Slippin' Into Darkness [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

Norman Partridge (Author), Alan M. Clark (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

Eighteen years after high school, the suicide of a former cheerleader-turned-prostitute inextricably binds together the lives of all those who loved her, abused her, wronged her, and envied her. Reprint. Winner of the Bram Stoker Award. AB. LJ.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

His style is unique, to be sure, but Partridge is in the same ballpark as Joe Lansdale and Ed Gorman -- bright-colored comic book imagery, embattled and flawed protagonists, and a melancholy tone that seeps in around the edges. This story is reminiscent of "Twin Peaks": a sweet, lovely high-school girl stars in a scene of sex and violence that continues to haunt her male classmates long after her death. This time, though, "Laura Palmer" gets her revenge. The prose is vivid and satisfyingly detailed, the characters are crisply delineated, and the mood is like a sad rock-n-roll song with a good backbeat. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Eighteen years after high school, a former cheerleader turned "trailer trash" prostitute kills herself. Shortly thereafter, her ghost (or perhaps just her memory) becomes the focus of a dire set of events involving old classmates, from her admirers to her rival to the jocks who raped her, shattering her life. Their lives changed, too, and not for the better. One's a pornographer, one's a drugged-out insomniac, one changes husbands faster than hairstyles, and all lead meaningless, desperately despondent lives. In the 24 hours the story occupies, what they did and saw and condoned 18 years ago comes home with dreadful but condign intensity. This is a story of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, and it is informed by the spirit and the lyrics of 1970s pop culture. Partridge writes with a rock beat--disco crossed with hard-slammin' punk--that gives the book a savage tempo in keeping with its horrific events. Dennis Winters

Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications; 1st edition (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881475077
• ISBN-13: 978-1881475071
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,344,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miles Away From Ordinary, December 6, 2010

By 

Kevin Lucia "Author" (Castle Creek, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slippin' Into Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

This was, quite simply, one of the more original novels I've read in quite some time. Again, gotta love Partridge's terse, tight narrative, and I like how he balanced the line here: very faint supernatural elements, but really, the only "haunts" in this novel are memories that dog all of the characters. Partridge continues to take me new places, and this is a good thing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One helluva read!, March 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Slippin' Into Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

With Partridge's debut novel, he takes you on a whirlwind ride like no other can. Partridge cooks some some terrifying scenes and great characters. He's what you'd get if you threw Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, and Quenting Tarantino together. He's just great.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mysterious, dark, and saddening tale., October 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Slippin' Into Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

I personally found this book to be wild. It had danger, mystery, violence, and love all put carefully inside a devouring plot. I would find myself hysterically crying one moment and rivited the next. This book made me have a true understanding of all the April Destino's of the world.