Review - Domino Men by Jonathan Barnes
The Domino Men by Jonathan Barnes
The Domino Men is a good old English-humor/Lovecraftian sci-fi/mystery mix. Sounds weird? It is. And brilliant. I couldn't put this one down; it's got a very British sense of humor, as well as being incredibly easy to read.
Highly recommended. And despite having a Lovecraftian bent, it's not horror-y, at least not in a way that would put off most readers. The hero is, well, normal. Bumbling at times. Completely in love with a woman who doesn't give him a second look. He's very endearing, actually. Just normal enough to feel like you really connect with him, you really feel him, but not so sad that he's truly pathetic - and sometimes that's a fine line to walk. Given his dead-end job, and his unrequited love, he redeems himself by taking action into his own hands later on, which saves him from being a complete loser.
Usually I'm not crazy about anything with mystery components; this had enough of the other genres going on to keep me interested. And other than the amazing writing, I think the brilliance of this novel is that is has enough genres to keep most readers not only interested but delighted. While this mish-mash could be overwhelming, there really only are hints of everything. I do think that science fiction/horror readers are more likely to pick this up - and possibly more likely to love this as much as I do.
And it's not only the main character who is multi-layered. All the characters are as complex as the mix of genres that are used in this novel. I read an advanced reader copy that I passed on to a friend, but am going to replace it at some point.
The Domino Men is a good old English-humor/Lovecraftian sci-fi/mystery mix. Sounds weird? It is. And brilliant. I couldn't put this one down; it's got a very British sense of humor, as well as being incredibly easy to read.
Highly recommended. And despite having a Lovecraftian bent, it's not horror-y, at least not in a way that would put off most readers. The hero is, well, normal. Bumbling at times. Completely in love with a woman who doesn't give him a second look. He's very endearing, actually. Just normal enough to feel like you really connect with him, you really feel him, but not so sad that he's truly pathetic - and sometimes that's a fine line to walk. Given his dead-end job, and his unrequited love, he redeems himself by taking action into his own hands later on, which saves him from being a complete loser.
Usually I'm not crazy about anything with mystery components; this had enough of the other genres going on to keep me interested. And other than the amazing writing, I think the brilliance of this novel is that is has enough genres to keep most readers not only interested but delighted. While this mish-mash could be overwhelming, there really only are hints of everything. I do think that science fiction/horror readers are more likely to pick this up - and possibly more likely to love this as much as I do.
And it's not only the main character who is multi-layered. All the characters are as complex as the mix of genres that are used in this novel. I read an advanced reader copy that I passed on to a friend, but am going to replace it at some point.