Paradise Motel [Hardcover]

Eric McCormack (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A virtuoso, McCormack ( Inspecting the Vaults ) holds the reader's attention as much by his style as by the story he tells . Scotsman Ezra Stevenson recalls a story about a horrifying family crime told to his grandfather in Patagonia by one of its victims. Now a journalist happily escaped from the hard life of his childhood, Ezra tries to verify the story, tracking down the four Mackenzie brothers and sisters who had been so terrifyingly abused. The search is suspenseful, as are the later-life stories he uncovers. Did they occur? Were these new victims the Mackenzie children grown up? The stories are both phantasmagorical and very real, and McCormack holds them together with a sophisticated prose rich in beautiful physical descriptions. Full of death and suffering, the novel exhilarates rather than depresses, its stark dourness vivifying rather than dulling the reading appetite.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (September 12, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670824259
• ISBN-13: 978-0670824250
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,760,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a superb book., June 22, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Bethel, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paradise Motel (Mass Market Paperback)

Eric McCormack is a gifted writer who has woven a bizarre and mesmerizing tale of a man attempting to discover the truth regarding a story related to him by his dying grandfather. McCormack is a master storyteller who possesses unique imaginative abilities. It is a pity that this book is out of print, as I consider it one of the best books I have ever read.

4.0 out of 5 stars One obsessed man discovers nothing., October 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Paradise Motel (Hardcover)

This book will give you nightmares. It consists of a series of first hand accounts of the fate of four children. All of them suffer the worst family tragedy not even imaginable. The childrens' tale is told in a series of stories, most of them unrelated, but equally horrible. Due to the the middle ground between horror and reality that Eric scares us with, this book will not allow you to sleep. This book makes one think of, above all, pure madness, In all its forms. There is one bad part. It is so unfortunate that such a horrifying book should end as this one does. I expect much arguement for that remark. But the ending is a dissapointment.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A brow-furrower., August 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Paradise Motel (Hardcover)

This book is a gem. Fluidly written, not immediately gross, yet scary in an under-the-skin kind of way. To tell too much about the narrative would spoil the experience, yet it's suffice to say that this book will turn you upside down. One of the better endings I've read. Incredibly strange, yet incredibly good