Christine Price (3)

There is a lot of REALLY clever stuff in THE USUAL APOCALYPSE. The plot is intricate but well thought out with some excellent twists and turns, neat little clues that make you go, "Oh, good one!" and want to give the protagonist, Matt, a nice high-five when he figures them out. The highpoints of this novel make me really WANT to like it, but (and you can tell this is coming, can't you?)...I didn't.

Even though the story is great I had to slog through most of THE USUAL APOCALYPSE. I feel like the novel is bloated, like you could shovel out pounds of fat clogging up every scene and dragging down the pace, but at the same time I wanted MORE - more vivid language, a better sense of atmosphere and place, a better physical sense of the world and the characters. My fussy frustrated response has got to be personal taste as much as anything else, but it's hard to be sure.

Most of my major issues were connected to the romance. The mystery was really, really clever. The romance was not. Matt and Brennan meet cute, they have a casual hookup that develops into something more, they're both a little bit commitment-phobic but over the course of a month they decide to try a real relationship. I kept expecting to find some intersection between Matt's case at the Society and his relationship with Brennan, but it never happened. I think that contributed to my sense of the novel's slow pacing, since there wasn't much conflict between them as a couple.

Matt's paranormal ability is that people can't lie around him, except, apparently, for Brennan, but I never understood why Brennan was immune. Matt's ability seemed to operate selectively, in general - sometimes people would blurt out things they clearly didn't want to say, but others could evade and distract with seemingly little effort. I wanted to know why that was happening and I wanted to feel Matt actually exercise his ability rather than passively wait to see what happened. I thought, in general, that THE USUAL APOCALYPSE featured some paranormal bells and whistles but wasn't paranormal at heart; the world didn't feel deeply changed or off-kilter to me.

On the other hand, I thought Price dealt with the issue of Matt's overworking brilliantly. She builds it up as a huge problem and then, when the volcano finally blows, Brennan handled it in a mature way that made me like him so much more.

At the end of the day, my biggest problem here is that the characters didn't jump out at me. I could describe them, I knew who they were, but they never felt real. I lacked an emotional connection that kept me from loving this book, even though it's brimming with positive qualities.… (meer)

Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:

I believe everyone knows of the old saying 'you should never judge a book by it's cover'. Me? Well, I tend to pointedly ignore this little gem of advice. In truth, most of the novels I choose to read come from one of two categories if not both. First, the cover. Beautiful covers tend to win me over quickly and I can't seem to resist the allure they present. Secondly, the synopsis. If a book sounds amazing then the chances are pretty high that I'm going to be reading it. This novel? Well, it fit both criteria and I couldn't help but request to review it and once again my system did not fail me.

In Darkness Bound by Christine Price is a wonderfully creepy novel that often surprised me. Something I really wasn't expecting when I first started reading it. The world Price builds is quite a bit larger then she leads the reader to believe at the beginning of the story and slowly the truths about the other 'patients' at the 4H laboratories are revealed. Truly the atmosphere created within this world was one of my favorite aspects. The labs are wonderfully depicted and extremely creepy. The silence of the compound is overwhelming as is the sterile emptiness that seems to lurk everywhere. This is only emphasized by Dr. Dalhousie who bring to life the concept of the Mad Scientist. With her ever deepening insanity there is a looming tension surrounding the characters. But, the doctor isn't the only character who adds to the ambiance. A patient who is referred to only as 'patient 66' also helps to build the horrific weight that lingers over the laboratory with his daunting whispers into the minds of the other patients pulling forth their fears. Often times these attributes led me to remember scenes from the asylums in horror movies with it's lingering feeling of unease.

However, despite the gruesome and bleak atmosphere the characters have a warmth about them that contrasts to the chilling environment. The main character Chris is somewhat optimistic after coming across Vance, a fellow inmate, and sets a somewhat lighter tone with some fantastically amusing comedic moments. But, it is the relationship between Chris, Vance and Simon that most interested me. As this was my first foray into a novel that focused solely on a same sex relationship I was a little uncertain about what to expect. I mean, when it comes to romance I want to feel the connection between characters and a cast of men, well, lets just say I was worried. Of course this turned out to be unfounded as I relished the relationships they formed, both separately and as a threesome. After reading some other reviews about this novel, however, I was a little confused that others had come to feel the fruition of the ménage relationship didn't work. I couldn't have disagreed more strongly. In fact throughout the novel I sort of felt it was necessary as separately the relationships weren't strong enough. Vance and Chris's relationship was passionate and aggressive while Chris and Simon's relationship was sweet and tender. The relationship between Vance and Simon was more akin to fire and water. While in the different pairings the relationships worked, I always felt that they would crumble after only a short time. Together however, there seemed to be a wonderful balance of passion and tenderness that made it more tempestuous and whole. Somehow the three men seem to complete each other and I really loved this aspect immensely.

Really the only downfall of the novel for me was the sometimes confusing point of view. The novel often shifts view between the three men as well as a team of agents who work for an entity called the Society. It is this entity that is suppose to be in charge of the laboratory, however the experiments of Dr. Dalhousie and the treatment of the men housed there are not known to them. In fact, they stumble upon the situation while investigating Chris's disappearance. While the point of view shifts help to move the novel along, in moments of action or passion it becomes confusing as to which character you are reading. It seems to jump randomly at these times and I found it a bit peculiar. However, this was only minor and the overall merit of the novel far out weighs this niggling detail.

In the end, this turned out to be a highly enjoyable read. The setting was adequately creepy and the novel had a great sense of suspense and romance about it that I loved. While the novel ends on a high note, there are still many threads left dangling which only makes me wonder if there may be a follow up to this story. I would definitely be pleased to return to the world that Price created and look forward to reading more from this author.… (meer)