I can't not rate this five stars, not when it's so wonderfully fucked up and great in creating this amazing bleakness, this half-mad man in a world that's everything I expect it to be in the not so distant future.

It's always dangerous for me to read books set in post-apocalyptic times, because they always mess with my head, but it's Klune so of course I had to read it. I say this in most of my Klune reviews but I just never cease to be amazed at his versatility. All his books, wether stand-alones or series, are so different from each other while still retaining that something, that quality that just makes it so enjoyable.

This book was different from other thing's I've read from Klune, not only in that it's so dark, but also because it has so little dialogue in comparison. It conveys Cavalo's voice so clearly and convincingly it's spooky. What I don't get is how people have tagged this as a romace above, for example, dystopian scifi. Did we read the same book? I expect Crisped Sere might fit that description a little better, but the romance was more an afterthought in this one than the focus of the plot. In my not so humble opinion.

I have to say though, I'm not sure wheter or not I can read Crisped as soon as I get it. I think I'll have to brace myself first, because I can just smell the tears that will be in my future. Just let it not be Bad Dog. Or SIRS. Or Lucas. Or Cavalo. Just kill Patrick and the rest of his loonies, right? Why not make this a fairy tale, eh? Please? ( )