Toplin

Rating:
Summary: Once you've outgrown Bentley Little or Richard Laymon...
Review: ...you may want to check out this obscure little gem, if you can find it. Toplin is told from the perspective of a rather peculiar and unnamed gentleman who lives in a Kafka-esque city. This gentleman, let's just say, has a few odd personality traits. He has several identical suits in his closet that are numbered. He only reads cookbooks (nothing wrong with that really). When he cleans house, it is an exercise of intricacy and thoroughness that borders on obsessive-compulsiveness. Even his sex life is structured and monotonous with no wasted movements or wasted time. And adding to all that, he was rendered colorblind at a young age from an attack by seagulls while he worked one summer at a beach. But the story's just beginning.

The real story starts when he visits a particular diner for the first time ever and sees a waitress so hideously deformed, he believes with every fiber in his being that he has to end her life somehow. Along the way, he runs into people like an insane delivery boy who resents the fact the Army won't let him enlist and the "Tempus Fugit" street gang.

Toplin is the first of two books I've read by Michael Mcdowell, the other being the incredible historical revenge thriller Gilded Needles. Even though two may not seem like much, it was enough to convince me that McDowell is every bit as good as Stephen King or Clive Barker (two writers I greatly respect) and far better than so called horror masters like Little, Laymon, or Koontz. Toplin is not a book for all tastes with its extremely dark tone and uncovential plot, but I highly recommend it for horror fans seeking something original.

Rating:
Summary: Once you've outgrown Bentley Little or Richard Laymon...
Review: ...you may want to check out this obscure little gem, if you can find it. Toplin is told from the perspective of a rather peculiar and unnamed gentleman who lives in a Kafka-esque city. This gentleman, let's just say, has a few odd personality traits. He has several identical suits in his closet that are numbered. He only reads cookbooks (nothing wrong with that really). When he cleans house, it is an exercise of intricacy and thoroughness that borders on obsessive-compulsiveness. Even his sex life is structured and monotonous with no wasted movements or wasted time. And adding to all that, he was rendered colorblind at a young age from an attack by seagulls while he worked one summer at a beach. But the story's just beginning.

The real story starts when he visits a particular diner for the first time ever and sees a waitress so hideously deformed, he believes with every fiber in his being that he has to end her life somehow. Along the way, he runs into people like an insane delivery boy who resents the fact the Army won't let him enlist and the "Tempus Fugit" street gang.

Toplin is the first of two books I've read by Michael Mcdowell, the other being the incredible historical revenge thriller Gilded Needles. Even though two may not seem like much, it was enough to convince me that McDowell is every bit as good as Stephen King or Clive Barker (two writers I greatly respect) and far better than so called horror masters like Little, Laymon, or Koontz. Toplin is not a book for all tastes with its extremely dark tone and uncovential plot, but I highly recommend it for horror fans seeking something original.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: A very well written story of a definitely demented man. The story goes deep into the mind (deeper than anyone should like to go) of a man living in his own twisted world. An excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: First off, this book comes with pictures. Looking at them first will give you an idea of the highly disturbed world you are about to enter. The book is told in first person and you will quickly find that you are inside a truly damaged mind. But not in the way you might think. Not a sociopath or psychopath but someone whose mind is--askew--a bit off. This is probably THE creepiest book I have ever read. Kathe Koja is the only other person I know of that can write in this vein. This, by the way, is the author of the Blackwater series which Stephen King so backhandedly mentions in the intro to The Green Mile. I highly recommend the Blackwater series also but unfortunately it is as difficult to find as this title.

Rating:
Summary: For hardcore Michael McDowell fans only
Review: I read only two of McDowell's books: "Toplin" and "Katie". "Katie" is much better. After finishing "Toplin", I felt like I had wasted my time.

I actually read "Toplin" first. Although I disliked it, I saw potential and decided to read more of his books.

I liked the movie "Tales from the Darkside" which McDowell co-wrote. That was also a factor in my decision to give the author another shot. (McDowell also co-wrote "Beetlejuice" and wrote a screenplay based on Stephen King's book "Thinner".)

Rating:
Summary: For hardcore Michael McDowell fans only
Review: I read only two of McDowell's books: "Toplin" and "Katie". "Katie" is much better. After finishing "Toplin", I felt like I had wasted my time.

I actually read "Toplin" first. Although I disliked it, I saw potential and decided to read more of his books.

I liked the movie "Tales from the Darkside" which McDowell co-wrote. That was also a factor in my decision to give the author another shot. (McDowell also co-wrote "Beetlejuice" and wrote a screenplay based on Stephen King's book "Thinner".)