Counterparts

by Nicholas Royle

A tightrope walker who can't stop mutilating himself, an actor who loses his sense of identity, and a nightmare journey to the depths of a tortured mind - this book blends the familiar with the strange, in a bitter exploration of love, memory and broken dreams.

Genres: Horror, New Weird

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Nicholas Royle is an English writer. He is the author of seven novels, two novellas and a short story collection. He has edited sixteen anthologies of short stories. A senior lecturer in creative writing at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University, he also runs Nightjar Press, publishing original short stories as signed, limited-edition chapbooks. He works as a fiction reviewer for The Independent and the Warwick Review and as an editor for Salt Publishing.

Reviews

[Alayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable as far as writing style and flow, but I was left thinking "What the hell did I just read?" after finishing. Maybe an issue is that I was trying to predict how everything would tie up as the end got closer? Unsure.

Felt a little unsatisfied with the end to be completely honest, but I'm glad I finished it.

Not for those who can't handle graphic descriptions.

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most fucked-up things I have ever read. Completely surreal, but totally readable. Not surreal like Naked Lunch. It's just what's going on with the characters that is surreal and fucked-up.
I liked it! Of course, I read it when I was 17 and I thought I was hot shit for being able to handle the shocking subject matter (penile-self-mutilation).

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A split personality page turner. Gargan the tight-rope walker meets Su. Starts to fall for her until she explains to him after putting him under that he suffer from "the rai " Adam Midweather is an actor growing to be better. tangled between to women. Page 175- 183 is very intense for male readers. I really didn't catch on until the end of this book. Worth the read.

[Selvaggina, · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd have a book that I would carry with me constantly, but this was it.

Tension, psychic dualities and one of my favorite split-personality dialogues.

It's out of print now, but it's to your benefit to hunt down a copy. Amazon has a few copies via other users.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I've read to date.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible.