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Minotaur
The author of The Fury presents a nightmarish destroyer of dynasties and kingmakers, which now seeks its most dazzling prize--a beautiful heiress--and only Blaize Ellington stands in its ravenous path. Originally in paperback.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
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164 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 10, 2021
This book is . . . I don't know. It's got ups and downs, and I don't think I can really recommend it. The downs drag, but the ups are outstanding. The thing is, this probably should have been a series instead of just one novel. There is a lot going on, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, necessitating the cast listing in the beginning. But because so much was shoved into one book, I think that's what disappointed me the most.
The second most? Almost everything seems to be a setup. I'd guess that 3/4's of this book is there to lead up to something that may or may not happen (usually the latter). This is an epic story, but there are a lot of times when I feel like I'm reading filler. Most of what I read was sizzle, not steak.
And then there's the ending. It's short and abrupt and not very rewarding. So much more could have happened.
But when the book is on, it's ON. It's also got a lot of weird details for a Farris book. I wish he'd done a lot more with the bodybuilding necrophile and the woman who suffers from hysterical pregnancies and from the mental illness where people think they're dead and rotting. (I forget the name, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.) There is a great scene where a character is killed by a giant naked man wearing a bull's head mask. The guy gets his hand cut off and then shoved into a brass bull to be cooked alive. It's great.
Another great detail? Pard, the military specialist, demands of his assistant that she find Rawhide on the TV so he can unwind. He says that he doesn't care if it *is* dubbed in Greek. That made me giggle.
The second most? Almost everything seems to be a setup. I'd guess that 3/4's of this book is there to lead up to something that may or may not happen (usually the latter). This is an epic story, but there are a lot of times when I feel like I'm reading filler. Most of what I read was sizzle, not steak.
And then there's the ending. It's short and abrupt and not very rewarding. So much more could have happened.
But when the book is on, it's ON. It's also got a lot of weird details for a Farris book. I wish he'd done a lot more with the bodybuilding necrophile and the woman who suffers from hysterical pregnancies and from the mental illness where people think they're dead and rotting. (I forget the name, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.) There is a great scene where a character is killed by a giant naked man wearing a bull's head mask. The guy gets his hand cut off and then shoved into a brass bull to be cooked alive. It's great.
Another great detail? Pard, the military specialist, demands of his assistant that she find Rawhide on the TV so he can unwind. He says that he doesn't care if it *is* dubbed in Greek. That made me giggle.
February 1, 2021
If you want a book or audible with everything and hold your attention this one will. Yes, at first I could not make a bit of sense and the beginning was slow and extremely boring once the author and narrator got going you could not stop listening you wanted more so much more.
Basically you have three families who hate each other or willing to destroy the ones they love, supposed to love or the world population for money and power. This may sound like a story were you would get lost in what was happening between everyone you don't. The story is so well woven were each character of all three families effect each other in someway. One family is Greek, one French and the final one a Southern family the Greek and French are involved due to a bad marriage between the families and the Southern family due to the daughter being friends with both Greek and French family otherwise in the wrong place and friends. The Greek and French control the seeds that the world needs to grow crops like corn and wheat etc. For the Southern Family the daughter is out looking for a man who as a boy killed her brother and a few years later was blamed for her other brothers and as you listen you find is not true and and the father will not except the truth no matter what.
For the Minotaur is a Greek creature created by King Midas wife getting pregnant by having sex with a bull who was sent to King Midas to slaughter as a sacrifice. The child that was born was man with the body of a bull but a head of a bull horns and all the Minotaur became a weapon of hatred to be used to kill King Midas enemies.
The Minotaur in this story is used in the sameway in the story he is a man not a beast used to get revenge for the marriage that went wrong and then the daughter committed suicide also to revenge insest between a father and daughter were a son was born then was taken away from the daughter in a gruesome way that effected the daughter mind and led to a families trying to kill each other.
I personally found the story very good due to the way it was written and the narrator brought each and ever character alive to the point you could see them in your minds eye
Basically you have three families who hate each other or willing to destroy the ones they love, supposed to love or the world population for money and power. This may sound like a story were you would get lost in what was happening between everyone you don't. The story is so well woven were each character of all three families effect each other in someway. One family is Greek, one French and the final one a Southern family the Greek and French are involved due to a bad marriage between the families and the Southern family due to the daughter being friends with both Greek and French family otherwise in the wrong place and friends. The Greek and French control the seeds that the world needs to grow crops like corn and wheat etc. For the Southern Family the daughter is out looking for a man who as a boy killed her brother and a few years later was blamed for her other brothers and as you listen you find is not true and and the father will not except the truth no matter what.
For the Minotaur is a Greek creature created by King Midas wife getting pregnant by having sex with a bull who was sent to King Midas to slaughter as a sacrifice. The child that was born was man with the body of a bull but a head of a bull horns and all the Minotaur became a weapon of hatred to be used to kill King Midas enemies.
The Minotaur in this story is used in the sameway in the story he is a man not a beast used to get revenge for the marriage that went wrong and then the daughter committed suicide also to revenge insest between a father and daughter were a son was born then was taken away from the daughter in a gruesome way that effected the daughter mind and led to a families trying to kill each other.
I personally found the story very good due to the way it was written and the narrator brought each and ever character alive to the point you could see them in your minds eye
February 7, 2017
Another brilliant book by Farris. God is in the details, and no author of macabre tales has more details than Farris! Every little mind-numbing nuance is so stunning my brain can scarcely handle it. Farris makes the ordinary writer look like a chimp at the keyboard. Don't miss this one!
January 13, 2025
Part political thriller, part Thomas Harris freak show, and part enemy-to-love story, Minotaur feels like three disparate manuscripts combined into one. As a result, the tone changes wildly. Characters meant for baroque romance flit in and out of contact with themed psychopaths. New characters in new countries are continually introduced as the pagecount dwindles. With a hundred pages remaining, the players are in place and the stakes are finally set. Then, clumsily, it's over. To Farris' credit, the plot lines mostly converge at the end. Nothing is straight up forgotten, but I'd be lying if I said every element received proper closure. Farris seems to be a skilled writer who perhaps phoned this one in.
Could have done without the pimp side plot. Or all the references to bodily functions. Clearly, these were intended to make the cast less super heroic, but in practice it meant that these comic book people spend a lot of time peeing themselves before some new display of hyper competence. John Farris was not immune to the descriptive excesses of the nineteen eighties.
Full disclosure: I found this book on a free shelf and picked it up for the cover. I was convinced that the time had come for me to take a chance and read something with no foreknowledge. Travel outside the canon, open myself to new experience. I got what I (didn't) pay for, an oddity.
Could have done without the pimp side plot. Or all the references to bodily functions. Clearly, these were intended to make the cast less super heroic, but in practice it meant that these comic book people spend a lot of time peeing themselves before some new display of hyper competence. John Farris was not immune to the descriptive excesses of the nineteen eighties.
Full disclosure: I found this book on a free shelf and picked it up for the cover. I was convinced that the time had come for me to take a chance and read something with no foreknowledge. Travel outside the canon, open myself to new experience. I got what I (didn't) pay for, an oddity.
February 26, 2020
Minotaur is an international techno-thriller with the heart of a horror novel, meaning that the highlights are certainly the many murders and terror attacks committed by the mysterious criminal entity known as The Minotaur. The prose throughout is meticulous and info-dense as any techno-thriller, but the climaxes of these scenes reach dazzling levels of surreal intensity as The Minotaur claims one victim after another. Unfortunately, this energy fades considerably in the final sections of the novel, and the steady drumbeat of dread built up so effectively stutters out with a clumsy and undeserved happy ending.
My parents owned a copy of this in paperback. Possessed by an early interest in the myth of the minotaur and taken by the cover, I started this book many times only to quickly lose interest when I realized that the minotaur of the title was not quite literal. The use of the myth far more interesting to me now, but it's somewhat undeveloped and there is nil resolution.
My parents owned a copy of this in paperback. Possessed by an early interest in the myth of the minotaur and taken by the cover, I started this book many times only to quickly lose interest when I realized that the minotaur of the title was not quite literal. The use of the myth far more interesting to me now, but it's somewhat undeveloped and there is nil resolution.
August 14, 2023
DNF - gave up on this one as it was too much of a slog, and life is too short.
Populated with tons of characters, but not a single one that I'm vested in or rooting for. The man known simply as "The Leprechaun" was probably the most interesting character, but it was very much a supporting role.
It's a pity because that plot had some interesting elements in it - an assassin that may be more than one person working together, an ancient fungus with the potential of causing global crop failure, wealthy dynasties bearing grudges... Just none of came together in a way that made me excited to continue reading.
Populated with tons of characters, but not a single one that I'm vested in or rooting for. The man known simply as "The Leprechaun" was probably the most interesting character, but it was very much a supporting role.
It's a pity because that plot had some interesting elements in it - an assassin that may be more than one person working together, an ancient fungus with the potential of causing global crop failure, wealthy dynasties bearing grudges... Just none of came together in a way that made me excited to continue reading.
June 28, 2025
A lot of setup a lot of moving parts. Farris is juggling a lot of plates here and it's debatable if he manages it well enough. Still, I was interested to keep going and finish. Some of the stakes are a little too Mission Impossibleesque for my taste but some good drama and action scenes.
March 25, 2020
Suspenseful
I've read John Farris books for years. They are always edge of your seat suspenseful, can't put down. So if you like a good mystery you will like this one.
I've read John Farris books for years. They are always edge of your seat suspenseful, can't put down. So if you like a good mystery you will like this one.
May 13, 2023
This is my first book to read by John Farris. Looking forward to reading more!
September 21, 2014
Trama sconclusionata e scritto male. In una parola: brutto.
November 5, 2015
This was not one of Farris's better books. I stopped reading it after the first few chapters.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews