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The Burn Palace
The sleepy community of Brewster, Rhode Island, is just like any other small American town. It’s a place where most of the population will likely die blocks from where they were born; where gossip spreads like wildfire, and the big entertainment on weekends is the inevitable fight at the local bar. But recently, something out of the ordinary—perhaps even supernatural—has been stirring in Brewster. While packs of coyotes gather on back roads and the news spreads that a baby has been stolen from Memorial Hospital (and replaced in its bassinet by a snake), a series of inexplicably violent acts begins to confound Detective Woody Potter and the local police—and inspire terror in the hearts and minds of the locals.
From award-winning author Stephen Dobyns comes a sardonic yet chillingly suspenseful novel: the literary equivalent of a Richard Russo small-town tableau crossed with a Stephen King thriller. The Burn Palace is a darkly funny, twisted portrait of chaos and paranoia, with an impressive host of richly rendered, larger-than-life characters and a thrilling plot that will keep readers guessing until the final pages.
From award-winning author Stephen Dobyns comes a sardonic yet chillingly suspenseful novel: the literary equivalent of a Richard Russo small-town tableau crossed with a Stephen King thriller. The Burn Palace is a darkly funny, twisted portrait of chaos and paranoia, with an impressive host of richly rendered, larger-than-life characters and a thrilling plot that will keep readers guessing until the final pages.
480 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 5, 2013
58 people are currently reading
3193 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Dobyns
82 books206 followersDobyns was raised in New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He was educated at Shimer College, graduated from Wayne State University, and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1967. He has worked as a reporter for the Detroit News.
He has taught at various academic institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, the University of Iowa, Syracuse University, and Boston University.
In much of his poetry and some works of non-genre fiction, Dobyns employs extended tropes, using the ridiculous and the absurd as vehicles to introduce more profound meditations on life, love, and art. He shies neither from the low nor from the sublime, and all in a straightforward narrative voice of reason. His journalistic training has strongly informed this voice.
He has taught at various academic institutions, including Sarah Lawrence College, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, the University of Iowa, Syracuse University, and Boston University.
In much of his poetry and some works of non-genre fiction, Dobyns employs extended tropes, using the ridiculous and the absurd as vehicles to introduce more profound meditations on life, love, and art. He shies neither from the low nor from the sublime, and all in a straightforward narrative voice of reason. His journalistic training has strongly informed this voice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 318 reviews
December 16, 2012
Stephen Dobyns is such a talented author. His depictions of small town, America are dead on.
Something is terribly wrong in Brewster. The disappearance of a newborn starts off a chain of events that boggles the mind.
Rumors of Satanist, weird parties out in the swampy woods and shapeshifters have law enforcement at a loss.
Then there is Carl Krause. He is becoming a menace, actually growling at people.
Then an insurance agent is murdered and scalped . A teenage girl reports a rape, then disappears.
As the town goes into panic mode, there are reports of various types of vandalism.
Hercel and his sister are on the run from their stepfather, Carl, and of all things, coyotes.
Woody and Bobby, working with the state police try to connect all these crimes together, while trying to keep the panic from rising to a fever pitch.
The people in Brewster, for the most part, are descent folks, and if it weren't for some observant residents more people may have died.
Small town politics, personal demons, desperation and loneliness lead people into making fatal choices.
This book has been promoted as a horror novel, but it's actually a good old fashioned police procedural. Maybe just a hint of a supernatural slant. There is pure evil, and very real horror as the story reaches it's climax. It is truly the stuff nightmares are made of.
This novel is very fast paced. Something is always going on and it nearly drove me crazy trying to figure out how all these single events would tie in together.
The characters were human, with flaws we recognize in ourselves and others. This nine day period of pure chaos brought out the best and the worst in human nature.
This is a dark and twisty mystery - not for the faint of heart.
Overall this one gets an A.
This book is an ARC copy I received from Netgalley.
Something is terribly wrong in Brewster. The disappearance of a newborn starts off a chain of events that boggles the mind.
Rumors of Satanist, weird parties out in the swampy woods and shapeshifters have law enforcement at a loss.
Then there is Carl Krause. He is becoming a menace, actually growling at people.
Then an insurance agent is murdered and scalped . A teenage girl reports a rape, then disappears.
As the town goes into panic mode, there are reports of various types of vandalism.
Hercel and his sister are on the run from their stepfather, Carl, and of all things, coyotes.
Woody and Bobby, working with the state police try to connect all these crimes together, while trying to keep the panic from rising to a fever pitch.
The people in Brewster, for the most part, are descent folks, and if it weren't for some observant residents more people may have died.
Small town politics, personal demons, desperation and loneliness lead people into making fatal choices.
This book has been promoted as a horror novel, but it's actually a good old fashioned police procedural. Maybe just a hint of a supernatural slant. There is pure evil, and very real horror as the story reaches it's climax. It is truly the stuff nightmares are made of.
This novel is very fast paced. Something is always going on and it nearly drove me crazy trying to figure out how all these single events would tie in together.
The characters were human, with flaws we recognize in ourselves and others. This nine day period of pure chaos brought out the best and the worst in human nature.
This is a dark and twisty mystery - not for the faint of heart.
Overall this one gets an A.
This book is an ARC copy I received from Netgalley.
February 14, 2024
2.5 stars
short review for busy readers: Great writing as usual from Dobyns, highly atmospheric, realistic individual characters and a decent ulterior plot, but shoddily researched, relying too much on sensationalistic events, as well as people's fear of non-Christian anything, for tension. This novel is like a prime rib steak smothered with cheap cheese goop.
in detail:
In the 1980s and 1990s the US was rocked with a plethora of regional Satanic cult scares.
Rumours of child sexual abuse, rural drugs ‘n sex parties where photos were taken to blackmail teens into the cult and the enforced impregnating of barely pubescent girls to provide endless fresh newborns for blood sacrifice rituals were all over the media. (Including major media like the Oprah Winfrey Show.)
And it all turned out to be utterly false. A mass hysteria based far more on changing social structure than anything at all having to do with the Devil.
(A good run down of this 2-decade long phenomenon from a paper at Virginia Commonwealth University here: "The Cults That Never Were" https://www.people.vcu.edu/~dbromley/... )
It’s this type of dumb Satanic scare that Dobyns uses to create the tension in a small Rhode Island town where most of the residents have known each other all their lives. Even the cops are unnerved and terrified, baffled by anything that’s not the absolute standard.
In that atmosphere, of course the town blames - first for a baby theft and the murder of an insurance adjuster - the out-of-towner freaks who do yoga and all that devilry at that so-called health centre (the loonies) and a few tree-hugging, middle-aged lesbian Wiccans.
Even more stupid, Dobyns does a half-assed job diffusing the threat from the cookie-baking Wiccans in that he puts correct info about Wicca in the mouths of the incredibly ignorant local flatfoots, followed by nonsensically incorrect info and vice versa.
Like he read a single Wikipedia article, copied a few terms and forgot the rest out of disinterest.
Another major detracting point to the story is our hero, Jerkasaurus Ignoramus, aka Woody the Cop. This man is so ignorant, he doesn’t know what runes are, has never heard of a Rubenesque figure (among other things), and he doesn’t let anybody get more than two sentences out before he interrupts them with an annoyed “what does that have to do with anything?”
And this guy’s the one the hot, intelligent chick falls for? Jerkasaurus Ignoramus? Seriously?
In the hands of a less skilled writer, I’d be inclined to let much of the sloppy cake icing on the story slide. But I know Dobyns is capable of much, much better. His The Church of Dead Girls was fantastic and I also very much enjoyed Boy in the Water.
This is subpar for him, therefore an average 2.5 stars rounded up due to the quality of writing.
short review for busy readers: Great writing as usual from Dobyns, highly atmospheric, realistic individual characters and a decent ulterior plot, but shoddily researched, relying too much on sensationalistic events, as well as people's fear of non-Christian anything, for tension. This novel is like a prime rib steak smothered with cheap cheese goop.
in detail:
In the 1980s and 1990s the US was rocked with a plethora of regional Satanic cult scares.
Rumours of child sexual abuse, rural drugs ‘n sex parties where photos were taken to blackmail teens into the cult and the enforced impregnating of barely pubescent girls to provide endless fresh newborns for blood sacrifice rituals were all over the media. (Including major media like the Oprah Winfrey Show.)
And it all turned out to be utterly false. A mass hysteria based far more on changing social structure than anything at all having to do with the Devil.
(A good run down of this 2-decade long phenomenon from a paper at Virginia Commonwealth University here: "The Cults That Never Were" https://www.people.vcu.edu/~dbromley/... )
It’s this type of dumb Satanic scare that Dobyns uses to create the tension in a small Rhode Island town where most of the residents have known each other all their lives. Even the cops are unnerved and terrified, baffled by anything that’s not the absolute standard.
In that atmosphere, of course the town blames - first for a baby theft and the murder of an insurance adjuster - the out-of-towner freaks who do yoga and all that devilry at that so-called health centre (the loonies) and a few tree-hugging, middle-aged lesbian Wiccans.
Even more stupid, Dobyns does a half-assed job diffusing the threat from the cookie-baking Wiccans in that he puts correct info about Wicca in the mouths of the incredibly ignorant local flatfoots, followed by nonsensically incorrect info and vice versa.
Like he read a single Wikipedia article, copied a few terms and forgot the rest out of disinterest.
Another major detracting point to the story is our hero, Jerkasaurus Ignoramus, aka Woody the Cop. This man is so ignorant, he doesn’t know what runes are, has never heard of a Rubenesque figure (among other things), and he doesn’t let anybody get more than two sentences out before he interrupts them with an annoyed “what does that have to do with anything?”
And this guy’s the one the hot, intelligent chick falls for? Jerkasaurus Ignoramus? Seriously?
In the hands of a less skilled writer, I’d be inclined to let much of the sloppy cake icing on the story slide. But I know Dobyns is capable of much, much better. His The Church of Dead Girls was fantastic and I also very much enjoyed Boy in the Water.
This is subpar for him, therefore an average 2.5 stars rounded up due to the quality of writing.
February 13, 2013
Surely fear is the oldest emotion. Not love, not pride, not greed. The emotion urging you to run is older than the one telling you to embrace. ~The Burn PalaceLet's get the Negative Nelly rant out of the way first: I may have just taken too damn long to read this book (it was a hellish work week, and I couldn't seem to find the time needed to just attack the book and submerse myself in it the way it demands). It starts out really strong -- with a great premise -- but somewhere along the way, Dobyns has created so many colorful characters and so many plot threads that the book begins to unravel and stall, rather than gain momentum and tightly coil for the final climactic reveal.
I am officially diagnosing this novel with Attention Deficit Disorder. Because there are so many leads to uncover and investigate, as well as so many people to get to know within the borders of this sleepy little Rhode Island town, the narration flits about quickly often jerkily with no discernible pattern, from character to character, plot point to plot point -- a busy bee desperate to pollinate ALL the flowers in the garden.
Dobyns almost pulls it off. Parts of this novel work extremely well, but it is messy and misdirected in too many places and dare I say a little bit of the investigation starts to feel like
Dobyns has proven in the past he has the writing chops to create memorable characters and capture the psychology of small towns besieged by fear and paranoia. What didn't work for me here, worked exceedingly well I thought in The Church of Dead Girls. The difference between that book and this one comes down to narration. While Dead Girls introduces almost as many characters, I feel the story benefits tremendously from the voice of a single narrator telling the story in first-person. It gives the novel a cohesiveness and determined direction that this one seems lacking in.
Okay, those are my complaints. Here are some things I enjoyed, because overall, I did like this book very much. When I did get the time to sit with it for a few hours, I found it casting a spell over me. The descriptive prose sucked me into the streets and lives of Brewster, Rhode Island. Stephen King has been very supportive of Dobyns in the past, blurbing his books, and this time is no different. King writes:
"I entered the small-town world Stephen Dobyns creates with such affection, horror, and fidelity....Dobyns has always been good, but this book is authentically great. The characters are vivid originals, not a stereotype among them, and the story pulled this reader in so completely that I didn't want the book to end, and actually did go back to re-read the first chapter."Super generous, yes? Reading Dobyns you can definitely sense a "King vibe" going on and it is not a stretch to say that Dobyns has been influenced by King's New England tales of the macabre and small town sinister shenanigans. Dobyns appears to be paying homage to King specifically here with such references as:
1. The novel opens with a baby being stolen from hospital room 217. Later, an abusive father states: "No boy likes to be corrected." (The Shining)Okay, small things to be sure, but they jumped out at me despite that and made me smile.
2. One of the lead detectives is named Bobby Anderson. (The Tommyknockers)
3. Another main character describes reading The Shining, Cujo and The Dark Half.
I also really enjoyed how the kids are written in this story. They are quirky and precocious without coming off as bratty and annoying. They are King-worthy kids, the highest compliment I can pay. I just wish there had been more of them and less of some of the other plot threads.
So that's it. If only I had more glowing praise to offer. This is a dense book that demands your attention and patience. If you like a challenge, and lots of colorful characters, you may just love this. Dobyns is a great writer and I would never discourage anyone from picking up one of his books.
***Review of ARC provided by publisher through NetGalley.
November 11, 2021
I am not sure what to say about this book. It isn’t horrible. It also isn’t excellent. Something about the narrator’s voice just didn’t appeal to me. It seemed kind of disjointed and the people were not all that likable even when they were. I know that makes little sense. It could have been better I guess. But again I did want to know what was going on and it held my interest in that way. For being such a small town setting, there sure were a lot of unlikable people, along with quite a few evil people. If you don’t have a huge TBR pile and you need something to read it isn’t the worst book you could pick up. But I wouldn’t go out of my way. And just for the record I have read some other books by this author that I enjoyed a lot more so if you haven’t read anything by him, just pick up one of his other books. 😀
March 19, 2013
After completing this I re-read the cover material. Dobyns is listed as teaching creative writing at Warren Wilson College. I wasn't familiar and tracked down WWC, and found among their downloadable audio lectures one given by Dobyns in 1990. The catalog says, "Stephen Dobyns argues that structure is both the means by which information is released and the information itself... structure, whether in poetry or prose, represents the means by which formal elements (language, texture, pacing, and tone) may be imposed upon informal elements (action, emotion, setting and idea). In conclusion, Dobyns cautions that a work’s structure can only be determined when the writer has fully understood its purpose." Clearly he has mastered both the purpose and the structure of his work in The Burn Palace. On page 4 I noted "This is a very 'visible' (to the reader) author," as I read "Now, like an airborne camera, we move back from the hospital..." Stage directions! That seems to go against the advice in many writing books that "show, don't tell" implies never reminding the reader or your (the author's) existence. I can assure you that I never minded Dobyns' presence, and I loved his presentation and omniscient narration. When Stephen King called it "the best of the best," I took note. When I closed the book today I can endorse that evaluation. After taking the reader on a roller coaster of emotion, thrills and outrageous events that may (or may not) be supernatural, the ending left me smiling at a sweet conclusion to a harrowing time. Not everyone makes it to the end but you may find yourself cheering for those who do. I will conclude my praise the same way Stephen King concluded his: "I loved it."
June 26, 2013
First new novel from Stephen Dobyns in 14 years! I thought the guy was abducted by aliens or something.
January 4, 2017
THE BURN PALACE is a book that any lover of mysteries/thrillers doesn’t want to miss. Several mysteries are going on at the same time, all in and around one small town
What happened to a newborn baby kidnapped from a hospital?
What is the significance of a snake in the baby’s place?
Why was a man scalped and who did it?
Why does the mother of the kidnapped baby hate him?
Why does this small town suddenly have a problem with cougers prowling the area and attacking humans?
Why are old people suddenly dying at a greater rate?
And more mysteries continue throughout. Stephen Dobyns skillfully brings them all together and solves each one.
However, be prepared for an overly long book. It could use more editing to eliminate a few redundancies. An even greater challenge to the reader is Dobyns’s use of SO MANY characters. I literally had to use a yellow highlighter to mark each new character name so I could leaf back a few pages when I needed a refresher of who was who.
What happened to a newborn baby kidnapped from a hospital?
What is the significance of a snake in the baby’s place?
Why was a man scalped and who did it?
Why does the mother of the kidnapped baby hate him?
Why does this small town suddenly have a problem with cougers prowling the area and attacking humans?
Why are old people suddenly dying at a greater rate?
And more mysteries continue throughout. Stephen Dobyns skillfully brings them all together and solves each one.
However, be prepared for an overly long book. It could use more editing to eliminate a few redundancies. An even greater challenge to the reader is Dobyns’s use of SO MANY characters. I literally had to use a yellow highlighter to mark each new character name so I could leaf back a few pages when I needed a refresher of who was who.
September 25, 2018
2.5 stars.
This novel is set in the small town of Brewster, Rhode Island, a town where nothing big ever seems to happen. Until one night, while a nurse on duty is distracted, a baby is stolen from the hospital and a snake left in its place. From there on, other crimes and strange occurrences start to happen, causing mass hysteria in the town. The police are not sure whether it's due to criminal activity or something in the realms of the supernatural.
I was quite a strangely written book, as it was written as though from a bird's eye view. I kind of felt that I was in a drone looking down on everything, and I think that the result is, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. It was an interesting story though, and everything tied together nicely at the end.
This novel is set in the small town of Brewster, Rhode Island, a town where nothing big ever seems to happen. Until one night, while a nurse on duty is distracted, a baby is stolen from the hospital and a snake left in its place. From there on, other crimes and strange occurrences start to happen, causing mass hysteria in the town. The police are not sure whether it's due to criminal activity or something in the realms of the supernatural.
I was quite a strangely written book, as it was written as though from a bird's eye view. I kind of felt that I was in a drone looking down on everything, and I think that the result is, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. It was an interesting story though, and everything tied together nicely at the end.
January 24, 2013
I have completed The Burn Palace by Stephen Dobyns. First thoughts are that I liked it and I look forward to reading some of the older books by this author. The New England town of Brewster has been riddled with strange occurances such as a newborn baby being replaced by a snake in the hospital nursery. An insurance agent is found murdered and there is a heavy presence of highly aggressive coyote roaming the town. There are many suspenseful moments that cause the reader to wonder what is going on.
What I enjoyed most about this book was how Dobyns was able to give the reader an aerial view of sorts, into the lives of these townspeople. I felt like I was tagging along with the police in an effort to solve the mysteries of the day. His character development was top-notch and made me actually care about what happened to them.
I didn't like that at times, the novel seemed to go off in a tangent on unnecessary information, although this seems to be the norm when dealing with a slew of characters. Often it gets difficult to see where are the players are and what they are doing or to even pinpoint some of their motivations.
Overall I did enjoy reading this book. It's fast paced, thrilling, and suspenseful. There is even a hint of a supernatural quality to it. I look forward to reading more books by Dobyns. It's obvious in this novel that he isn't new to this. I hear The Church of Dead Girls is a great read. I shall look for it in my local bookstore.
What I enjoyed most about this book was how Dobyns was able to give the reader an aerial view of sorts, into the lives of these townspeople. I felt like I was tagging along with the police in an effort to solve the mysteries of the day. His character development was top-notch and made me actually care about what happened to them.
I didn't like that at times, the novel seemed to go off in a tangent on unnecessary information, although this seems to be the norm when dealing with a slew of characters. Often it gets difficult to see where are the players are and what they are doing or to even pinpoint some of their motivations.
Overall I did enjoy reading this book. It's fast paced, thrilling, and suspenseful. There is even a hint of a supernatural quality to it. I look forward to reading more books by Dobyns. It's obvious in this novel that he isn't new to this. I hear The Church of Dead Girls is a great read. I shall look for it in my local bookstore.
June 4, 2013
Stephen King recommended. Book blurb says: "I've read some very good novels this year, but this one is the best of the best. In a real sense, I didn't read it at all, after the first five pages; I entered the small-town world Stephen Dobyns creates with such affection, horror, and fidelity. I can imagine Nataniel Hawthorne, Sherwood Anderson, and - yes- Grace Metalious rising to their feet in that special Writing Room of the Dead and giving Dobyns a standing ovation. Dobyns has always been good, but this book is authentically great...This one is the full meal, by turns terrifying, sweet, and crazily funny... It is, simply put, the embodiment of why we read stories, and why the novel will always be a better bang for the entertainment buck than movies or TV. Great story, great prose. Musical prose. You can't ask for more than this book gives. I loved it."
Stephen King said in Entertainment Weekly's column The Best Books I Read in 2012: "Not to be published until February 2013, and not to be missed. The opening chapter, in which a baby is abducted from a hospital nursery and replaced by a snake, is just the first punch in a suspense prizefight where the wallops never stop. Suspense aside, it's a generous—even Dickensian—portrait of a small New England town bursting with sex, violence, and secrets."
6/26/13 - I found the story hard to get into at first, but then I was finally hooked. Never did resolve all the questions and the light supernatural element. That was okay with me, though. Great writing and character development.
Stephen King said in Entertainment Weekly's column The Best Books I Read in 2012: "Not to be published until February 2013, and not to be missed. The opening chapter, in which a baby is abducted from a hospital nursery and replaced by a snake, is just the first punch in a suspense prizefight where the wallops never stop. Suspense aside, it's a generous—even Dickensian—portrait of a small New England town bursting with sex, violence, and secrets."
6/26/13 - I found the story hard to get into at first, but then I was finally hooked. Never did resolve all the questions and the light supernatural element. That was okay with me, though. Great writing and character development.
August 12, 2016
I had an advance copy of this novel for review purposes, and I must say I’m pleased to have been able to read it sooner than later. Because it was that good. I read it in December and posted a shorter review on my weblog. Here's the long version.
The marketing copy for this novel calls it a horror novel. It is not exactly that. I see it more as a new direction in magical realism. If you have read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, you may remember that impossible things happen in the flow of the story and are just accepted without examination. A woman hanging laundry floats off into the sky without warning; people live to 120, nothing remarkable about it, that kind of thing. Wikipedia has a good article on magical realism which quotes Matthew Strecher. Magical realism is "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe."
In the Burn Palace the magical realism is more sinister, and yet often not alarming at all. A man seems to be morphing into a wolf. People are disturbed by his growling, but otherwise it's taken at face value. A boy has telekenetic powers. It gives him a headache, but he's learning what he can and can't do, and he's unwilling to tell another curious kid anything about it. It just is.
Woven together with the magical realism are the truly awful story lines, and those do merit closer examination. Two young women are assaulted in mysterious circumstances; a baby is stolen from a hospital and replaced with a (harmless) snake; there are murders that defy explanation. And the genius of the novel is this: Dobyns weaves all this together with an incredibly interesting and well defined community of real characters. It all happens a small town in Rhode Island which is slowly succumbing to panic as odd and violent events -- some seem to be related, some not -- speed up. The rumor mill drives stories of Satanists, baby cannibalism, orgies, Wicca excesses and shape shifters. Some part of these things is true, and so the town's nervous breakdown is not unwarranted.
But the heart of this novel is the town of Brewster and the people in the town. Unhappy, conflicted, awful, irritating, disturbing but also (and sometimes, in the same person) insightful, sensitive, sweet, funny and engaging. There’s Woody Potter, a state police detective who is descending into depression after his girlfriend leaves him, Jill Franklin, a would-be reporter who gets on his bad side from the get-go and then, gradually, gets under his skin. There’s Acting Police Chief Fred Bonaldo (who Woody thinks should be called Pretend Police Chief) who has no credentials but uses all his connections to wiggle his way into the job because he loves parades and uniforms and wants to walk in the annual parade with the other policemen. He is, of course, immediately overwhelmed by the crime spree, but blunders along. How is he supposed to remember to call another jurisdiction to ask about a growling man with all these reporters shining lights in his face? He didn't sign up for the series of calamities, but he does so love the uniform.
There are ambulance drivers with questionable habits, aging hippies raising sheep, a step-father who is off his medications; opera loving sheriffs and nurses who are desperate for romance and others who are the calm at the heart of the storm.
Most of all there is a small group of children, and two kids in that group: Hercel (short for Hercules) a smart and highly capable kid who has a lot to deal with at home (the stepfather mentioned above is his) as well as a couple talents he prefers not to share with the world, and his counter part in every way, Baldo Bonaldo. Baldo is the youngest and best beloved child of Pretend Police Chief Fred Bonaldo and looks just like him “rotund and plodding, with a similar redfaced, swollen look, though he was more than a foot shorter, didn’t wear glasses, and had all of his hair…. a gesticulator.”
Baldo is known far and wide for his addiction to the kind of practical jokes best appreciated by fifth grade boys; he spends all his allowance sending away for the latest advances in fart cushions, itching powders and fake bullet holes, and he is always absolutely sure nobody will suspect it was him who put the burping powder in the library staff’s coffee urn.
These day-to-day episodes are so authentic in tone, the crimes so awful, the confusion so great (what is real, what is rumor, what is magical realism?) and it all works. Characters who show up only briefly somehow get your attention long before they venture into harm’s way. And yet, in the end, there are all-too-common answers. For the most part. The coyotes are another matter.
Dobyns is extremely well established as a poet, an author of fiction and essays with a long list of publications. I had never read anything of his before Burn Palace, but that’s a lack I will be rectifying.
The marketing copy for this novel calls it a horror novel. It is not exactly that. I see it more as a new direction in magical realism. If you have read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, you may remember that impossible things happen in the flow of the story and are just accepted without examination. A woman hanging laundry floats off into the sky without warning; people live to 120, nothing remarkable about it, that kind of thing. Wikipedia has a good article on magical realism which quotes Matthew Strecher. Magical realism is "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe."
In the Burn Palace the magical realism is more sinister, and yet often not alarming at all. A man seems to be morphing into a wolf. People are disturbed by his growling, but otherwise it's taken at face value. A boy has telekenetic powers. It gives him a headache, but he's learning what he can and can't do, and he's unwilling to tell another curious kid anything about it. It just is.
Woven together with the magical realism are the truly awful story lines, and those do merit closer examination. Two young women are assaulted in mysterious circumstances; a baby is stolen from a hospital and replaced with a (harmless) snake; there are murders that defy explanation. And the genius of the novel is this: Dobyns weaves all this together with an incredibly interesting and well defined community of real characters. It all happens a small town in Rhode Island which is slowly succumbing to panic as odd and violent events -- some seem to be related, some not -- speed up. The rumor mill drives stories of Satanists, baby cannibalism, orgies, Wicca excesses and shape shifters. Some part of these things is true, and so the town's nervous breakdown is not unwarranted.
But the heart of this novel is the town of Brewster and the people in the town. Unhappy, conflicted, awful, irritating, disturbing but also (and sometimes, in the same person) insightful, sensitive, sweet, funny and engaging. There’s Woody Potter, a state police detective who is descending into depression after his girlfriend leaves him, Jill Franklin, a would-be reporter who gets on his bad side from the get-go and then, gradually, gets under his skin. There’s Acting Police Chief Fred Bonaldo (who Woody thinks should be called Pretend Police Chief) who has no credentials but uses all his connections to wiggle his way into the job because he loves parades and uniforms and wants to walk in the annual parade with the other policemen. He is, of course, immediately overwhelmed by the crime spree, but blunders along. How is he supposed to remember to call another jurisdiction to ask about a growling man with all these reporters shining lights in his face? He didn't sign up for the series of calamities, but he does so love the uniform.
There are ambulance drivers with questionable habits, aging hippies raising sheep, a step-father who is off his medications; opera loving sheriffs and nurses who are desperate for romance and others who are the calm at the heart of the storm.
Most of all there is a small group of children, and two kids in that group: Hercel (short for Hercules) a smart and highly capable kid who has a lot to deal with at home (the stepfather mentioned above is his) as well as a couple talents he prefers not to share with the world, and his counter part in every way, Baldo Bonaldo. Baldo is the youngest and best beloved child of Pretend Police Chief Fred Bonaldo and looks just like him “rotund and plodding, with a similar redfaced, swollen look, though he was more than a foot shorter, didn’t wear glasses, and had all of his hair…. a gesticulator.”
Baldo is known far and wide for his addiction to the kind of practical jokes best appreciated by fifth grade boys; he spends all his allowance sending away for the latest advances in fart cushions, itching powders and fake bullet holes, and he is always absolutely sure nobody will suspect it was him who put the burping powder in the library staff’s coffee urn.
These day-to-day episodes are so authentic in tone, the crimes so awful, the confusion so great (what is real, what is rumor, what is magical realism?) and it all works. Characters who show up only briefly somehow get your attention long before they venture into harm’s way. And yet, in the end, there are all-too-common answers. For the most part. The coyotes are another matter.
Dobyns is extremely well established as a poet, an author of fiction and essays with a long list of publications. I had never read anything of his before Burn Palace, but that’s a lack I will be rectifying.
August 10, 2025
Okay, sure. This was a book and it had a nice mystery that came together well. The pacing was off though and I didn't like anyone, especially the narrator.
May 3, 2014
Either I really missed something, or the book didn't deliver on all its promises.
I was excited to see this book advertised, so much so that I bought it in hardcover, which I rarely do. I haven't read Dobyns's Syracuse series, and his "Two Deaths of Señora Puccini" was dry, but "Boy in Water" was really good and "Church of Dead Girls" was amazing--it should be considered a classic of weird literature.
Coming after those, "The Burn Palace" was surprisingly clumsy. It was like the debut novel of someone who had read a lot of Stephen King, and tried out some of the same tricks without really knowing how they worked or having the same control of them as King. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this was an old MS Dobyns dusted off and updated. The tone is uneven, with lapses into profanities that just don't fit the overall feel of the novel. The book is supposed to be told in one voice, but that voice is very inconsistent. The language is fine--but Dobyns is a poet and the language in his other books was much more precise, avoiding clichés.
The characters were one-dimensional. There was the good-guy cop with women problems. There was the overly-earnest, smart and perfect boy--a staple of King's works--as well as the socially awkward fat kid (and his socially awkward father, who was in over his head as acting chief of police). The reliable and crusty older couple. The cop about to retire--bet you can't guess what'll happen to him!
Good books can be made from stock characters, but these never move beyond their stereotypes. Late in the book, we're still getting anecdotes about how the black cop is charming--all we've every really known about him--the old couple is tough, and the good cop is tortured by his love life. Got that in the first two hundred pages. Don't need to be reminded.
All that isn't to say the book was horrible. It was fine. A nice beach read, if you wait for the paperback. The story is a little slow to get started, and you'll be able to guess where it is going, but the book is diverting enough. None of the characters are unlikable--well, none of the good ones, at any rate. The book ties up its loose ends--although the deus ex machina gets pretty creaky toward the end with people popping in at just the right time with just the right information, and some of the main action lines resolved in the background. There's a possible cultural critique, here, and maybe Dobyns was trying to make it--about the powerful, and about the way capitalism dehumanizes us--but, if so, his touch was too light. (John Burdett's "Vulture Peak" was better on this.)
But my real problem with the story is the narrative voice. "The Burn Palace" is told in an omniscient perspective, with the narrator jumping from one head to the next, often in the same scene. There are certain technical reasons for this, even if the perspective is rarely used anymore. Dobyns wanted to give a sense of the whole town as interconnected, and there are vignettes whee he jumps from one house to another--this reminded me of what King did in "'Salem's Lot."
But it didn't work because Dobyns introduced the narrator as a character. He had the narrator saying things like "I mean," or "I did." So who is this narrator that knows everyone's thoughts, intimately, but is also an individual. This is the book's central mystery--more so even then what happened to the baby that was kidnapped in the first few pages. And there is no pay off. I kept waiting and waiting, and I was frustrated.
Indeed, there's a sense that Dobyns wanted to frustrate the reader--kind of like this was a Brian de Palma film. There's the off-page resolutions to many of the smaller mysteries. And then there's this teasing about who the narrator is--or could be--without any answer.
Or maybe there was an answer, and I just wasn't clever enough to catch it.
I was excited to see this book advertised, so much so that I bought it in hardcover, which I rarely do. I haven't read Dobyns's Syracuse series, and his "Two Deaths of Señora Puccini" was dry, but "Boy in Water" was really good and "Church of Dead Girls" was amazing--it should be considered a classic of weird literature.
Coming after those, "The Burn Palace" was surprisingly clumsy. It was like the debut novel of someone who had read a lot of Stephen King, and tried out some of the same tricks without really knowing how they worked or having the same control of them as King. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this was an old MS Dobyns dusted off and updated. The tone is uneven, with lapses into profanities that just don't fit the overall feel of the novel. The book is supposed to be told in one voice, but that voice is very inconsistent. The language is fine--but Dobyns is a poet and the language in his other books was much more precise, avoiding clichés.
The characters were one-dimensional. There was the good-guy cop with women problems. There was the overly-earnest, smart and perfect boy--a staple of King's works--as well as the socially awkward fat kid (and his socially awkward father, who was in over his head as acting chief of police). The reliable and crusty older couple. The cop about to retire--bet you can't guess what'll happen to him!
Good books can be made from stock characters, but these never move beyond their stereotypes. Late in the book, we're still getting anecdotes about how the black cop is charming--all we've every really known about him--the old couple is tough, and the good cop is tortured by his love life. Got that in the first two hundred pages. Don't need to be reminded.
All that isn't to say the book was horrible. It was fine. A nice beach read, if you wait for the paperback. The story is a little slow to get started, and you'll be able to guess where it is going, but the book is diverting enough. None of the characters are unlikable--well, none of the good ones, at any rate. The book ties up its loose ends--although the deus ex machina gets pretty creaky toward the end with people popping in at just the right time with just the right information, and some of the main action lines resolved in the background. There's a possible cultural critique, here, and maybe Dobyns was trying to make it--about the powerful, and about the way capitalism dehumanizes us--but, if so, his touch was too light. (John Burdett's "Vulture Peak" was better on this.)
But my real problem with the story is the narrative voice. "The Burn Palace" is told in an omniscient perspective, with the narrator jumping from one head to the next, often in the same scene. There are certain technical reasons for this, even if the perspective is rarely used anymore. Dobyns wanted to give a sense of the whole town as interconnected, and there are vignettes whee he jumps from one house to another--this reminded me of what King did in "'Salem's Lot."
But it didn't work because Dobyns introduced the narrator as a character. He had the narrator saying things like "I mean," or "I did." So who is this narrator that knows everyone's thoughts, intimately, but is also an individual. This is the book's central mystery--more so even then what happened to the baby that was kidnapped in the first few pages. And there is no pay off. I kept waiting and waiting, and I was frustrated.
Indeed, there's a sense that Dobyns wanted to frustrate the reader--kind of like this was a Brian de Palma film. There's the off-page resolutions to many of the smaller mysteries. And then there's this teasing about who the narrator is--or could be--without any answer.
Or maybe there was an answer, and I just wasn't clever enough to catch it.
March 16, 2015
***WARNING: Review contains some spoilers***
I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Stephen Dobyns and the only reason I picked this book up is because I saw a stellar review about it from Stephen King, and I'm a huge King fan. So based on his recommendation of the book, I gave it a go.
The book's not terrible, and I like the character building that Dobyns does. My biggest issue with the story, is that there are loose ends all over the place, and the author forces connections that don't logically exist in the book. I had so many unanswered questions that when I finished the book all I was left with was a massive feeling of disappointment and irritation.
Here's just some of the questions I had by the time I reached the end:
1. How did Balfour know that Hercel had a corn snake? There's literally no connection between these two characters, yet apparently Balfour knew enough to break into the basement where the snake was kept, and steal it. Just one of the random connections I mentioned above that seems to appear when the author needs something to fit together, but hasn't laid the groundwork to make it so.
2. Jimmy Mooney and Seymour Hodges are two paramedics that ride together. Jimmy is also training to be the person who puts makeup on dead people so that they can be shown at a funeral. Jimmy tells Seymour that he thinks he can get him a job at the funeral home as well. But if Seymour ISN'T working at the funeral home, then how come he not only seems to know all about Balfour, Brantley and Diggers' operation, but at the end of the book he actually appears to be in on it?
3. I understand Balfour trying to scare people by mixing up the whole satanist angle, but there's never any explanation as to whether or not he actually IS a satanist or not. In fact, the cops spend all their time chasing after wiccans, even though they know that it's two separate groups. The only satanist they talk to is the one who comes to them.
4. I get how the author was trying to use the unnatural actions of the coyote pack to make things seem supernatural, but I didn't get it at all. So Balfour just randomly had a pack of coyotes that just happened to be under his control? Yep, not buying it. Unless Balfour had some crazy long-term plan for what he was doing then the whole thing was just a weird coincidence. Not only that, but even if Balfour was accepted by the coyotes as a pack animal, it's not like he's controlling them telepathically. You can't force animals to behave in a way that's completely against their instincts and nature, I don't care how scary a leader you are.
5. And speaking of supernatural powers, what in the name of six holy hells was up with Hercel's telekinesis? I'm not adverse to the idea of a character having a strange ability, but there is literally NO explanation attached to it. No idea where it came from, how he found out he had it, nothing. It kind of took me out of the story to be honest, and felt very forced and deus ex machina.
Some of these might actually have been covered in the book and I might have missed them so if I have, feel free to enlighten me. But bottom line, there were just too many dang questions and coincidental connections floating around for me to be able to immerse myself in the story properly.
I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Stephen Dobyns and the only reason I picked this book up is because I saw a stellar review about it from Stephen King, and I'm a huge King fan. So based on his recommendation of the book, I gave it a go.
The book's not terrible, and I like the character building that Dobyns does. My biggest issue with the story, is that there are loose ends all over the place, and the author forces connections that don't logically exist in the book. I had so many unanswered questions that when I finished the book all I was left with was a massive feeling of disappointment and irritation.
Here's just some of the questions I had by the time I reached the end:
1. How did Balfour know that Hercel had a corn snake? There's literally no connection between these two characters, yet apparently Balfour knew enough to break into the basement where the snake was kept, and steal it. Just one of the random connections I mentioned above that seems to appear when the author needs something to fit together, but hasn't laid the groundwork to make it so.
2. Jimmy Mooney and Seymour Hodges are two paramedics that ride together. Jimmy is also training to be the person who puts makeup on dead people so that they can be shown at a funeral. Jimmy tells Seymour that he thinks he can get him a job at the funeral home as well. But if Seymour ISN'T working at the funeral home, then how come he not only seems to know all about Balfour, Brantley and Diggers' operation, but at the end of the book he actually appears to be in on it?
3. I understand Balfour trying to scare people by mixing up the whole satanist angle, but there's never any explanation as to whether or not he actually IS a satanist or not. In fact, the cops spend all their time chasing after wiccans, even though they know that it's two separate groups. The only satanist they talk to is the one who comes to them.
4. I get how the author was trying to use the unnatural actions of the coyote pack to make things seem supernatural, but I didn't get it at all. So Balfour just randomly had a pack of coyotes that just happened to be under his control? Yep, not buying it. Unless Balfour had some crazy long-term plan for what he was doing then the whole thing was just a weird coincidence. Not only that, but even if Balfour was accepted by the coyotes as a pack animal, it's not like he's controlling them telepathically. You can't force animals to behave in a way that's completely against their instincts and nature, I don't care how scary a leader you are.
5. And speaking of supernatural powers, what in the name of six holy hells was up with Hercel's telekinesis? I'm not adverse to the idea of a character having a strange ability, but there is literally NO explanation attached to it. No idea where it came from, how he found out he had it, nothing. It kind of took me out of the story to be honest, and felt very forced and deus ex machina.
Some of these might actually have been covered in the book and I might have missed them so if I have, feel free to enlighten me. But bottom line, there were just too many dang questions and coincidental connections floating around for me to be able to immerse myself in the story properly.
January 23, 2013
Is this a horror novel or not? No spoilers here; let’s just say that if you are looking for a horror show, you’ve got it; if you’re looking for a mystery, it’s here, and if you are in the mood for a small town character study, you’ve picked up the right book. The fact that Steven Dobyns can scratch the itch for several genres is a tribute to his writer’s skill and makes “Burn Palace” a satisfying experience.
Since I go for the small town character angle, let’s talk about Brewster, RI. It’s a small town in a small state where not much happens until someone snatches a newborn from the hospital and leaves Hercel McClarty’s pet corn snake in its place. Weirdness ripples out from there, confounding police who embark on a learning curve that includes Wiccans, Satanists, a guy who starts to growl when angry, and teachers of yoga. Who’d have thought there would turn out to be so many of these in Brewster? Are any of them sinister? Or does the increasing number of unsettling events have a different cause?
The police are well-drawn and believable. They put things together piece by piece, without those blinding “eureka” moments when insanely perceptive cops suddenly put obscure facts together to make a completely unexpected arrest. Some are smarter than others, some are quirkier, but they good companions as the story unfolds. A few story lines are not completely tied up but then in a mystery, do we ever have all the answers?
Good reading, plenty creepy, enjoyable and out of the ordinary. What’s not to like--a lot?
Since I go for the small town character angle, let’s talk about Brewster, RI. It’s a small town in a small state where not much happens until someone snatches a newborn from the hospital and leaves Hercel McClarty’s pet corn snake in its place. Weirdness ripples out from there, confounding police who embark on a learning curve that includes Wiccans, Satanists, a guy who starts to growl when angry, and teachers of yoga. Who’d have thought there would turn out to be so many of these in Brewster? Are any of them sinister? Or does the increasing number of unsettling events have a different cause?
The police are well-drawn and believable. They put things together piece by piece, without those blinding “eureka” moments when insanely perceptive cops suddenly put obscure facts together to make a completely unexpected arrest. Some are smarter than others, some are quirkier, but they good companions as the story unfolds. A few story lines are not completely tied up but then in a mystery, do we ever have all the answers?
Good reading, plenty creepy, enjoyable and out of the ordinary. What’s not to like--a lot?
December 9, 2015
Weird stuff happening in a small town, but everything comes together in the end in a believable conclusion (of sorts). That alone makes it worth the read.
Also, this book has hints of Stephen King... actually, it's more like a bouillon cube of Stephen King. It has Stephen King flavorings, but stewed in a more fortified crock pot (if that makes any sense).
The familiar: sleepy small town, gossipy towns folk, gifted (read: not annoying) children, supernatural happenings, unusual deaths, mental illnesses, and animals with violent streak. What's different from the usual Stephen King fare is you get a bird's eye view of the the town and its inhabitants and you get to visit every character's life (main player's) and see events unfolding from his/her POV. Another thing that's different is the horror element. Often it's more humorous than scary.
I can't shake the feeling that if this story was set in the 60s or 70s, it would have made more of an impact on the towns people and there'd be more of an ominous feel to the central mystery and deaths. Modern setting, technology, and crime-solving methods take away from the otherworldly feel of this sleepy town and its strange happenings.
Also, this book has hints of Stephen King... actually, it's more like a bouillon cube of Stephen King. It has Stephen King flavorings, but stewed in a more fortified crock pot (if that makes any sense).
The familiar: sleepy small town, gossipy towns folk, gifted (read: not annoying) children, supernatural happenings, unusual deaths, mental illnesses, and animals with violent streak. What's different from the usual Stephen King fare is you get a bird's eye view of the the town and its inhabitants and you get to visit every character's life (main player's) and see events unfolding from his/her POV. Another thing that's different is the horror element. Often it's more humorous than scary.
I can't shake the feeling that if this story was set in the 60s or 70s, it would have made more of an impact on the towns people and there'd be more of an ominous feel to the central mystery and deaths. Modern setting, technology, and crime-solving methods take away from the otherworldly feel of this sleepy town and its strange happenings.
March 11, 2018
This book started out slow for me but really picked up about half way through and it was hard to put down. It was a who-done-it with an occult twist, starting with a newborn baby snatched from a small town hospital, replaced by a snake in its bassinet, then escalated from there to murder, a scalping, unnaturally aggressive coyotes, young girls getting raped around bonfires during occult rituals, a dangerous psychotic man off his meds who thinks he's a wolf, children caught up in the middle of the madness, a town on edge, and the detectives who are scrambling to solve the case. During the investigation, it's suggested to one of the lead detectives that all the strange events going on might just be a distraction, and to stay focused on the missing baby, which I think ultimately helps crack the case. What we discover in the end is sickening and frightening in its reality.
February 9, 2013
A vast cast of strangeness shows it head in this tale. It starts with an interesting character Nurse Spandex, the name more or less quite befitting. Then a missing baby, a snake and coyotes, unlike the common breed, appear and attack citizens of the town. The story has a feel of eeriness, strangeness and elements of horror. As investigations into crimes that arise are carried out many interesting elements to the story get introduced. I enjoyed parts then there was other parts that left me not wanting the need to care for the characters.
This has high praise from Stephen King and this is not the first time The Church Of Dead Girls also by Stephen Dobyns was praised my him and I picked that one up also due to that fact. I feel this writer is talented and has great stories and is one that Stephen King personally likes. The author seems to have written with an omnipotent narrative here, he jumps into different places and characters a hard feat and can possibly loose a readers hook. I felt the same with that novel of his and this in that he writes with many pages and sometimes overfills for me with info that looses your grab. This story I felt lost for me a few extra likings due to the length, heavy plotting and different angles told, more fluid sentences and shortening would have done a great deal more for my reading experience. There are many of you that like this style of storytelling and would like the elements that the author has blended into this story.
This has high praise from Stephen King and this is not the first time The Church Of Dead Girls also by Stephen Dobyns was praised my him and I picked that one up also due to that fact. I feel this writer is talented and has great stories and is one that Stephen King personally likes. The author seems to have written with an omnipotent narrative here, he jumps into different places and characters a hard feat and can possibly loose a readers hook. I felt the same with that novel of his and this in that he writes with many pages and sometimes overfills for me with info that looses your grab. This story I felt lost for me a few extra likings due to the length, heavy plotting and different angles told, more fluid sentences and shortening would have done a great deal more for my reading experience. There are many of you that like this style of storytelling and would like the elements that the author has blended into this story.
April 1, 2013
An excellent novel which succeeds on numerous levels. It's part character study, part profile of life in a small town, and part horror story.
It's by turns scary, funny, and sweet.
By the time you finish it, you will feel as if you have lived in Brewster, Rhode Island, and know everyone there.
It's by turns scary, funny, and sweet.
By the time you finish it, you will feel as if you have lived in Brewster, Rhode Island, and know everyone there.
February 15, 2014
So happy to have another Stephen Dobyns novel. Loved how all the pieces came together. Laughed out loud so often I may no longer be welcome in the laundromat where I was reading this.
July 4, 2021
Beetje onnodig ingewikkelde plot en er zijn wat details die niet kloppen maar het blijft wel spannend.
December 14, 2017
Extremely well done, for the genre. Great small town characters,a scary and creepy story, a hero whom you root for and who evolves,some laugh -out-loud comic relief moments, and a good takeaway on the power of rumor and hysteria to make ordinary folks behave like lunatics.The characters were so fully developed and likeable that I hope Dobyns writes a sequel.
March 4, 2014
The Burn Palace starts out with the disappearance of a newborn baby from the local hospital. In its place is left a snake. From there, things in the small town of Brewster, RI only go downhill. Attacking coyotes, witchcraft, murder, telekenisis, kidnappings. There's a little bit of almost everything in this book.
What makes it unique is that The Burn Palace is half mystery, half horror story. It's got the police procedural side of things, and then the things that go bump in the night. It's a great blend of genres. Up until almost the very end I wasn't sure if the cause of the tragedies in the town were supernatural or criminal.
There's a lot of different story lines and characters, which just adds to the fun. A few times I did get a bit confused about what had happened to which character. I was also very disappointed that something was left unresolved at the end. Really, parts of the plot are a mess but it's a hot mess, LOL! Entertaining reading even if it doesn't always make 100% sense.
(I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review).
What makes it unique is that The Burn Palace is half mystery, half horror story. It's got the police procedural side of things, and then the things that go bump in the night. It's a great blend of genres. Up until almost the very end I wasn't sure if the cause of the tragedies in the town were supernatural or criminal.
There's a lot of different story lines and characters, which just adds to the fun. A few times I did get a bit confused about what had happened to which character. I was also very disappointed that something was left unresolved at the end. Really, parts of the plot are a mess but it's a hot mess, LOL! Entertaining reading even if it doesn't always make 100% sense.
(I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review).
December 2, 2012
As I usually reserve 5-star reviews for classics and such, it may seem a little weird to give this supernatural mystery 5 stars. But honestly, I'm in awe of how Dobyns put this book together.
He manages to acquaint you with an entire town full of people. If I counted the characters I'm sure they'd end up around 100 or so, and yet you remember who they are and what they do and you have a clear picture of them. You understand the place. You get completely immersed in it.
And don't forget the plotting, which is so extensive and busy that around halfway through the book it had reached such a fever pitch that I couldn't imagine how any of these ends would be tied up, not to mention all of them.
Also a great job of using the supernatural in a way where you're never sure what's real or if you've really moved into another reality or if you're just being duped by some clever trickster.
Amazingly done.
He manages to acquaint you with an entire town full of people. If I counted the characters I'm sure they'd end up around 100 or so, and yet you remember who they are and what they do and you have a clear picture of them. You understand the place. You get completely immersed in it.
And don't forget the plotting, which is so extensive and busy that around halfway through the book it had reached such a fever pitch that I couldn't imagine how any of these ends would be tied up, not to mention all of them.
Also a great job of using the supernatural in a way where you're never sure what's real or if you've really moved into another reality or if you're just being duped by some clever trickster.
Amazingly done.
May 27, 2013
Stephen King introduced me to this book by RAVING about it in Entertainment Weekly. As I started reading I quickly saw what he liked in it as it had many of his favorite themes: kids with possible powers, mysterious and gory deaths, links to the occult, damaged relationships and people, etc. Oh and, it's long and dense. The first few hundred pages I was engaged but (much like a long Stephen King novel) was periodically frustrated with the density of detail, much of it extraneous. But then, the magic happened and the final hundreds of pages I tore through in sprint pace. Rare is a book that gives me a true physiological like a movie, but this one did. My heart literally was racing and hands shaking as I read to the climax of the story. Fantastic book, check it out.
March 9, 2013
This is a really well done mystery. I really would rate this at four and a half stars if I could. Dobyns paints such a great picture of this little town literally going through hell. And fills it with a really cool cast of characters as well. But don't get to attached to anyone because Dobyns is not afraid of whacking his characters. Some authors seem willing to carry their characters through a nuclear explosion. With The Burn Palace Dobyns seems to take a perverse delight in removing characters at will. And through all of the strange goings on in this little town just know that he will wrap it all up by........... Sorry about that guess you will have to read the book.
March 22, 2013
Stayed up far too late to finish this book and it just wasn't worth the lost sleep :( Felt the author was trying very hard to be the next Stephen King but fell woefully short. His writing could be good at times but it was far too rambling a narrative to follow clearly. There were too many characters and none were really fully developed. The storyline did scare me at some points but that may have been due to the lateness of the hours reading it - my mind starts to play tricks on me. LOL
March 13, 2013
I picked out this book based on a recommendation by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly- he said this was one of his fave 10 books of the year. I wasn't sure what to think starting to read this book, but once I was immersed within the town of Brewster, and all the characters, I found it quite enjoyable. This is fully a mystery of many proportions, but it's done in an entertaing, if not slightly gory, way. I havent' read anything like this in some time, and enjoyed it.
February 24, 2013
A good but slight and somewhat disappointing effort from Dobyns. The mystery, which begins with kidnapping of a baby, feels tired and rather lackluster despite the inclusion of Satanism and Wiccan in the story. The characters are engaging and the writing is top notch but the story pales in comparison to Dobyn's The Boy In The Water and Church Of Dead Girls. Not Dobyn's best effort but still has its moments.
May 1, 2016
It was exhausting to force my way through this book. Lots and LOTS of un-involving characters and overwhelming details and a bunch of scattered bits that don't connect to each other very well- perhaps like a dingy back room of cut-up body parts for sale! Or a Stephen King collection with the supernatural elements (mostly) torn out and the remains randomized. (Spoilers: I've had a tough week and I don't have an ear for poetry.)
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