Customer Reviews

Collecting Candace

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sadly, what's going to make this book "not for everyone" is the fact that it boldly breaks away from the tired, architypical pattern followed by current drivel labeled "popular fiction". First off, the writing is beautiful--literature caliber. Tired of thin, cardboard characters and colorless narratives? Ms. Brooks deliveres a character driven story so vivid and so descriptive, the reader can't help but feel sandwiched between these two lovers as they embark on thier murderous crusade for perfect love. Never have I felt so intimately connected to a character in a novel, or so emotionally invested in a cause. And when the couple commits their unspeakably violent acts, I couldn't help but feel as if I stood beside them. Brooks' writing is that effective. This is the type of novel you pick up and don't put down until you've finished the very last page.

This book had me up until 3 am (on a work night!) and completely pulled me in. To say that the author paints a vivid picture would be an understatement, I could "see" every scene clearly from start to finish.

The scarest part of this dark novel was after I finished and realized that I cared about the characters so much that I actually overlooked their extreme violence while reading. The characters depraved behavior seems like the natural course of events while immersed in their world. Imagine that, a novel that actually warps your morals, if only for a little while.

There are many different aspects to this story and it will certainly have you thinking long after you put it down. I am very much looking forward to seeing another book from this author.

Collecting Candace is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. The emotions conveyed from the inner thoughts of a man, willing to do anything for a woman he just met, is as real and raw as one can get. Susan M. Brooks has written a brilliant novel, showing us the gritty side of human nature.

At the Hi-N-Dri 24-Hour Liquor and Market, on an average night, She walks in. Candace. A woman who moves him in a way that is beyond all his comprehension. From a single conversation, she talks about her life; the people who have left her, and the things that make up the woman she is. The others, the men responsible for taking away pieces of her, become the enemy. His mission becomes quite clear, to make her whole and complete again, and to give back what was taken, by any measure possible. His drive becomes more than a proof of love, but instead a justifiable means to an end, the end of her pain and missing pieces.

With Candace by his side, he is unstoppable, and views himself as her protector, the one "man" who stays with her, and wouldn't dare leave. He battles his nightmares, guilt, and the constant nagging voices. Everything in his life is on the line and yet, it's all worth it, because of Candace. She is more than a woman; she becomes his religion, his goal, and a state of being.

This isn't a story about love gone wrong or the breakdown of one man's mind, but rather it is many elements all in one. If you look closely, you will view their addictions to one another, the pain they suffer alone and together, and the intense highs and lows of the never-ending cycle of events that take place. The reader is given an astute inside look at what makes a person do things they generally know are wrong. Nothing else exists except for the reality they make as their own.

Collecting Candace is disturbing, bittersweet, beautiful, and haunting. This isn't a story where you applaud or even try to understand, but one that educates, satisfies, and begs you to finish. The author has an unrelenting way of describing a scene to perfection; you can see and taste everything so clearly. Susan M. Brooks is a rising star in the writing field as far as I'm concerned. Collecting Candace is a trip into a blissful insanity, and will linger on your mind for a long time. To find out more about this book, please give this link a look: http://www.smalldogspress.com/books/candace.html.

Collecting Candace is a strong and engaging story of a man and woman in search of perfect love that unfortunately brings brutality and death along the way. The writer's vivid imagination captures every striking detail as though looking through a microscope at their sordid life of sexual passion and violence, while they seek to start anew on a clean slate that will prove impossible to attain.

The book kept my attention all the way through. I was anxious to see where their bizarre lifestyle and anti-social escapades would go next. Their strange situation and the vivid visual descriptions throughout the book reminded me of a Tarantino movie. I found it to be quite entertaining.

Brooks has been compared to Faulkner -- that might be true, but I've never been able to finish Faulkner and I could not put this book down. Her writing is wonderful, full of atmosphere. The characters are both creepy and sympathetic. I felt like I was in the car with them hurtling toward the inevitable.

Brooks shows a fascinating understanding of human psychology and a penchant towards gritty horror. The book is a great read -- summer, winter, anytime. I hope they make a movie out of this. After reading the book I went to the website and saw the video made about the book. Definitely worth a look.

Candace is someone I feel that I know. This story is almost true to life and quite enjoyable to read. Susan did an amazing job. It was one hell of a road trip that I wish I could have been on. I would love to meet Susan someday!

If reading about really twisted people just isn't your cup of hemlock, this probably isn't the book for you. In fact, this tale is so dark you may need to turn on extra lights.

But as a trip into the warped psyche of a pair of sociopaths with no redeeming social value whatever, COLLECTING CANDACE is a brilliant piece of fiction. That Ms. Brooks can keep you reading to the end despite the fact her characters make you want to run and shower every so often is testimony to both her skill as a writer and the human fascination with anyone whose mindset is so totally alien we find it hard to believe we share the same species.

There's no redemption here, no remorse, no rescue. Candace and her companion are no one you'd want to invite over to dinner, unless you have a serious death wish. Yet there is at the same time something fatally fascinating about them--the same fascination that draws us to watch as the firemen pull the bloody bodies from the twisted wreckage.

It's a good thing this book is short, because you will not want to put it down.

Collecting Candace is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. The emotions conveyed from the inner thoughts of a man, willing to do anything for a woman he just met, is as real and raw as one can get. Susan M. Brooks has written a brilliant novel, showing us the gritty side of human nature.

At the Hi-N-Dri 24-Hour Liquor and Market, on an average night, She walks in. Candace. A woman who moves him in a way that is beyond all his comprehension. From a single conversation, she talks about her life; the people who have left her, and the things that make up the woman she is. The others, the men responsible for taking away pieces of her, become the enemy. His mission becomes quite clear, to make her whole and complete again, and to give back what was taken, by any measure possible. His drive becomes more than a proof of love, but instead a justifiable means to an end, the end of her pain and missing pieces.

With Candace by his side, he is unstoppable, and views himself as her protector, the one "man" who stays with her, and wouldn't dare leave. He battles his nightmares, guilt, and the constant nagging voices. Everything in his life is on the line and yet, it's all worth it, because of Candace. She is more than a woman; she becomes his religion, his goal, and a state of being.

This isn't a story about love gone wrong or the breakdown of one man's mind, but rather it is many elements all in one. If you look closely, you will view their addictions to one another, the pain they suffer alone and together, and the intense highs and lows of the never-ending cycle of events that take place. The reader is given an astute inside look at what makes a person do things they generally know are wrong. Nothing else exists except for the reality they make as their own.

Collecting Candace is disturbing, bittersweet, beautiful, and haunting. This isn't a story where you applaud or even try to understand, but one that educates, satisfies, and begs you to finish. The author has an unrelenting way of describing a scene to perfection; you can see and taste everything so clearly. Susan M. Brooks is a rising star in the writing field as far as I'm concerned. Collecting Candace is a trip into a blissful insanity, and will linger on your mind for a long time. To find out more about this book, please give this link a look: http://www.smalldogspress.com/books/candace.html.

For me the author's narrative in Collecting Candace was an exciting combination of evoking vivid scenes of imagination and stirring restless emotions inside me. Once I began reading, this visceral, chilling story kept me interested with nonstop curiosity. Some scenes generated genuinely raw true to life emotions that compelled me to reread the pages, wringing out every ounce of thrill.

I believe real people can connect for unexplainable, instinctual reasons much like the characters described in Collecting Candace .
Most people do not go to such extremes, but that is what makes good fiction writing. Taking you to the edge, outside of the norm
into the questionable border of reality. All this adds a flavor of realism to the characters' being. Everyone's past actions have a bearing on the future events of people in their lives, whether they like it or not. Aspects of the actions, of the main characters were much like being drunk, but in their case with emotions rather than alcohol. Their actions made all the sense in the world until the reality of what they had done sobered them. This was a hangover, I as a reader experienced from the bottom of my stomach. A loneliness that is difficult to shake.

Sine reading Collecting Candace, I genuinely look at people with a more inquisitive curiosity. I highly recommend this read for those who enjoy real thrillers and enjoy feeling the emotions of the characters.

Collecting Candace reminds me of William Faulkner's stories. They are stark, realistic and run along fatalistic lines in the story as well as the characters. In Collecting Candace, there's only one character that suffers and that's the man that Candace selects to perform her killings of exhusbands so that she can begin with a clean slate.

Collecting Candace isn't for everyone, but if you ever want to stray over the line and see the dark undercurrents of what an insincere heart can do, then read this book. It's brief and bare outlines of how Candace attracts these men is one step below a madam collecting her own personal escorts for going out on the town. Nothing sticks to her. She is remote and like teflon, everything rolls off and away from her. Her problems, her difficulties are fostered on the poor man who takes up her cause. Instead of a white knight, the man becomes blackened and stained with Candace's own disregard for truth, justice, and the bond of love and marriage. I rate Collecting Candace five stars.

It's not for one sit-me-down reading, but a book that requires space so you, the reader, can come up for air and wipe the sweat from your brow.