Negative Space

The Enigma of Twilight Falls #2

by Mike Robinson

A surreal mystery with themes of art, identity and transcendence. Young artist Max Higgins has an unusual habit of painting missing persons' faces into his work, giving his surreal pieces a haunting allure...then one day someone recognizes a face in one of his paintings.

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2006

About the author

Author of:

THE ENIGMA OF TWILIGHT FALLS TRILOGY:
"The Green-Eyed Monster"
"Negative Space"
"Waking Gods"

"Dreamshores: Monster Island"

"Skunk Ape Semester"

"The Atheist"

"The Prince of Earth"

"Too Much Dark Matter, Too Little Gray: A Collection of Weird Fiction"

----------------------------------------------

Screenwriter/Producer:

"Blood Corral" (feature)

"Chrysaline" (short)

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Dark fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Those more interested in the journey than the destination, those who are more interested in the characters than the plot
Trigger Warnings: stalking, murder

My Thoughts: This is a very odd little book. I'll tell you right away that if you like a fast-paced plot with lots of action, you'll probably dislike this book intensely. Most of the book consists of naval-gazing and searching for meaning, with a subtle tension running through the whole book, since it is set during the time of the Rodney King trial, and that tension explodes toward the end with the riots. The book is about finding oneself, about learning to understand oneself, to face one's fears, to follow one's heart and dream. There are bits and pieces that are almost paranormal in nature—Dwayne's fascination with the paranormal, the artist Feldman's claims that he's a 300+ year-old alchemist—but we never see any proof of any of this, and we never find out what happens with Feldman and his Neo-Naturalist movement, other than the bits and pieces we hear from Ritter at the end.

The story is told from the point of view of a few different people. It's mainly Max that is followed, but we also spend time with Karen, Dwayne, James (a client of Karen), and Ritter, a journalist. Each of these people has an obsession of some kind, something that each is trying to find or understand about him- or herself. Most of this story is told in the negative space of what is not said, if that makes any sense. This is the sort of story I would bet that college English classes would read and dissect for hidden meanings. Definitely an intriguing book, and if it sounds like something you might like, if you like the journey more than the destination, if you prefer character-driven plots, and enjoy a bit of naval-gazing in a book, then check this one out.

Disclosure: I received a copy from Curiosity Quills in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Negative Space tells the story of a provocative Los Angeles painter named Max Higgins, on the verge of local fame. The secret to his work's haunting allure? He collects photos of missing persons and incorporates them into his paintings, giving the often melancholy faces, as he puts it, a "home in his work." This fascination stems from the bizarre disappearances of people he knew growing up, including his father. Then, one day, someone recognizes a face in one of his paintings, and he is suddenly thrust into a journey as surreal as anything from his brush, a journey into his past that will determine irrevocably his future.

[Hope Sloper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was much improved from the last. All aspects of it. The characters are more likable, all easy to relate to and love - even through their complexities.

Like the first novel in this series, the story is fast-paced, but it flows better, so it's easier to read because of fewer hiccups. I felt as though the plot was better planned and executed in this novel, which added to the ease of reading. Better still, no unexpected first person.

Sadly, this second book isn’t enough to warrant a read of the third novel. I feel like these stories are missing something. Maybe it's the way they end. Whatever the case may be, they provoke little feeling from me. I’m not itching to find out more.

[Vicki Trask · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cliffnotes version: This story follows several characters: Max, Karen, Dwayne, Charles, and James on their journeys through Los Angeles during the Rodney King Trial and the less than glamorous world of art in the 1990s.

Max, our protagonist, is a damaged artist with a dark past who teams up with a dominatrix and a conspiracy theorist to find his father all the while finding inspiration in missing persons pictures. If I used that sentence to describe any other book it would sound ridiculous but because it’s Mike Robinson, it makes perfect sense. This man always astounds me with his writing style.

I should offer a warning: Mike Robinson does not write casual books. These words are intentional and layered and sometimes incomprehensible but there is something so beautiful about them. These are stories that draw you in and make you think – force you to think.

A story about a painter encompasses this world that is so familiar – California – and yet suddenly becomes full of energy and new life. I love it. I always do. It’s nothing unexpected from Mike Robinson but I do think this is the most accessible of his books that I’ve read. I found myself sympathizing with one of the more negative characters because he felt the most human to me. We get to see into his mind and see his motivations – as twisted as they are – and they felt very realistic. Compare that to our protagonist or any of the supporting, positive characters who I sometimes lost. They had a lot of really heavy dialogue that came off as a little preachy. It’s deep, lengthy conversation which can’t be taken lightly. I kept thinking "who talks like this" but I know this story is about the concepts and ideas more than the people. But the first thing I want to connect with as a reader is the people.

I like Mike’s writing. It’s artistic, and lyrical, and it has this mysterious fantasy to it that I can’t describe. But this isn’t a story I connected to. I didn’t really care what happened to these characters – and a lot happened to these guys. We never stopped to take a break, I couldn’t tell what the climax was. There were so many loose ends, I didn't realize when the story was over. There were a lot of characters and plots that didn’t get any closure and I realized I didn’t really need it – the main story was over – but it felt very ambiguous.

My Random Notes While Reading are also a little ambiguous in an effort to be somewhat spoiler-free.

I love the poetic and descriptive imagery
Ha!
Of course
"Loaves" is the best word for this situation
I am oddly enchanted by her open attitude
Oh good: a controlling asshole
Here we go
No! I didn't want to like him
Jesus Christ, I am so uncomfortable
Heavy stuff, man
That one word invokes so much imagery
Unbelievable
You encouraged him!
Oh my god, you **********


This story is very image-based, Mike loves his descriptive language, and this is probably my favourite of his books so far. But I didn’t fall in love with these characters and I wish there was more to this story.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One fine day, I got an email from the Curiosity Quills team, inviting me to read and review Negative Space and the next book, Waking Gods. Feeling curious as to what book it was, I went to look at the first book, and lo and behold, I gave it a really good rating. Five stars, in fact. So obviously I said yes and accepted the ebooks.

At first, I was a bit afraid that having more or less forgotten the first book, I wouldn't have been able to follow the second, but it was totally not the case. As far as I can tell, Negative Space is totally different from the first book, since it's about paintings while the first was about drawings. I think the only common point they had was the location, and the hinting that there is something bigger working behind the scenes. I did not see any strange invisible grandfathers though.

Basically, Negative Space revolves around a painter, Max Higgins, and his possibly half-sister Karen. Max paints faces of missing people into his paintings, which I'm sure everyone recognises as 'not normal'. After he's featured in an art magazine, one of his faces appear, claiming to be his half-sister. But before he even gets to digest the information, they go on a search for their father. Oh, and his half-sister, Karen, is being stalked by a creepy client.

I still don't quite understand how things work, but there's a third book so I'm willing to stay ignorant until the end of the trilogy, where I expect everything will be revealed. I'd say that apart from the missing faces, and the creepiness of Max and Karen's father, the book seemed... not that out of the ordinary. Yes, there were messed up people, but is that really because of some malevolent force working behind the scenes? It could be yes, it could be no. I'm not sure which.

Overall, I have to admit that this was a very compelling read. I was very interested in finding out what's really going on, and I liked Max and Karen as characters. Since I have a copy of the third books (which thankfully had one day left to be downloaded after the copy I downloaded to Overdrive became unusable thanks to Overdrive crashing every single time I started the app), I can't wait to read it.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book through netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Curiosity Quills Press, Netgalley, and Mike Robinson.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.

I've thought a lot about how I'm going to review this book. The plot was very different from what I expected. From reading the book summary, I was under the impression that this was going to be a mystery or suspense that focused on finding some of the missing people who have been incorporated into Max's paintings. Instead, I was taken on a rather odd journey in search of Max's father – one that included mood altering cookies and a strange nudist event in a clearing with a mysterious salty substance (Yaje Juice). A small portion of the book actually reminded me of the movie Wanderlust. Feldman was just too much for me. He took his “creation” of art way too far – like a strange cult leader.

Karen/Penelope's story was also a bit odd to me. Karen was wrapped up in two story lines. First, there was the story of her search for her father (with Max). Second, there was the story of James. James was a client at her sexual fantasy job where she played the role of dominant or submissive to satisfy the hidden cravings of “normal” men. James was a normal guy (lawyer, boyfriend, etc) turned crazy stalker. Somewhere in this storyline was the suggestion of past violence in Karen's life. There was the mentioning of her having to run and disappear before and she mentioned not being able to call the police about James. This storyline just wasn't fully developed in my opinion.

Lastly, the plot with Norman Ritter seemed a bit random to me. He wrote about artists in a magazine called Direct Canvas. He randomly showed up at events. Tiny parts of his private life were dispersed throughout the story. He was more filler than anything else.

As for the writing style, I often felt that the author went too far with his descriptions, analogies, metaphors, etc. At times the reading became laborious because too many words filled up the space where substance belonged. In the end, I just had more hope for this story. For me, I was left feeling unfulfilled and without a satisfying, coherent conclusion.

[Jeff Soyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I just never know what to expect from a book. It can be a great, or good, or not so good read. Usually, I at least know the genre of it. Not so with Negative Space, by Mike Robinson. Let me state at the outset that this is a good read.

Negative Space is not science fiction or horror, nor ‘literary fiction.’ I like my reviews to be as helpful as possible so let’s call this an intriguing mix of mystery, a dash of supranatural (yes it is, too, a word; look it up!) and a splash of that nameless category of self-discovery.

Negative space is a term in the artistic world referring to the space surrounding the objects in a painting or photograph. When that space is empty, it can produce a silhouette. The main protagonist of this story, Max Higgins, is a silhouette; other than his creepy (but successful) artwork, there is nothing and no one around him. At 28-years-old he’s still a virgin and rather anti-social, due no doubt to the disappearance of his father when he was seven-years-old, followed quickly by the murder of his mother.

Karen Eisenlord is another, slightly less broken result of what turns out to be the same missing father, just from a different family a few years later. Together, she and a rather incompetent private-eye shanghai Max into a voyage to learn the whereabouts of the serial-disappearing father.

It’s a painful journey, but slowly the negative space surrounding both of them begins to shrink and finally, particularly in Max’s case, the ugly past gets left behind. The explosive near-end to the novel demonstrates what happens when Max finally starts caring about what is going on around him.

There’s a hauntingly poetic quality to Mike Robinson’s writing. I mean that in a positive sense. Indeed, he reminds me of J.G. Ballard in many ways. I intend to keep my eye on Robinson as this work and his writing style show great promise.

[Chené Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 2.5 / 5 stars
I had such hopes for this book. I read the write up and was so excited as the story line sounded so inviting and was so different to the norm. The opening scene/prologue is very confusing when I was trying to connect to the story/characters. It took me a while to adapt to Mike's writing style, connect to the story and warm up to the characters. By the end of Chapter One I was very intrigued.

I like the way Mike incorporated the meaning of the title of the book into the story. There were parts that were anti-climatic and confusing, as the story didn't flow very well. It almost felt like there were too many POV changes. Mike writes really well and I believe he could have done so much more with this original story line - it had such great potential. While thinking about this story line, I actually thought that this would make an intriguing movie.

I enjoyed the parts where Mike describes the type of archetypes in a tribe discussed in the book: creators, destroyers, collectors and teachers. This was an interesting theme in the book.

My favorite character of the book was Karen/Penelope - I just loved that she was comfortable with herself and what she did and the life that she led. My least favorite character would be James - everything about him irritated me. I also liked Max, but I found his character to be confusing some of the time.

By the time the story came to an end, I was left with a few unanswered questions, like what happened to his necklace that he was so attached to?

The book holds your attention because you want to see how it all connects at the end - it was not your typical ending, but I did like the way Max's story ended.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Negative Space tells the story of a provocative Los Angeles painter named Max Higgins, on the verge of local fame. The secret to his work's haunting allure? He collects photos of missing persons and incorporates them into his paintings, giving the often melancholy faces, as he puts it, a "home in his work."



Hmm. Well, not what I was expecting thats for sure. A slightly odd one this, in a good way - I think. Where I was expecting a mystery based on missing people I instead got a story about Max, his half sister and a rather weird and wonderful journey to find their Father, with some hint of something not so nice over the horizon.

Mike Robinson has an interesting turn of phrase to say the least - and really this book was pretty much metaphorical, perhaps overly so. Set during the Rodney King trial the tension of that is added to the story, but I fancy that for me a lot of the nuances of the story may have been lost in translation...it didnt really seem to go anywhere that it hinted that it might. I can't really put it better than that.

Beautiful writing to be sure. I think this one might be for readers of a more "deep thinking" nature than I tend to be (although I have my moments!) yet I did love some of the characters - Karen particularly. All the characters including Max himself were well drawn but I felt some were not really required - Norman Ritter, who writes about Artists for example, seemed out of place.

Overall I can't really be sure what I thought of this one...I would recommend it if you are looking for something a bit different, from an author who knows his craft and uses words to perfection. A haunting tale. Worth the journey.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

Happy Reading Folks!

[David Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read Negative Space by Mike Robinson. The story follows a painter named Max Higgins who is starting to become popular by collecting photos of missing people and putting them in his paintings. He feels he is giving these lost people a home in his art. His impulse to do this comes from dealing with people disappearing from his life as a kid. Among them was his father. One day someone recognizes a face from one of his paintings and he has to look into his past to find out why his father went missing.

Negative Space starts with a bang, leaving you with a mystery to figure out as you see mother and son try to defend themselves against some unknown attackers. At this point you get the impression that this story is going to have a lot of action. Then Mike Robinson throws you a curve ball and changes directions as he gets into the main character’s search for meaning after a tragic upbringing.

The characters in this book were great. I liked how it was set during the L.A. riots of 1992. I liked the use of metaphors in the story. A big part of this book is about describing art and the way everything is described in the story, you get the impression that you’re reading a painting. This book seems to really be about looking for a deeper meaning to everything that happens around us and you have to give the book points for originality. This is a good read but short, I felt that it could have been longer in order to explain more of what’s happening. All in all though it was an entertaining read and different from what I’m use to. I found at the end I was curious to see what else Mike Robinson has available.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

Continuing the Twilight Falls series with Negative Space.

And, frankly, at the start it felt like I was reading something completely different. The premise of this book was even better than the last. A promising LA artist uses the faces of missing persons in his paintings, as to give them some kind of place. However, when he recognizes one of 'his' faces in the street, things are about to change.

It started of really good, but soon it got crowded with lots of different characters and story lines that didn't always seem to make sense. (Did the lawyer one really need to be included?) And that was before all the Neo-Naturalism things and before the very long passages on art that just weren't that interesting.

I was however, to some extent captured by their wild goose chase, even though it was not that realistic. It also took me ages to figure out the book was set 20 years ago, oops. Much like its predecessor, The Green-Eyed Monster, Negative Space gives up story for style, which didn't always work for me, although at times I really enjoyed reading it.

All in all some mixed feelings. It is certainly not something you read every day and a good concept but in places it became very chaotic and too crowded.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

disclosure - i received an e-galley of this novel from curiosity quills press in exchange for an honest review.

los angeles painter max higgins has a secret for his work: every painting contains the face of a missing person. he captures these faces and provides them with a new life, lived through his painting, and one day one of the faces is recognized. this premise sets the stage for mike robinson's negative space.

described as a mystery/thriller and/or sci-fi/fantasy, the initial promise of this novel never pays off for the reader. the mystery of the faces in the paintings is forgotten in favor of a surface exploration of max's relationship with a recently discovered half-sister and her problems during and after a weekend trip to find their father. add in the private detective and the patron of the s&m house and max's story gets lost. in the midst of all those events, the rodney king trial and verdict hover like an ineffectual ghost wanting to be more than it is yet not knowing how.

there's just so much filler going on in negative space that the initial idea gets shunted to the side and forgotten, which is a shame because this novel had the potential to be a really fantastic story with a really incredible idea.

overall rating: two out of five stars

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an electronic copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley.

Unfortunately this novel thoroughly disappointed me. Its description gave me high hopes that it would be a lovely piece of oddball, cult, B-grade fiction, but instead it was just a general mess.

The writing was inconsistent. In rare moments when the story became its most philosophical in discussing art and humanity it would shine. But for the most part the writing style is awkward and forced, filled with cringe worthy similes and metaphors that are simply ill chosen, written not for their bearing to the characters or themes, but simply because one should go in, as incongruous as it may be.

More difficult to get past, however, is just the mess of various threads the extremely short novel tries to take on. The opening chapter is never adequately explained, nor are many of the other 'events' that occur at the climax of this book, even through the closing chapters that sort of continue on although nothing much more will occur of substance.

On the plus side, Robinson's characters are all compelling and unique. With some better editing, expansion, and tightening of the plot this could have easily succeeded, but in this form it did little to impress.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Curiosity Quills for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

It’s 1992 and Max Higgins is a painter in L.A. He finds the inspiration for his paintings from missing people. After he is interviewed for an art magazine his whole life is turned upside down. For better or worse? Only Max knows.

The story itself about Max and his life is interesting, but all the art talk was beyond me. Everything that every character said about art went right over my head, so that’s why, even though I enjoyed the basics of the story, I gave this a lower rating. I’m just not that big a fan of art and art talk, I guess. Also the story is well-written, Max is a well-developed character and the secondary characters are pretty good, but I totally didn’t like the ending. I have a feeling this is one of those books with a ‘deeper’ meaning that I just don’t fathom. Ah, well. Give it a go and tell me what you think.

May 2025 ~ Purchased audiobook from Chirp

[Shawna Briseno · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley:
I had high hopes for this book based on the premise. Max Higgins is an up and coming artist whose paintings include pictures of missing persons. When he is reunited with a sister he didn't know existed, he begins a journey that leads the reader to believe that something sinister is on the horizon. Sadly, the suspenseful lead is never fully developed. I kept waiting for something big to happen but it never really did. The addition of "extras" just lead to my confusion about what each character's role truly was. A promising beginning, but one that was never fully realized for me.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first chapter of this book frightened me. Not because of the terrifying scenario in which young Max found himself, but because of the overuse of overstyled metaphors. I was prepared to give up, but found the first half of the book much more interesting, and minus the metaphors!

However, the story fell apart; did not give up what it promised; and the story just petered out. What I thought was promised was not delivered. It is a shame because the story could have been interesting and the writing (once it settled down) was promising. But, for me, it just did not deliver.

[C. Purtill · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. I love Robinson's turns of phrase, his evocative descriptions and his unusual characters and their life stories. This novel about an artist, his long lost sister and a private investigator is reminiscent of a strange drug trip: heady and moody.

(NB: I was provided with an e-book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

[Keyreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book via NetGalley for review. I don't have much to say about this book other than it could have been better. I felt there was so much other stuff happening in the book that I forgot all about the mystery. sci fi. Overall I give it 3/5 stars.

[Andrew Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling and wonderful read! I can't wait to see what Robinson comes up with next.