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Dragonfly
A psychological thriller follows the dangerous romance of a beautiful, wealthy romance novelist and a physician with a dark past
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
4 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
John Farris
85 books165 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
American writer and screenwriter of both adaptations of his own books (e.g. 'The Fury'), of the works of others (such as Alfred Bester's 'The Demolished Man') and original scripts. In 1973 he wrote and directed the film 'Dear Dead Delilah'. He has had several plays produced off-Broadway, and also paints and writes poetry. At various times he has made his home in New York, Southern California and Puerto Rico; he currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. Early in his career he also wrote under the name Steve Brackeen.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
American writer and screenwriter of both adaptations of his own books (e.g. 'The Fury'), of the works of others (such as Alfred Bester's 'The Demolished Man') and original scripts. In 1973 he wrote and directed the film 'Dear Dead Delilah'. He has had several plays produced off-Broadway, and also paints and writes poetry. At various times he has made his home in New York, Southern California and Puerto Rico; he currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. Early in his career he also wrote under the name Steve Brackeen.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 11, 2009
On the front cover of the book Stephen King is quoted to have said that nobody writes horror better than John Farris. A blurb like this gives the reader high expectations, so I was a little disappointed to discover that the book isn’t even horror. If I had a point system for rating books, points would definitely be taken off for that bit of misleading information alone. So let me begin by saying that despite what you may have been told elsewhere Dragonfly is not a horror story, it is a mystery romance.
Now that has been clarified, let’s move on.
The opening scene grabbed my attention and the following scenes kept me interested. The story and characters are well defined. The author’s style of writing is readable; I felt comfortable and could easily become absorbed in what was happening, which I feel is important. I liked the characters and felt attached to them in some ways, so I was eager to learn what the future held for them.
My only real grievance with this book was that I felt it was much longer than necessary. To me, this means that the “middle” lacked something. Actually, it was the last quarter of the book that could have been condensed, in my opinion. I got to the stage where I went passed caring and eventually just wanted the book to end. There’s a difference between putting your characters through the wringer and just not knowing when to stop. What I think happened was that the author had so many threads to tie up that it took a lot longer than he planned to provide the necessary resolutions, which spoiled the book.
Despite that, the book was enjoyable and I would try reading something else written by the author.
Now that has been clarified, let’s move on.
The opening scene grabbed my attention and the following scenes kept me interested. The story and characters are well defined. The author’s style of writing is readable; I felt comfortable and could easily become absorbed in what was happening, which I feel is important. I liked the characters and felt attached to them in some ways, so I was eager to learn what the future held for them.
My only real grievance with this book was that I felt it was much longer than necessary. To me, this means that the “middle” lacked something. Actually, it was the last quarter of the book that could have been condensed, in my opinion. I got to the stage where I went passed caring and eventually just wanted the book to end. There’s a difference between putting your characters through the wringer and just not knowing when to stop. What I think happened was that the author had so many threads to tie up that it took a lot longer than he planned to provide the necessary resolutions, which spoiled the book.
Despite that, the book was enjoyable and I would try reading something else written by the author.
July 16, 2010
That an author can start out well but finish very badly ! The plot started out as a mystery thriller and ended up a type of romance novel gone bad.This author has wrote some good books but this is not one of them!
May 3, 2022
Few authors have a knack for keeping me up all night turning pages, John Farris is one of them. I could not put this down and read nearly half of it in one sitting. Don’t start Dragonfly on a weeknight unless you want to show up for work the next day looking frazzled. One of his best!
April 5, 2017
Garbage book featuring one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have ever encountered.
May 1, 2021
Read in 1996. A chilling novel of pyschological terror.
September 7, 2020
Could be rambling at times but overall fun read
October 22, 2015
One of those books that felt like a waste of time. It wasn't good enough to be entertaining, and had nothing much more than the storm scenes to recommend it.
The writing reminded me of Stuart Wood, with the recounting of meals, drinks, music listened to, macho posturing of sexual conquests, and a creepy sexual interest in teenage girls. This book was better than a Woods book, less of the F- word, more to the actual story; but still that same vibe that the book was written by an older guy writing a younger man's life and and older man's fantasies.
The story is about a guy named Joe, a con man and thief, who makes rich women fall in love with him and scams them out of their money. He nearly gets killed but he goes right back to scamming. This time however, he isn't going to follow through as the woman is paraplegic and he doesn't feel good about stealing from her. Instead, he falls in love with her, rescues her from evil's clutches and then disappears from her life. She finds him five years later and, do you think it ends well?
The writing reminded me of Stuart Wood, with the recounting of meals, drinks, music listened to, macho posturing of sexual conquests, and a creepy sexual interest in teenage girls. This book was better than a Woods book, less of the F- word, more to the actual story; but still that same vibe that the book was written by an older guy writing a younger man's life and and older man's fantasies.
The story is about a guy named Joe, a con man and thief, who makes rich women fall in love with him and scams them out of their money. He nearly gets killed but he goes right back to scamming. This time however, he isn't going to follow through as the woman is paraplegic and he doesn't feel good about stealing from her. Instead, he falls in love with her, rescues her from evil's clutches and then disappears from her life. She finds him five years later and, do you think it ends well?
January 29, 2013
Dragonfly
is out in a new audio edition from Crossroad Press and Running Dog Studio. I knew John Farris' work primarily from The Furyso I was expecting horror when I embarked on this project. What I found instead was a romance cloaked in a Southern Gothic mystery, full of colorful turns of phrase, flashes of wicked humor, a vast cast of characters, and a richly twisted plot.
I have to say I got much more involved in the story than I thought I would, and ended up very satisfied with the novel and with the audiobook production. Take a listen, and let me know what you think. Available here: http://bit.ly/DragonflyAudio.
Running Dogs video trailer for the audiobook is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NRJWP...
I have to say I got much more involved in the story than I thought I would, and ended up very satisfied with the novel and with the audiobook production. Take a listen, and let me know what you think. Available here: http://bit.ly/DragonflyAudio.
Running Dogs video trailer for the audiobook is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NRJWP...
April 28, 2014
Thought based on the cover and brief endorsements that this was a horror story. It wasn't, but more of a mystery romance. The first part of the book was very engaging, but somewhere towards the middle it started to spin out and I lost interest. I liked the main character, Joe quite a bit, but the character of the heroine, Abby didn't have alot of depth.
September 26, 2012
Twisted the back cover, synopsis doesn't do it justice.
February 13, 2015
This book was an easy read and the story was very interesting at first...
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November 13, 2016Gigolo yachteman
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews