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Search - Silk
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Silk Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover
Book Description:
"An extraordinary achievement" (Clive Barker) from the author of the acclaimed novel Threshold-this is the fiction debut that won the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel. Despite its title, there's nothing smooth or sexy about this skin-crawling debut from Kiernan, an author with one helluvan imagination and a startling lack of inhibition. At the center of this modern gothic horror story is Spyder Baxter, a deeply troubled young woman haunted by terrifying memories of childhood and her insane, abusive father. But his transgressions were so heinous that the demons aren't just in her head anymore; they've taken on a life of their own and are taking over Spyder's house, crawling out of the basement and into everything and everyone she cares about. Caught in Spyder's web of bad karma are a motley crew of disenfranchised Gen Xers all living on the edge and trying to heal various psychic wounds of their own. They've each got plenty of reasons to be hallucinating, and the author does a good job of blurring the lines between their bad acid trips and spectral sightings. But reading Kiernan is rather like deciphering entrails, filled with the violence of raw, edgy words: "The angry screech of denied retribution, raging shadows and nightshade teeth." Her rambling metaphors ("Dull smack of her shoulder against the wall, again and again, meat-thud tattoo") hint at inexperience, but her naked energy will appeal to grungers weaned on The Hunger
Members who requested this book also requested:
Genres:
- Horror >> General
- Horror >> United States
Top Member Book Reviews
Eloise M. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I found the ending SUPREMELY unsatisfying (she's engaging in some experimental writing), but the rest of the book was good. Somehow that only made the betrayal at the end -- by the author, not of any character by another -- more disheartening. Clearly, she CAN write a cracking good yarn ... she just chose not to in this case.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Caitlin Kiernan's debut novel. It's got every splatterpunk trope imaginable all rolled into one of the most spellbinding horror novels ever written. Oh yeah, and it kicks butt too.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
i thought it was a little bit of a slow read.. the plot didnt run very smoothly and the language was just slow reading for me..
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
They are twenty something misfits.....societys castoffs.....urban strays looking for a thrill. Something cheap, anything that can get them through the night. Only their music is different. Sleepwalking on caffeine, nicotine, and drugs, they wait out the dawn in death-rock clubs and shadowy back alleys.
Into their midst comes the eigmatic Spyder. A patron saint of the alienated and lost, she invites them into her mesmorizing world of ritual, and ceremony, blood and fire...a realm of vengeful gods, of exiled spirits harboring the dark secrets of Hell-and the darker secrets of Heaven. Is she their guardian angel, forcing them to face their greatest fears even as she battles to save their ravaged souls? Or a much more terrifying force, sent not to redeem, but to destroy?
Cherie (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I liked the tone of this book. The style was in the genre of gothic horror, aka Poppy Z. Brite. And the whole theme with spiders and creepy crawlies made my spine tingle and raised the hair on my arms. The author did a good job with the main characters, the descriptions vivid and allowing you to know and understand the characters well. I noticed a symmetry between some of the main characters and their past, particularly with Daria and Spyder. I'm looking forward to reading the followup to this, Murder of Angels.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
They are twentysomething misfits...society's castoffs...urban strays looking for a thrill. Something cheap, anything to get them throught he night. Only their music is different. Sleepwalking on caffeine, nicotine, and and drugs, they wait out the dawn in the death-rock clubs and shadowy back alleys.
Into their midst comes the enigmatic Spyder. A patron saint of the alienated and lost, she invites them into her mesmerizing world of ritual and cermeony, blood and fire...a realm of vengeful gods, of exiled spirits harboring the dark secrets of Hell - and the darker secrets of Heaven. Is she their guardian angel, forcing them to face their greatest fears even as she battles to save their ravaged souls? Or a much more terrifying force sent not to redeem but to destroy?
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
OK. I expected better.
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Please Rate these Book Reviews
Heather M. (I came across this book in a Barnes & Noble and the blurb on the back sounded interesting enough so I opened to the first page and read:
"Two nights before Halloween, as if it matters to anyone in the house, as if every day in this house isn't Halloween. As if every moment they live isn't the strain and the stretch, the hand reaching back, groping through bottomless candy bags down to where front porches glow with orange-flicker grins and skeletons dance hopscotch sidewalks and ring doorbells. And they are all here, here around her where they belong." ... and I was hooked.
Spyder Baxter and her friends, a bunch of beautiful, broken souls, each with their own demons, have found each other. Drawn to each other, sometimes united, sometimes squabbling like siblings, they find that curiosity really can kill the cat. Their toddling forays into shamanistic dream-quests serve only to bring them to the attention of the sort of dark and terrible beings it would have been better to be unmarked and unnoticed by.
A dark and disturbing book. Gritty and real, I could not put it down.
I haven't finished this book yet, but it's really good. It really draws you in, with the backstory and the characters--the events happening. You want to know what happens next. But it starts out pretty slow, and doesn't get to the "heart" until you get much farther.
This is a good one if you like Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Brite, etc. I didn't think much of the writing style, but the characters and setting were quite interesting.
This is a great book--I'm only posting it because I found a hardcover edition on clearance.
Read All Book Reviews of "Silk"
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