Cul-De-Sac

Rating:
Summary: Great!!!!!
Review: Couldn't put the book down!!! I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a some HORROR....

Rating:
Summary: Cul-De-Sac will stay with you late into the night!
Review: David Lozell Martin has created some memorable characters and vividly realistic scenes in his gruesome and gory novel, "Cul-De-Sac". Washed-up cop Teddy Camel (first introduced in Martin's "Lie To Me") comes to the aid of his former lover as she tries to save her husband from the evil clutches of the mysterious house known as Cul-De-Sac and one of it's former residents, convicted murderer Donald Growler.

Growler, you see, has revenge on his mind. Revenge in the form of grisly murders of the former residents of Cul-De-Sac who helped to frame him for the death of his cousin. But was Growler really framed or is this just the warped perception of a psychotic mind? As Camel and Annie Milton try to save Annie's husband, they end up finding out more about the original Cul-De-Sac murder then they bargained for.

Without giving away too much of the plot, let me just say that this book has a number of plot twists that will keep the reader guessing. And, while the finale follows a somewhat expected path, even it has an interesting final twist. As long as the reader is not easily disturbed by florid scenes of violence, then this will be a satisfying and extremely quick "read". Fans of Richard Laymon and Rex Miller will no doubt flock to other novels by David Martin.

Highly recommended is the aforementioned, "Lie To Me", plus "Tap, Tap" and "Bring Me Children" all written by Martin.

Rating:
Summary: Cul-De-Sac will stay with you late into the night!
Review: David Lozell Martin has created some memorable characters and vividly realistic scenes in his gruesome and gory novel, "Cul-De-Sac". Washed-up cop Teddy Camel (first introduced in Martin's "Lie To Me") comes to the aid of his former lover as she tries to save her husband from the evil clutches of the mysterious house known as Cul-De-Sac and one of it's former residents, convicted murderer Donald Growler.

Growler, you see, has revenge on his mind. Revenge in the form of grisly murders of the former residents of Cul-De-Sac who helped to frame him for the death of his cousin. But was Growler really framed or is this just the warped perception of a pychotic mind? As Camel and Annie Milton try to save Annie's husband, they end up finding out more about the original Cul-De-Sac murder then they bargained for.

Without giving away too much of the plot, let me just say that this book has a number of plot twists that will keep the reader guessing. And, while the finale follows a somewhat expected path, even it has an interesting final twist. As long as the reader is not easily disturbed by florid scenes of violence, then this will be a satisfying and extremely quick "read". Fans of Richard Laymon and Rex Miller will no doubt flock to other novels by David Martin.

Highly recommended is the aforementioned, "Lie To Me", plus "Tap, Tap" and "Bring Me Children" all written by Martin.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling!
Review: David Martin does it again, another homerun. Is is possible that jail can change a person? Take someone who's innocent of murder then spent several years in jail, and when he comes out, he's a changed man. This is the story of Doland Growler. Grolwer (you have to love that name) had to spend years in jail, and he was changed froever. Now that he's out, he wants to find the ones who set him up for murder and was forced to do unspeakable things in jail. But now Growler is out, and it's times to make the giulty pay.
Don't think that that the above spoils anything. What I said is mention in the back of the book. I left out a lot, trust me.
Martin gives the reader many chills with the unique murders that Growler commits. Martin also has the ability to keep the reader glued to the page, and actually forced the reader to put the book down. This book has a lot of plot twiwts and excellent characters that will heep the reader hooked to the very last page.
If you know of Martin's works, then you need to get this book, and other book Mratin wrote. Now, if you haven't read any books my Martin, then you must start it. You may want to read a book called "Lie to Me", before you read this book. One character in Lie to me, shows up here. Start this book, you won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Nail-biter
Review: David Martin strikes again. I am completely in awe of his creation of Growler, a maniacal serial killer with an interesting twist. I was so caught up in this story that there was no way I could put it down and ended up finishing it in one afternoon. Martin's writing is clear, and he drew me in with all the twists and turns to this story.
Donald Growler knows he has been wronged. He has just spent several years of his life in prison for a crime he says he never committed. Now he's out, and he's in search of all the people who caused him to be locked up. I was squirming in my chair with the descriptions of some of the more creative murders in this novel. The plot twists are amazing, and there were quite a few surprises. I love that Teddy Camel makes another appearance; he was a great character in Martin's LIE TO ME (another incredible serial killer novel).
Martin is not for the squeamish! He is very detailed, and his bad guys are downright brutal. But he is a master of plot and character development. This is well worth the time to read!

Rating:
Summary: Martin Writes Thriller's Like No One Else Can Deliver!
Review: From the front cover to the last page, Martin delivers a non stop, heart-stopping, adrenaline pumping thriller, that burns images into your mind, and steals your breath away. When the heads rolled, and ended up in the washer and dryer with the cycles on, I could not put it down. A superb read!

Rating:
Summary: Barely readable
Review: I gave this book only two stars because I actually felt compeled to read to the end. I should have known; any book that opens with a beheading, and the victims heads being placed in the washer and dryer, is bound to be disgusting. I guess I just had no idea how disgusting. I'm not generally a squeamish person, but this was just over the top. Not to mention the plot was thin; you know who the bad guys are from the beginning, and the eventual revelation was no big surprise. I personally found Martin's writing to be overdone; his descriptions had the subtlety of a 2 by 4, and some were just plain bad. The run on sentences and lack of commas just beg for a good editor. If you are looking for some good psychological suspense, just get a Stephen King or an Iris Johansen novel; those are actually scary and mysterious, not just gross.

Rating:
Summary: Great fun - but you'll need a perverse sense of humour!
Review: The dialogue is right out of NYPD Blue (a compliment, of course). The discussion by a couple of the characters on whether Growler's name is pronounded Grow-ler or Growl-er is hilarious. Also appreciated by this reader is that Martin gives a plausible rationalization for Annie returning to Cul De Sac, knowing that a killer is probably waiting for her. So instead of saying to myself, "Lady, don't go in there!", I'm saying, "Yeah, I can see why she'd do that." I liked that he cared enough about the reader to realize that we'd need a reason for her risky behavior.

Rating:
Summary: Bloody Funny in Every Sense
Review: The majority of my favorite books have me well-hooked by the end of the first chapter. David Martin's latest nailed me by the end of the first page. And kept me thoroughly riveted right through the end.

Cul-De-Sac involves a very burned-out ex-cop, whose life is turned inside-out by the sudden appearance of his sensuous ex-girlfriend, the fairly freckled Annie. There's also the ex-girlfriend's husband (an ex-Jesuit). Most notably, there is Growler -- an ex-con who, after serving time for a murder he didn't commit, goes on a bloody rampage of vengence against all those who put him away. Growler's prison experiences have left him with a serious grudge as well as a new set of teeth; he's a man on a mission and in addition to wreaking some extremely violent havoc, is in desperate search of...yup, you guessed it; an elephant. Really.

This book made me laugh out loud. It also made me avert my eyes from the page occasionally; while some scenes are very funny, be warned that the violence is not for the faint of heart.

I've bought four more copies for friends thus far, because I won't let mine out of my sight. I've also scrambled to get my hands on all of Martin's previous books (only partially successful); Cul-De-Sac takes gets my vote as Martin's best for its sheer audicity, outrageousness, and great, great writing.

If you're a fan of Pulp Fiction or Twin Peaks, Cul-De-Sac will thrill you