Customer Reviews

The Angel Maker

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is an story about science gone to far, a warped interpretation of religion, and the impact of childhood on an adult's world view. There were parts of the story that had a 'Shirley Jackson' feel to them. It hurdled towards it's horrible climax, and I could not look away. I highly recommend.

This is a well written character study of a doctor who is obsessed with his genetic experiments. The author explores the doctor's sad past, which began with his being born with a hairlip and dumped in a mental institution by his parents. "Cared for" (if you can call it that) by nuns, he became fascinated with Jesus Christ, the man. The combination of how science and religion molded the man is intriguing, and the author certainly did his homework about genetics and cloning. The village setting is quaint and the triplets are unforgettable. I enjoyed everything about this book and couldn't turn the pages fast enough. This would be an excellent book discussion selection because there is so much to talk about and debate. I applaud this author for creating a fine character study and for his wonderful imagination. This a great book for those who savor something truly different.

The first and final thirds work beautifully. Victor Hoppe--general practitioner, fertility expert, mad scientist--is a fascinating creation, and Brijs' tantalizingly sparse descriptions left me hitting the "next page" button on my Kindle at a furious rate. There's some beautiful writing in the last few chapters as Victor's insanity shifts in a surprising, but apt, direction.

The middle third is a little less successful. Telling the life story of someone whose inner life is so alien is a difficult proposition, and I think the exposition gets a little dense. Brijs invents another narrator to tell the story of Hoppe's scientific career, but doesn't bother to flesh the character out, and when he appears again after an absence I found myself annoyed at the unnecessary complication.

Still, there's much to enjoy: Hoppe's game of deceptive truth-telling, his housekeeper's slow realization of her employer's peculiarities, the horrors of his house once things go terribly wrong. Fans of horror-tinged science fiction will be rewarded in seeking this out.

Truth is I had mix feelings about this book. It's not what I like but the story had definitely drawn me in from the beginning, and as it slowly unraveled, the truth and the past of Dr. Hoppe came to light. While I found those scientific theories confusing and foreign, Dr. Hoppe's background provoked quite a lot of emotions from me. I sympathized with him and understood why he became what he was later. His life was a struggle to do the right things, to get acknowledged but was always failed by confusion and misinterpretation. His experiment and his way of thinking often led to a brush with ethical and religious controversies. I was disturbed by the time I closed the book, but I think the authors have provided us with a thriller with conclusive and satisfactory ending.

This book will keep you up at night! I only wish this amazing Belgium author had more books translated into English. This is a must read!!

What starts with an interesting premise turns out to be a disappointing failure. The characters are poorly conceived, the character development is unconvincing and unbelievable, and the characters constantly behave in unrealistic and annoying ways. I totally lost track of how many times someone foolishly trusted Victor after misinterpreting his his actions and words. As a plot device, it was unconvincing and distracting.

There aren't many books that I would like to get a refund for- but this is one of them. Awful from start to finish. Don't waste your money.