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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clark is quickly becoming a favorite author..., February 27, 2005
This review is from: In This Skin (Mass Market Paperback)
While this isn't quite as good as his amazing Stranger, In This Skin kept me glued to the couch, lounging around and being lazy all day as I read. (Like that's anything new but hey, saying this book is good gives me a believable excuse)
The plot is complex, unsettling, covered with a mysterious, dreamy-like atmosphere. Wiggling around in this foggy soup are characters that stand out, with credible motives for their actions, realistic goals, and I cared about each. The 'creatures' were shivery and unique.
As for the pace, In This Skin started out with swift, hard kicks, never letting up, ending with a final bang that could be
felt through the entire length of my spine. Clarks writing style is not weighed down by unneeded 'pretty phrases' - instead he's focus, determined, and powerful.
The only real flaw I can see is that sometimes the characters are a bit dumb, but hey, not much is perfect. This one tantalized my mind and kept my blood roaring through my ears - what more could a horror reader ask for?
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some genuinely creepy moments, April 4, 2005
This review is from: In This Skin (Mass Market Paperback)
Nearly a century old, the Luxor Dance Hall, located in a suburb outside Chicago, has proven a Mecca for young people for several generations. Some visited to see the latest Vaudeville attraction, others danced to swing music played by the premier big bands, still others attended performances by the likes of the Talking Heads and the Ramones. Now dilapidated, it still holds an attraction for some. One such individual, Benedict West, returns again and again to seek clues to the mysterious disappearance of his lover, Mariah, who, like countless others, were last seen at the Luxor. Others, like the bullied Ellery Hann and the pregnant Robyn Vincent, are instinctively drawn there. When the trio comes together to delve more deeply into the secrets of the old dance hall, they find themselves pitted against unearthly forces they can barely comprehend.
In This Skin works well enough overall, but it's not prime Clark-despite some genuinely creepy moments, it suffers in comparison to earlier efforts like Vamphyrric, which is guaranteed to make the hair the back of your neck stand up. Part of the problem is that Clark is not working in his customary milieu, having set the novel in modern day mid-west America, instead of his native England. As a result, the main characters will seem just a bit "off" to American readers. Another problem (for me, at least) is the novel's uncanny, hopefully unintentional parallels to the 1955 movie "Rebel Without a Cause," what with disaffected youth coming to form a family unit after spending time in a deserted building. Half expecting Jim Backus to emerge from the shadows, dressed in an apron, somewhat diminished the tension Clark labored so mightily to build.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't say enough about this book!, August 19, 2007
This review is from: In This Skin (Mass Market Paperback)
In This Skin is the most refreshingly different horror novel I have had the pleasure of reading for a long time. The plot is new, fresh, and unique. Clark obviously reached deep inside his imagination to come up with this book.
The Luxor is an abandoned dance hall that doubles as a portal into another universe. What travels through that portal is monstrous and deadly. I can't give you anymore than that without ruining the story, so let's just talk about the book's merits.
It's been a long time since I have given a book 5 stars, but this novel deserves it. Yes, there are moments where unbelievable, never-happen-in-a-million-years events take place, but isn't that what fictional horror is all about? The characters in this book remain true to themselves from page one on to the last page, which is rare. There is no last minute change of heart, or the bad guys come around to see the light, or any of that nonsense. All the characters in this story have a job to do and they each complete their task memorably.
This is a hard to put down thrill ride. It is worth every penny spent to buy it and every minute spent reading it......enjoy.
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