel has been recently made into a movie called "Abandon". As Katie Holmes plays the main charater, I have to assume it is a very loose adaptation.
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