C. F. Page

This one took me a long time to read, but it was due more to circumstance than anything.

There's enough other reviews that fill you in on plot and character details that I won't bother. Here's what you probably need to know...

Page wears a lot of his influences on his sleeve and they show up on the page. However, that being said, despite the obvious influences, he's developed his own very unique style of telling a story. For me, I will say I found it intensely readable, but I can also see how some may find it off-putting. Basically, unlike most novels, Page tends to eschew the standard practice of climbing inside the character's head, then giving the reader only the observations and thoughts of that viewpoint character. You do get those thoughts and observations, but Page also gives you more of a god's eye view of the proceedings, often adorning his characters' observations with parenthetical asides that could only come from an all-knowing narrator.

Most of the time, I had no problem with this, though I did find it a little heavier toward the end and I personally felt it slowed the pacing just a touch.

There was also an interlude toward the end that I honestly could have done without, where one character ruminates that, if he was a character in a novel, this is likely what the author would have done with him, but here's what happened instead.

So, while I wasn't crazy about that section—and really, it was only three or four pages—here's what I will say about the narrative style Page chose: it was a very bold choice, it was a very unconventional choice, and I absolutely applaud him for the the courage and willingness to try something different. Because, quite frankly, 99% of the time, it succeeded. I really did enjoy the writing style, more than I have in a long time.

I'm guessing I probably missed some fun stuff, as the author states that this book is a rather obvious love letter to Resident Evil, a game I am completely unaware of. But overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I am looking forward to seeing what else is crawling around inside Page's brain.… (altro)