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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complex and subtle narrative, and a compelling story, March 17, 2003
The Church of Dead Girls is the best novel I have read in a long time. I imagine that most readers of this review are looking for a good thriller/serial killer novel; this book is certainly that, and an excellent one. Dobyns uses some wonderful techniques to create the sort of suspense that keeps you up at night. Even the most seasoned readers of serial killer novels will be uncertain what exactly is going on until the last few pages. But what is even more interesting, this "whodunnit" is the story about a small town that has fallen under the shadow of murder and abduction. This is not a novel about police hunting down a serial killer, but rather, a novel about what happens to the inhabitants of a sleepy rural town when they are confronted with the fact that one of them (at least) is a monster. Still better, though, is Dobyns' masterful narrative. It takes a lot of courage to stray away from the omniscient and anonymous third person and the tell-all biographical first person narratives. Dobyns, however, has done just that. Our narrator is a real person, a teacher at the local high school. He himself plays only a minor role in the story he tells and admits to not knowing everything. Frequently the story is told in a thrid person voice, but the narrator always provides us with the source of his information, so that the feeling of authenticity is maintained. Dobyns brings this town so vibrantly alive that you begin to wonder if this is really fiction. Dobyns has proved himself to be a masterful storyteller -- don't deprive yourself of this wonderful experience.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Thriller!, June 10, 2000
From the first five pages, where Dobyns describes finding the bodies of the girls, I was hooked. Even when I had figured out why the girls had been kidnapped and killed, I had no idea who had done it. When I read this book a second time, a year later, and knew who the killer was, Dobyns's writing is so powerful, and the story so unpredictable, that I began to doubt my memory. The really disturbing aspect of the novel is the way the townspeople begin to distrust each other, and the fact that some people even go so far as to act violently towards people who were once their friends. Most upsetting, though, is the ending. I won't give anything away here, you'll have to read it for yourselves. This novel is deliciously creepy and sometimes quite grahpic. If you prefer your thrillers without graphic crime scene descriptions, you might want to check out Dobyns's later novel, _The Boy in the Water_. However, the scenes here are not gratuitous -- they are very necessary to the plot of the novel. This killer's violence is in many ways symbolic, and these descriptions are important to solving the mystery. All in all, this novel is an excellent read, and will gratify mystery and horror readers alike. I can't wait to read another thriller from Stephen Dobyns!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CHILLING! AND TOTALLY SATISFYING!, June 8, 2000
I read this book last summer while sitting beside a swimming pool on a hot, humid August day in the middle of the sweltering urban swamp of Washington, D.C. Despite the 98-degree temperature, and 90 percent humidity, I had persistent goose flesh and chills. If you like a good scare, here's one shudder-fest you should NOT miss. THE CHURCH OF DEAD GIRLS stands head and shoulders above most of the last two decade's releases in the horror genre. Until I read this first Stephen Dobyns' release, I was convinced that REAL horror existed only on the six o'clock news. Thank you Mr. Dobyns for proving me wrong. This book is extraordinarily well crafted. It's hip! It's witty! And it's full of horrific images and unexpected plot twists that really get under your skin where they fester and grow -- and keep revisiting you even weeks after you've finished reading. And because of its sheer realism, THE CHURCH OF DEAD GIRLS is pure nightmare bait. This one will be hard to top. For some of us, a good scare has the same affect as a good laugh, a good cry or some other really intense, orgasmic release. In a nutshell, this book creeped me out! God, how I love that!
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