Search - Coldheart Canyon

Fine Little Gem of a Book, January 7, 2006
Reviewer: Ivan (Jacksonville, NC)
This book was so good that I actually wondered if it hadn't already been written before the beginning of time, before the universe itself was born and Mr. Barker didn't actually just discover it for us, and translate it for us from the pure language of the cosmos that it was written in. Perhaps it was originally written upon papyrus in some ancient tongue and buried deep in a crypt only for Clive Barker to have been led there by an angel (or a demon). Perhaps it miraculously survived the burning of Alexandria and through a long sequence of coincidences and synchronicities wound up in the hands of Mr. Clive Barker.

However the book actually came to pass I still kept wincing and my stomach kept turning at all of the perverted and gory details of the book, only for me to realize in the end that they were all necessary for us to still understand the possible condition of the afterlife that he was suggesting, and the development of his characters and the drama of souls struggling after death to overcome the channel to anguish and torment in the region of the dead that people dig for themselves in life.

What a chilling book! The ending is unbelievable! A haunted house on the top of the hill!

A very good read,strange and erotic, worth the time.

Let me say two things: First, I read 5 or more fiction books per week and am typically unimpressed. Second, I gave up Clive Barker a decade or more ago because his books are too dense, too graphic. I picked this book up on the clearance rack at my local book shop on the off chance that I would read it and it sat, untouched, for months. One night after dinner, after kids were in bed, I read it straight through. All 700+ pages. I couldn't help myself. This book is one you will never forget. It will haunt you. God bless Clive Barker's imagination. It is true horror, only from the imagination of Barker. Pure mental horror. I loved it. 5 stars.

I listened to the audio version of this book,and an excellent reader can really make a difference. Frank Muller is the best!