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A Dangerous Man: A dark psychological thriller about art, love and obsession
Michael's obsession with his art is about to change his whole life ...Michael Jones, a young gay artist and part-time hooker, will do anything to stage his first exhibition.When he falls in love with rich financier Jack Hutchinson, he seems set to achieve his goal.But as Michael becomes caught between the unforgiving territory of smoky-bar Hackney and the green-garden luxury of upper class London, the consequences of his uncompromising pursuit leave him having to fight for all he holds dear, and in the only way he knows how.Perfect for lovers of dark psychological “A Dangerous Man is the most gripping book I’ve read in years. This page-turner is commercial fiction at its best. I defy anyone to read this and forget it. Michael is someone you remember." (Vulpes Libris Reviews)“One of the most incredible stories I have read in a long, long time. Sure to leave a MAJOR lasting impression on the reader long after reading the final chapter. A classic style thriller, at its core is a love story that follows one man’s single minded pursuit of his obsessions in his art and the man he comes to love. It is a flawlessly written, beautiful yet haunting story, at times gritty, dark and intense.” (Queer Magazine Online) "A compelling work of gay fiction and a real page-turner. Things to praise include the flawless writing and the subtlety with which Michael's tragic past is revealed. The London setting is vivid and three-dimensional, and the author has a perfect ear for dialogue." (Obsidian Bookshelf Reviews)
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 16, 2007
17 people are currently reading
479 people want to read
About the author
Anne Brooke
132 books227 followersAnne is a super-keen book lover, and a multi-genre author & poet. She also loves gardens, swimming & the theatre.
Her fiction has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize (for novels set in London) and the Royal Literary Fund Scheme.
Her website can be found at: www.annebrooke.com
She can be found on social media as @annebrookebooks
Her fiction has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize (for novels set in London) and the Royal Literary Fund Scheme.
Her website can be found at: www.annebrooke.com
She can be found on social media as @annebrookebooks
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
October 22, 2013
Young hustler and aspiring artist Michael Jones enters a very intense relationship with rich and gorgeous Jack Hutchinson who commissions his artwork.
Michael is an extremely talented, but deeply troubled young man who wants nothing more than to succeed as an artist.
Although both men profess to love each other, Michael’s violent past, low self-esteem and destructive emotions clash with Jack’s middle-class values and cool reserve.
“A Dangerous Man” is full of believable and engaging characters, great descriptions of an artist's work and passion, and a vivid portrayal of London and its different social classes.
I don't want to say more, lest I reveal too much about this very well written, tense, and disturbing novel.
Michael is an extremely talented, but deeply troubled young man who wants nothing more than to succeed as an artist.
Although both men profess to love each other, Michael’s violent past, low self-esteem and destructive emotions clash with Jack’s middle-class values and cool reserve.
“A Dangerous Man” is full of believable and engaging characters, great descriptions of an artist's work and passion, and a vivid portrayal of London and its different social classes.
I don't want to say more, lest I reveal too much about this very well written, tense, and disturbing novel.
September 17, 2011
I found this book very dark and disturbing you can't help but get immersed in Micheal's twisted and psychotic view of the world I seriously had difficulty finishing it I was just left depressed. Very traumatic, Anne Brooke has certainly written a complex story, but unfortunately the ending is quite frankly horrific IMO. Brilliant in its own way though, if you don't mind the psychological torture.
I wish I’d never read this be prepared there is No Happy Ending.
I wish I’d never read this be prepared there is No Happy Ending.
November 4, 2013
Edit: 11/4
Bad taste in my mouth. Therefore decided to remove my 2nd star. Hurrah!
10/9
That went...well. I think I owe an apology to all the friends I persuaded to read this book with me, and who turned out to not enjoy it all that much or at all. And I was so excited to start, had hoped for A Dangerous Man to be an angst-invoking, grim and darker read! A different read. But for me it turned out to be a disappointment. Not sure if I can add anything to Nina, Rebecka and Angelica's already excellent reviews, but I'll do my best when I have the time to construct and ponder about what went wrong for me here.
original post
I need a buddy or several buddies to read this spectacularly angsty book - that will apparently leave you feeling self destructive and eager to commit Harakiri to end the tsunami of painful feels - with.
In
Anne
Ery
Crispy
Diana
NicStar
Nina
Elizabetta
Angelica
Rebecka
Me
Still to be persuaded
Vivian (oh come fucking on!:'))
Bad taste in my mouth. Therefore decided to remove my 2nd star. Hurrah!
10/9
That went...well. I think I owe an apology to all the friends I persuaded to read this book with me, and who turned out to not enjoy it all that much or at all. And I was so excited to start, had hoped for A Dangerous Man to be an angst-invoking, grim and darker read! A different read. But for me it turned out to be a disappointment. Not sure if I can add anything to Nina, Rebecka and Angelica's already excellent reviews, but I'll do my best when I have the time to construct and ponder about what went wrong for me here.
original post
I need a buddy or several buddies to read this spectacularly angsty book - that will apparently leave you feeling self destructive and eager to commit Harakiri to end the tsunami of painful feels - with.
In
Anne
Ery
Crispy
Diana
NicStar
Nina
Elizabetta
Angelica
Rebecka
Me
Still to be persuaded
Vivian (oh come fucking on!:'))
September 14, 2013
Here is a book that pieces together a very disturbed, traumatised mind. That shows you the effects of the physical on the emotional.
Michael is an aspiring young artist, that sells himself for money to help him survive, but more importantly to help him survive until he can reach his artistic goal of his own exhibition and beyond. When we first meet Michael he is living with a local gallery owner, Joe, and Joe's partner, Paul. Lord I have trouble writing Paul's name, he is the most horrendously disgusting individual. Throughout this book Michael cleans up, picks up after everyone, it's a means of control over his chaotic, seemingly powerless life. After one night, where Paul uses Michael sexually in lieu of rent money, Michael cleans-
Alone, I tidied up my cupboard-sized bedroom,resisting thoughts of what had happened that morning and the night before. It wasn't hard; putting things away where I didn't have to think of them again was something I was good at.
And re: Jack's place - Again all was so clean it made me want to stay forever
Jack needs some art work for his reinsurance company, to contemporise their collection. Joe feels Michael may (or may not) be what the company is looking for. Jack meets Michael when Michael takes his porfolio in for viewing at the company. Michael then decides, after the original portfolio viewing, to chase Jack to get the commission. He wants the job, needs to prove he can do this, plus he is attracted to Jack.
The book is from Michaels POV, which is excellent because you see him struggle talking to people, struggle coping with what most others consider to be everyday situations, how he views love and his ongoing, and most powerfully, deep seated issues of trust; his increasingly disturbed inner machinations.
This book tackles the subject of ones' environment, abuse, obsession, and the bleak outlook marginalised people, particularly those with mental health issues, suffer in our society.
I loved Michael, poor soul that he was, and I read this book with constant grief in my heart and tears in my eyes as I knew where he was going, as I felt his life come together yet unravel before me. To see Michael is to see attachment disorder or a personality disorder in motion. I could understand why people may not feel kindly towards Michael, but I was drawn to him, his plight.
I also loved Jack, he was, at heart, a decent man in a relationship that could never go anywhere but down. Jack could never fully understand his lover's perspective. It was mission impossible - emotionally, economically they were poles apart. Michael loved the idea of comfort with Jack, whilst feeling physically ill because of it at the same time. Jack saw a beautiful and vulnerable young man, someone that needed him, that he wanted to rescue but could never, ever help. Jack was vunerable after the breakdown of a relationship recently, and he wasn't into 'the scene.' Along came this aesthetically pleasing, emotional, but edgy young man, who chased Jack with fervour. Unfortunately for all concerned, Michael was beyond broken, he was ruined - broken implies you can fix something, ruined is beyond repair.
This book is very, very dark. There is no happiness here. Given the way it started, the undertone, the direction, the characters, it would have been bullshit if it went in any other direction. So, having said its bleak, it's also amazingly well written, and starkly, beautifully real. Anne Brooke is a superb writer, both from a technical and artistic standpoint. I cannot fault the characterizations here at all or the psychology. The impact of the book comes from the depth of meaning that Ms Brooke was able to convey so powerfully. For example Michael draws in charcoals and pencils, Joe keeps telling him he needs to soften things, change style, but Michael can't, he is incapable of seeing anything but blacks, greys, monochromatic tones to life - to see anything else will crack the barely-there veneer of his control, will lead to a frightening annihilation of his mind. His life is a series of light and dark moments, even in the light he portrays darkness. When he sees in colour it is indeed a dangerous man that is set loose, as all checks and balances become null and void. All the places are vivid - Hackney, Islington, Surrey are so strongly juxtaposed against one another to show you how Michael feels and behaves when he's in these places - confused, sick, scared, out of control or resigned.
I recommend this book to those that are interested in a well written book about fragile psychology, tenuous control, with real cause. It is an intense (LGBT) book where romance is not the all encompassing theme, rather individuals' complexities are, and how easily tragedy can collide with everyday life. A Dangerous Man is a very powerful and haunting book.
http://ontopdownunderbookreviews.com/...
Michael is an aspiring young artist, that sells himself for money to help him survive, but more importantly to help him survive until he can reach his artistic goal of his own exhibition and beyond. When we first meet Michael he is living with a local gallery owner, Joe, and Joe's partner, Paul. Lord I have trouble writing Paul's name, he is the most horrendously disgusting individual. Throughout this book Michael cleans up, picks up after everyone, it's a means of control over his chaotic, seemingly powerless life. After one night, where Paul uses Michael sexually in lieu of rent money, Michael cleans-
Alone, I tidied up my cupboard-sized bedroom,resisting thoughts of what had happened that morning and the night before. It wasn't hard; putting things away where I didn't have to think of them again was something I was good at.
And re: Jack's place - Again all was so clean it made me want to stay forever
Jack needs some art work for his reinsurance company, to contemporise their collection. Joe feels Michael may (or may not) be what the company is looking for. Jack meets Michael when Michael takes his porfolio in for viewing at the company. Michael then decides, after the original portfolio viewing, to chase Jack to get the commission. He wants the job, needs to prove he can do this, plus he is attracted to Jack.
The book is from Michaels POV, which is excellent because you see him struggle talking to people, struggle coping with what most others consider to be everyday situations, how he views love and his ongoing, and most powerfully, deep seated issues of trust; his increasingly disturbed inner machinations.
This book tackles the subject of ones' environment, abuse, obsession, and the bleak outlook marginalised people, particularly those with mental health issues, suffer in our society.
I loved Michael, poor soul that he was, and I read this book with constant grief in my heart and tears in my eyes as I knew where he was going, as I felt his life come together yet unravel before me. To see Michael is to see attachment disorder or a personality disorder in motion. I could understand why people may not feel kindly towards Michael, but I was drawn to him, his plight.
I also loved Jack, he was, at heart, a decent man in a relationship that could never go anywhere but down. Jack could never fully understand his lover's perspective. It was mission impossible - emotionally, economically they were poles apart. Michael loved the idea of comfort with Jack, whilst feeling physically ill because of it at the same time. Jack saw a beautiful and vulnerable young man, someone that needed him, that he wanted to rescue but could never, ever help. Jack was vunerable after the breakdown of a relationship recently, and he wasn't into 'the scene.' Along came this aesthetically pleasing, emotional, but edgy young man, who chased Jack with fervour. Unfortunately for all concerned, Michael was beyond broken, he was ruined - broken implies you can fix something, ruined is beyond repair.
This book is very, very dark. There is no happiness here. Given the way it started, the undertone, the direction, the characters, it would have been bullshit if it went in any other direction. So, having said its bleak, it's also amazingly well written, and starkly, beautifully real. Anne Brooke is a superb writer, both from a technical and artistic standpoint. I cannot fault the characterizations here at all or the psychology. The impact of the book comes from the depth of meaning that Ms Brooke was able to convey so powerfully. For example Michael draws in charcoals and pencils, Joe keeps telling him he needs to soften things, change style, but Michael can't, he is incapable of seeing anything but blacks, greys, monochromatic tones to life - to see anything else will crack the barely-there veneer of his control, will lead to a frightening annihilation of his mind. His life is a series of light and dark moments, even in the light he portrays darkness. When he sees in colour it is indeed a dangerous man that is set loose, as all checks and balances become null and void. All the places are vivid - Hackney, Islington, Surrey are so strongly juxtaposed against one another to show you how Michael feels and behaves when he's in these places - confused, sick, scared, out of control or resigned.
I recommend this book to those that are interested in a well written book about fragile psychology, tenuous control, with real cause. It is an intense (LGBT) book where romance is not the all encompassing theme, rather individuals' complexities are, and how easily tragedy can collide with everyday life. A Dangerous Man is a very powerful and haunting book.
http://ontopdownunderbookreviews.com/...
August 3, 2016
I'm drawing a blank. (But I can feel the rant building up.)
There's so much I could say about this book – but there's also nothing to say about it, really, except that it was pretty much a waste of my time.
If you want a basic description, a review in four words, I can give you this: unexplained, unconvincing, unreasonable, unresolved. Yet despite all the bad stuff, there were some sentences, underneath all the rubbish, that had me thinking there might be something more to this story than a whiny parasite of a protagonist and an aimless plot – some sort of greater scheme, glimpsed through parallels between different relationships and rare attempts at real introspection nipped in the bud.
All in all, though? This was not a success, starting with the main character.
Michael is a self-pitying, sick, deranged, greedy and entitled individual – basically the sort of character that in the hands of a better writer could have become a gorgeous, captivating monster, but only managed to annoy me and frustrate me here, because all the potential evil in him is held up by a weak personality. He's also ignorant, needy, superficial and generally pathetic – I could go on forever.
His reasons don't hold, his traumatic past stays untold until the very end (where, I guess, we're supposed to “get it” and finally understand everything. Don't hold your breath), he sees himself as worthy of everything and at the same time worthless. He's volatile, claiming all he wants is Jack, then lying to him, hurting him and using him to get his other life dream, a gallery all of his own, then again proclaiming his all-encompassing, enduring love for Jack.
This does not make for a complex, intriguing character – this is plain inconsistency.
As for the other characters, they're simple cardboard cut-outs. There's the beautiful, goodhearted young lady, the abusive, cheating asshole, the kind, pleasant man with a hidden mean streak, the upper-class, cultured, beautiful businessman who's everything that is good in the world and so on and so forth.
None of these characters has any depth beyond their basic role in the plot.
Oh, yes, the plot. What plot?
The plot is a meandering mess of aimless wandering through the seedy side of London and Jack's beautiful house in Islington (and be prepared for a lot of gushing over said house in Islington, in case you want to read this, because it's magnificent. And elegant. And rich), all the while watching Michael divide his time between drawing, gushing about his own art and selling his body for money he could earn much more easily by getting a job at a fucking supermarket and stopping with the whining.
Do you want to see a stupid, entitled git have mental breakdowns for no reason, lie to the love of his life (excuse me while I rofl) and describe his creative process in 3649 different ways, all heaped with adjectives, adverbs and metaphors, always saying the same three things (namely: 1. I never know what I'm going to draw before I draw it, 2. I don't do colours, and 3. I can't show anyone this stuff, because then they'd have power over me – may I point out, btw, that exposing your drawings in a fucking gallery kind of defies the purpose of not showing them to anyone before then) for 233 pages? Then go for it. You'll love this book.
The writing is not bad, per se, but the only thing that could have saved the book for me at this point is capturing, masterful prose – which this most certainly isn't.
I could see the author was trying. Hard. But... eh, it didn't work.
This doesn't make me go “aahhh” - it makes me go “wtf”.
All the way to the end, the narration kept becoming more and more repetitive, which is a fire-sure way to lose my attention – and I wasn't even all that invested to begin with.
Aside from sheer aesthetic qualities, the writing is lacking on the technical side too. The story is full of inconsistencies, imprecisions and elements that don't have an actual role in the storyline, as if the author added them and then promptly forgot about them.
Anne Brooke: you don't use your voice to whistle, drawings made of sharp lines and “raw scratches” or whatever they were called cannot be described as impressionistic, and Michael's strong sexual attraction towards Jack's father is mildly disgusting and wholly pointless.
The ending might be this novel's saving grace, even though not even that had me completely convinced.
There are some revelations of things that had already been hinted at, there is death (come on, you expected that, didn't you?), there is the final proof that Michael is not only an asshole, but a mentally ill one too, in the form of disconnected narration (I honestly hope that was intentional. I'M JOKING. Sarcasm is hard to pick out in written form) and there is what I think was supposed to be a mildly relieving, abundantly disquieting and absolutely electrifying ending.
But by then, I didn't give a fuck anymore.
[Actual rating: 1.5 stars]
Originally reviewed for The Blog of Sid Love, which is now dead.
There's so much I could say about this book – but there's also nothing to say about it, really, except that it was pretty much a waste of my time.
If you want a basic description, a review in four words, I can give you this: unexplained, unconvincing, unreasonable, unresolved. Yet despite all the bad stuff, there were some sentences, underneath all the rubbish, that had me thinking there might be something more to this story than a whiny parasite of a protagonist and an aimless plot – some sort of greater scheme, glimpsed through parallels between different relationships and rare attempts at real introspection nipped in the bud.
All in all, though? This was not a success, starting with the main character.
Michael is a self-pitying, sick, deranged, greedy and entitled individual – basically the sort of character that in the hands of a better writer could have become a gorgeous, captivating monster, but only managed to annoy me and frustrate me here, because all the potential evil in him is held up by a weak personality. He's also ignorant, needy, superficial and generally pathetic – I could go on forever.
His reasons don't hold, his traumatic past stays untold until the very end (where, I guess, we're supposed to “get it” and finally understand everything. Don't hold your breath), he sees himself as worthy of everything and at the same time worthless. He's volatile, claiming all he wants is Jack, then lying to him, hurting him and using him to get his other life dream, a gallery all of his own, then again proclaiming his all-encompassing, enduring love for Jack.
This does not make for a complex, intriguing character – this is plain inconsistency.
As for the other characters, they're simple cardboard cut-outs. There's the beautiful, goodhearted young lady, the abusive, cheating asshole, the kind, pleasant man with a hidden mean streak, the upper-class, cultured, beautiful businessman who's everything that is good in the world and so on and so forth.
None of these characters has any depth beyond their basic role in the plot.
Oh, yes, the plot. What plot?
The plot is a meandering mess of aimless wandering through the seedy side of London and Jack's beautiful house in Islington (and be prepared for a lot of gushing over said house in Islington, in case you want to read this, because it's magnificent. And elegant. And rich), all the while watching Michael divide his time between drawing, gushing about his own art and selling his body for money he could earn much more easily by getting a job at a fucking supermarket and stopping with the whining.
Do you want to see a stupid, entitled git have mental breakdowns for no reason, lie to the love of his life (excuse me while I rofl) and describe his creative process in 3649 different ways, all heaped with adjectives, adverbs and metaphors, always saying the same three things (namely: 1. I never know what I'm going to draw before I draw it, 2. I don't do colours, and 3. I can't show anyone this stuff, because then they'd have power over me – may I point out, btw, that exposing your drawings in a fucking gallery kind of defies the purpose of not showing them to anyone before then) for 233 pages? Then go for it. You'll love this book.
The writing is not bad, per se, but the only thing that could have saved the book for me at this point is capturing, masterful prose – which this most certainly isn't.
I could see the author was trying. Hard. But... eh, it didn't work.
Waves of dislike, hot and red, flowed between Mrs. Hutchinson and me like blood.
This doesn't make me go “aahhh” - it makes me go “wtf”.
All the way to the end, the narration kept becoming more and more repetitive, which is a fire-sure way to lose my attention – and I wasn't even all that invested to begin with.
Aside from sheer aesthetic qualities, the writing is lacking on the technical side too. The story is full of inconsistencies, imprecisions and elements that don't have an actual role in the storyline, as if the author added them and then promptly forgot about them.
Anne Brooke: you don't use your voice to whistle, drawings made of sharp lines and “raw scratches” or whatever they were called cannot be described as impressionistic, and Michael's strong sexual attraction towards Jack's father is mildly disgusting and wholly pointless.
The ending might be this novel's saving grace, even though not even that had me completely convinced.
There are some revelations of things that had already been hinted at, there is death (come on, you expected that, didn't you?), there is the final proof that Michael is not only an asshole, but a mentally ill one too, in the form of disconnected narration (I honestly hope that was intentional. I'M JOKING. Sarcasm is hard to pick out in written form) and there is what I think was supposed to be a mildly relieving, abundantly disquieting and absolutely electrifying ending.
But by then, I didn't give a fuck anymore.
[Actual rating: 1.5 stars]
Originally reviewed for The Blog of Sid Love, which is now dead.
August 12, 2016
I had a lot to say, but suffice to say that after finishing it the book left me utterly speechless. Not something that happens everyday. I feel like now I need 200 shallow romance novels to lighten up my... Year.
Edit: The below thoughts (more feelings than review) are ones I wrote halfway into the book, right before the climax of it. It still holds true, even if I have a million more feelings to add to it now that I could never write out in a coherent form.
Edit2: To those here for the romance novel by the way - it's not. So if you're here for something even remotely romantic, turn back now.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I loved how it portrayed things in a way that is realistic but not mainstream: how love can seize a person sometimes and make them a madman, a stalker who knows exactly who you are (Jim, 26, from Scotland) before your first handshake. How sometimes love can be true yet you're selfish, you're a user, a goldigger - things that seem to contradict the very notion of love - but still it's nonetheless true that you love them.
I loved how Michael's past and thoughts and desires and reasons are hidden from the reader - and in essence, himself - because maybe it's for a sense of mystery, or maybe he doesn't even understand the motivations and reasons he behave the way he does, much less articulate it into the narration.
I loved the little details about art - the bulldog clips, the fixative spray - that you can never do without in a real charcoal drawing, because real art is not as it is in novels, romance novels especially, where painting a masterpiece is as easy as talent and fame is as easy as having a sugar daddy.
I loved how Brooke understood that there's absolutely nothing you can say to an insecure artist about their art: not that it's good, not that it's great. We won't believe you even if you think we're the very best, because it's not about love. It's NEVER about love.
Praise means nothing because you see us and not the art - you want us for some reason, you're just placating us, you liar liar liar - and neither is silence right because in that silence we imagine all the inadequate answers you could have given us. And even when our masters and teachers praise us - good, you have such potential, you only have to grow - that praise only wets the parched Earth. No matter how much you pour on us, how lovingly, how lavishly, tell us we're genius in all but fame, we can never get enough.
I loved how Jack is the perfectly normal person, yet he never feels dumbed down to the level of those romance novel heroes that exist for the sake of perfection. He exists as a comparison, a contrast. He's us: perfect, unblemished normal-ness, and the biggest risk he takes is to love a man he shouldn't, logically. (But then what is logical love?)
I loved how Brooke got the little things of a relationship right: how we push away those we love and scream at them to leave, but still feel disappointed and downright betrayed when they do. Dislike and hatred from the family that has nothing to do with homophobia - that milked and tried trope in these books - but something as natural as caution and looking down their nose at the riffraff.
Edit: The below thoughts (more feelings than review) are ones I wrote halfway into the book, right before the climax of it. It still holds true, even if I have a million more feelings to add to it now that I could never write out in a coherent form.
Edit2: To those here for the romance novel by the way - it's not. So if you're here for something even remotely romantic, turn back now.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I loved how it portrayed things in a way that is realistic but not mainstream: how love can seize a person sometimes and make them a madman, a stalker who knows exactly who you are (Jim, 26, from Scotland) before your first handshake. How sometimes love can be true yet you're selfish, you're a user, a goldigger - things that seem to contradict the very notion of love - but still it's nonetheless true that you love them.
I loved how Michael's past and thoughts and desires and reasons are hidden from the reader - and in essence, himself - because maybe it's for a sense of mystery, or maybe he doesn't even understand the motivations and reasons he behave the way he does, much less articulate it into the narration.
I loved the little details about art - the bulldog clips, the fixative spray - that you can never do without in a real charcoal drawing, because real art is not as it is in novels, romance novels especially, where painting a masterpiece is as easy as talent and fame is as easy as having a sugar daddy.
I loved how Brooke understood that there's absolutely nothing you can say to an insecure artist about their art: not that it's good, not that it's great. We won't believe you even if you think we're the very best, because it's not about love. It's NEVER about love.
Praise means nothing because you see us and not the art - you want us for some reason, you're just placating us, you liar liar liar - and neither is silence right because in that silence we imagine all the inadequate answers you could have given us. And even when our masters and teachers praise us - good, you have such potential, you only have to grow - that praise only wets the parched Earth. No matter how much you pour on us, how lovingly, how lavishly, tell us we're genius in all but fame, we can never get enough.
I loved how Jack is the perfectly normal person, yet he never feels dumbed down to the level of those romance novel heroes that exist for the sake of perfection. He exists as a comparison, a contrast. He's us: perfect, unblemished normal-ness, and the biggest risk he takes is to love a man he shouldn't, logically. (But then what is logical love?)
I loved how Brooke got the little things of a relationship right: how we push away those we love and scream at them to leave, but still feel disappointed and downright betrayed when they do. Dislike and hatred from the family that has nothing to do with homophobia - that milked and tried trope in these books - but something as natural as caution and looking down their nose at the riffraff.
dnf
August 24, 2013DNF at 28%
Wow, this was depressing.
The writing was technically very good and sometimes even wandering into poetic.
But I very much disliked the protag from the very beginning. He sounds like a douche bag. And I don't buy this whole "I am a starving artist and have to put out for rent". I would have liked him more had he decided to wait tables or even clean toilets rather than having sex for money or benefits.
And this whole business-like demeanor regarding his f*cking for money here clashed brutally with his attitude as artist/thinker about urban life and colours, bla bla bla. I didn't feel any compassion with him, he sounded conceited and self-centered.
And the other MC was the stereotype of attractive guy: handsome, rich, cultivated.
I didn't wait for the drama to unfold and decided to bow out before it gets ugly (or more depressing...).
PS: I cleared my rating because I decided, that it wasn't fair altogether, because I just wasn't in the mood for depressing and I knew beforehand that it would be - so it was mostly my fault.
Wow, this was depressing.
The writing was technically very good and sometimes even wandering into poetic.
But I very much disliked the protag from the very beginning. He sounds like a douche bag. And I don't buy this whole "I am a starving artist and have to put out for rent". I would have liked him more had he decided to wait tables or even clean toilets rather than having sex for money or benefits.
And this whole business-like demeanor regarding his f*cking for money here clashed brutally with his attitude as artist/thinker about urban life and colours, bla bla bla. I didn't feel any compassion with him, he sounded conceited and self-centered.
And the other MC was the stereotype of attractive guy: handsome, rich, cultivated.
I didn't wait for the drama to unfold and decided to bow out before it gets ugly (or more depressing...).
PS: I cleared my rating because I decided, that it wasn't fair altogether, because I just wasn't in the mood for depressing and I knew beforehand that it would be - so it was mostly my fault.
December 21, 2010
4.5 stars (I actually don't think this contains spoilers but being safe just in case someone does)
After finishing A Dangerous Man I’m incredibly impressed with Brooke’s ability to evoke emotion, tension, angst, and mystery. This novel is a compelling story that left me breathless, heart broken, and depressed. I’m glad I could experience the author’s incredible talent yet I wish I’d never read this either. I can easily recommend the story but with the caveat that it’s not easy and definitely no happy ending, yet the brilliance of the writing is something to experience.
Michael Jones is a young starving artist. At first he seems like many others like him, trying desperately to get noticed while his talent is the sole reason for life and emotion. Michael occasionally turns tricks for cash, even sleeping with this landlord’s partner for a break in the rent. He finally gets a break and his artwork is commissioned by financier Jack Hutchinson making Michael determined to make his life right finally. He’s in love with Jack and although he has no clue how to act around Jack’s wealthy and loving family, Michael clings to the two goals in his life – Jack and his art exhibition.
This story is a real study in characterization. Told in first person from Michael’s point of view, the reader goes along as Michael descends into a spiral of emotional upheaval. The first person perspective is so intimate, so intense that you can’t help sympathizing and rooting for Michael. He’s not an easy character and in fact is his own worse enemy. He’s emotionally unstable, needy, angry, damaged, and obsessed. He’s obsessed with his art work, with Jack, and desperately needs to prove something. The problem is of course Michael isn’t exactly sure what he’s trying to prove other than he’s an artist of worth. He’s not exactly sure what he wants and needs either. Michael moves from one situation to the next hoping, praying, determined that this will be the thing he needs to make everything ok, to make everything right.
Halfway through the novel there is a great quote that epitomizes the story. “I knew I was doing myself no favours, but I didn’t know how to escape the road I was travelling along, or even where it led.” This exemplifies Michael’s state of mind. He’s incredibly self destructive yet also oddly self aware. He knows he’s making the wrong choices, saying the wrong things, doing the wrong actions yet he’s helpless to identify why or how to stop. He’s so fragile and emotionally volatile that he can’t understand his own obsessions, his own needs. It’s this descent from the optimistic new life into resigned failure that you can’t look away from.
Although Michael is undoubtedly the star of the novel, the supporting cast is not forgettable. They are complicated men and women in their own right that come across as fully realized characters, regardless of their page time. Jack is a sympathetic, yet confused lover. He represents everything Michael has always wanted but truly believes he doesn’t deserve. The most heart breaking theme is when the reader realizes Michael will ruin his own life and that nothing Jack says or does can help, regardless of the great love and admiration Jack has for Michael. So this isn’t a romantic story, although there is romance, sensuality, and sexuality steeped into the descriptions, the pages, the characters, and the nuances.
The narration is incredibly compelling. I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want to, even though from the very beginning there is a feeling of doom. This foreshadowing starts early on and carries through the very last word. The actions are not always predictable and the characters surprise you but there’s an ominous feeling that never lets up. Here Brooke’s incredible writing really shines. There is so much emotion and vivid graphic energy that is imbued in the story, it truly creates a dark life of its own. The writing is very intense and gothic, partly due to Michael’s almost manic personality, and partly due to the dark overtones. The gray London weather is often dreary, overcast and the tones Michael uses to sketch are always black and gray. This plays into the theme and tone of the story perfectly.
There is also a lot of tension, which keeps you gripped to the story. Even as Michael makes mistakes or spirals into crying jags, you can’t look away. The ending is foreshadowed yet I didn’t want to believe that’s what would happen so I kept hoping until the very end something would change. This is a dark, yet incredibly vivid and tactile story that stays with you. Although the prose is crisp, clean and flows impeccably, this is not an easy one to read for the emotion brought out or the study of humanity and instability. Most affecting is the overwhelming hope and desperation that Michael offers, yearning for that elusive dream that’s ruined for him before he even understood what was happening. As a broken character, Michael is one of the most compelling, richly complex protagonists I’ve come across. He’s also one that broke my heart.
The lack of happy ending and subject matter may not appeal to some fans. This is one I can easily envision some readers being bothered or disturbed after reading, I certainly was. Nor will all readers want to read something with such an intense, intimate view of an unstable, self destructive personality. I’d easily recommend this to those that don’t mind a dark story though. Michael’s path is not easy but it’s fascinating and so genuine you can’t help but be moved.
After finishing A Dangerous Man I’m incredibly impressed with Brooke’s ability to evoke emotion, tension, angst, and mystery. This novel is a compelling story that left me breathless, heart broken, and depressed. I’m glad I could experience the author’s incredible talent yet I wish I’d never read this either. I can easily recommend the story but with the caveat that it’s not easy and definitely no happy ending, yet the brilliance of the writing is something to experience.
Michael Jones is a young starving artist. At first he seems like many others like him, trying desperately to get noticed while his talent is the sole reason for life and emotion. Michael occasionally turns tricks for cash, even sleeping with this landlord’s partner for a break in the rent. He finally gets a break and his artwork is commissioned by financier Jack Hutchinson making Michael determined to make his life right finally. He’s in love with Jack and although he has no clue how to act around Jack’s wealthy and loving family, Michael clings to the two goals in his life – Jack and his art exhibition.
This story is a real study in characterization. Told in first person from Michael’s point of view, the reader goes along as Michael descends into a spiral of emotional upheaval. The first person perspective is so intimate, so intense that you can’t help sympathizing and rooting for Michael. He’s not an easy character and in fact is his own worse enemy. He’s emotionally unstable, needy, angry, damaged, and obsessed. He’s obsessed with his art work, with Jack, and desperately needs to prove something. The problem is of course Michael isn’t exactly sure what he’s trying to prove other than he’s an artist of worth. He’s not exactly sure what he wants and needs either. Michael moves from one situation to the next hoping, praying, determined that this will be the thing he needs to make everything ok, to make everything right.
Halfway through the novel there is a great quote that epitomizes the story. “I knew I was doing myself no favours, but I didn’t know how to escape the road I was travelling along, or even where it led.” This exemplifies Michael’s state of mind. He’s incredibly self destructive yet also oddly self aware. He knows he’s making the wrong choices, saying the wrong things, doing the wrong actions yet he’s helpless to identify why or how to stop. He’s so fragile and emotionally volatile that he can’t understand his own obsessions, his own needs. It’s this descent from the optimistic new life into resigned failure that you can’t look away from.
Although Michael is undoubtedly the star of the novel, the supporting cast is not forgettable. They are complicated men and women in their own right that come across as fully realized characters, regardless of their page time. Jack is a sympathetic, yet confused lover. He represents everything Michael has always wanted but truly believes he doesn’t deserve. The most heart breaking theme is when the reader realizes Michael will ruin his own life and that nothing Jack says or does can help, regardless of the great love and admiration Jack has for Michael. So this isn’t a romantic story, although there is romance, sensuality, and sexuality steeped into the descriptions, the pages, the characters, and the nuances.
The narration is incredibly compelling. I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want to, even though from the very beginning there is a feeling of doom. This foreshadowing starts early on and carries through the very last word. The actions are not always predictable and the characters surprise you but there’s an ominous feeling that never lets up. Here Brooke’s incredible writing really shines. There is so much emotion and vivid graphic energy that is imbued in the story, it truly creates a dark life of its own. The writing is very intense and gothic, partly due to Michael’s almost manic personality, and partly due to the dark overtones. The gray London weather is often dreary, overcast and the tones Michael uses to sketch are always black and gray. This plays into the theme and tone of the story perfectly.
There is also a lot of tension, which keeps you gripped to the story. Even as Michael makes mistakes or spirals into crying jags, you can’t look away. The ending is foreshadowed yet I didn’t want to believe that’s what would happen so I kept hoping until the very end something would change. This is a dark, yet incredibly vivid and tactile story that stays with you. Although the prose is crisp, clean and flows impeccably, this is not an easy one to read for the emotion brought out or the study of humanity and instability. Most affecting is the overwhelming hope and desperation that Michael offers, yearning for that elusive dream that’s ruined for him before he even understood what was happening. As a broken character, Michael is one of the most compelling, richly complex protagonists I’ve come across. He’s also one that broke my heart.
The lack of happy ending and subject matter may not appeal to some fans. This is one I can easily envision some readers being bothered or disturbed after reading, I certainly was. Nor will all readers want to read something with such an intense, intimate view of an unstable, self destructive personality. I’d easily recommend this to those that don’t mind a dark story though. Michael’s path is not easy but it’s fascinating and so genuine you can’t help but be moved.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2013
This story rubbed me the wrong way, and Michael more than anybody. I could not relate to him at all. He came across to me as TSTL. He had serious mental issues, but instead of pitying him, or being scared of him, I was disgusted by him. He was a toxic self centered individual with no redeeming qualities that I could think of. My lack of empathy might be due to the fact that by the time the possible reasons for his behavior were divulged, it was too late for me to feel any sympathy at all, and not even the extenuating circumstances could change my feelings.
Jack, I just didn't get. He seemed two dimensional (probably because we were always in Michael's head). I didn't get his love or his actions or why he would put up with everything he put up with. I think an explanation was offered at some point as well, but I didn't think it was robust enough . He seemed to have a normal upbringing. Why didn't he run the other way when he saw Michael coming, especially when Michael showed him his unstable behavior from the very beginning? I couldn't relate to Jack at all.
Frank, I liked at the beginning because he seemed the most normal between these abnormal characters. He was the voice of reason at some point, but then he goes and No. I didn't get it either.
The landlords I won't even mention for fear of becoming incoherent.
As for the ending.... .
Unfortunately for this story, I didn't get what I was expecting, and not in a good way. I couldn't get past my bad impressions.
Jack, I just didn't get. He seemed two dimensional (probably because we were always in Michael's head). I didn't get his love or his actions or why he would put up with everything he put up with. I think an explanation was offered at some point as well, but I didn't think it was robust enough . He seemed to have a normal upbringing. Why didn't he run the other way when he saw Michael coming, especially when Michael showed him his unstable behavior from the very beginning? I couldn't relate to Jack at all.
Frank, I liked at the beginning because he seemed the most normal between these abnormal characters. He was the voice of reason at some point, but then he goes and No. I didn't get it either.
The landlords I won't even mention for fear of becoming incoherent.
As for the ending.... .
Unfortunately for this story, I didn't get what I was expecting, and not in a good way. I couldn't get past my bad impressions.
August 21, 2014
Well wasn't this a disappointment. One star may seem harsh, but I really didn't like this book, so I can't give it any more. The writing is not bad, but the story is just stupid and pointless, and none of the characters whatsoever make any sense. You may want to stop reading now if you plan on reading the book and want to stay spoiler free.
First of all, I really thought this would turn into the story of a psychopath who'd kill his lover, i.e. Michael snapping and going mental on Jack in a bout of jealousy. There were some nice hints of that possibly happening in the beginning, and that's why I continued reading. All hope soon disappeared, though.
Michael is a self-absorbed, childish, stupid little thing whom I think we are supposed to... feel sorry for? Or are we supposed to hate him? Making your readers hate your MC is perhaps not the cleverest move out there. I kept wondering who the "Dangerous Man" was, but it was hard to put the tag on Michael, because he's quite honestly no man at all. He's a boy. A brat. A nasty parasite who deserves everything bad that happens to him.
Stuff that just doesn't make sense:
* He needs money, therefore he needs to prostitute himself to get it, instaed of... getting any other job? (Plus the whole martyr thing. Gah. I hate martyrs, unless they die slowly in the Middle Ages.)
* WHY has Joe "taken Michael in"? What's his motivation for that?
* Why is Joe with Paul? What on earth is the attraction there?
* Why does Paul hate Michael? I never got an explanation for that.
* Why is Jack's mother as one dimensional as Paul? She can't even behave properly - a British upper-class woman?
* Where did Michael acquire this notion that he is worth anything and that he has the right to his "private" thoughts and his integrity, etc., and that he can just use whomever he wants?
* Why is Jack at all interested in Michael?
* Why do people want to help Michael? How does he inspire sympathy in them when he obviously fails with the readers?
* Why can't Michael just be suicidal instead of all this drama?
NOTHING IN THIS BOOK MAKES SENSE.
Also, Michael and his goddamned "art" really, really annoyed me.
First of all, I really thought this would turn into the story of a psychopath who'd kill his lover, i.e. Michael snapping and going mental on Jack in a bout of jealousy. There were some nice hints of that possibly happening in the beginning, and that's why I continued reading. All hope soon disappeared, though.
Michael is a self-absorbed, childish, stupid little thing whom I think we are supposed to... feel sorry for? Or are we supposed to hate him? Making your readers hate your MC is perhaps not the cleverest move out there. I kept wondering who the "Dangerous Man" was, but it was hard to put the tag on Michael, because he's quite honestly no man at all. He's a boy. A brat. A nasty parasite who deserves everything bad that happens to him.
Stuff that just doesn't make sense:
* He needs money, therefore he needs to prostitute himself to get it, instaed of... getting any other job? (Plus the whole martyr thing. Gah. I hate martyrs, unless they die slowly in the Middle Ages.)
* WHY has Joe "taken Michael in"? What's his motivation for that?
* Why is Joe with Paul? What on earth is the attraction there?
* Why does Paul hate Michael? I never got an explanation for that.
* Why is Jack's mother as one dimensional as Paul? She can't even behave properly - a British upper-class woman?
* Where did Michael acquire this notion that he is worth anything and that he has the right to his "private" thoughts and his integrity, etc., and that he can just use whomever he wants?
* Why is Jack at all interested in Michael?
* Why do people want to help Michael? How does he inspire sympathy in them when he obviously fails with the readers?
* Why can't Michael just be suicidal instead of all this drama?
NOTHING IN THIS BOOK MAKES SENSE.
Also, Michael and his goddamned "art" really, really annoyed me.
August 12, 2012
Anne Brooke's novel of the collision of art and money, ambition and power, grabs you from the start and doesn't let go. What's especially impressive is the way that Brooke's style sets up narrative information - about the business of art, the grinding frustration of hustling cash for ambitions always just out of reach - without letting go the pace or losing purpose. There's always something going on and Brooke is highly skilled at pushing the story forward, even when pausing on her characters' thoughts and motives.
The artist Michael draws in monochrome, surely a deliberate parallel with the business of writing, struggling to control the colours beyond the edge of the paper. The metaphor works, as do the London settings; Brooke has the feel for how so much of London seems frosted with dust whatever the weather. But the characters are far from colourless. Believable, fallible people chasing their own ambitions; even the bully Paul has his reasons. Michael's relationship with rich-boy Jack is neatly drawn, recognisable to anyone who knows that people who sleep together do not necessarily get along. And the plot twist is surprising, even on second reading.
A shady, chilly story - so much of it seems to take place in half-light - that manages to say something about art (about writing too) without being pretentious and gives an ingenious riff on the dour old truth that the worst that can happen is to get what you want.
The artist Michael draws in monochrome, surely a deliberate parallel with the business of writing, struggling to control the colours beyond the edge of the paper. The metaphor works, as do the London settings; Brooke has the feel for how so much of London seems frosted with dust whatever the weather. But the characters are far from colourless. Believable, fallible people chasing their own ambitions; even the bully Paul has his reasons. Michael's relationship with rich-boy Jack is neatly drawn, recognisable to anyone who knows that people who sleep together do not necessarily get along. And the plot twist is surprising, even on second reading.
A shady, chilly story - so much of it seems to take place in half-light - that manages to say something about art (about writing too) without being pretentious and gives an ingenious riff on the dour old truth that the worst that can happen is to get what you want.
August 22, 2012
OH MY GOODNESS. This one definitely falls under the "uncomfortable truths" category. What I love about this is Brooke doesn't skirt over the dark sides at all, yet it's not what this book is all about. It's there, mixed with the good, yet somehow the good is overshadowed by the darkness. And oblique though the references to Michael's past are, I get enough glimpses that I can tell why he does what he does. And because it's so ambiguous, it evokes the dark parts of our own lives that we may seek to deny, brings them to the forefront of our minds and confronts us with them. I'm torn between sympathizing with Michael and hating him, but because I see so much of myself in him. Or rather, the potential in myself to end up like him. Wow. Just...wow.
And the ending...I don't even know what to say. I feel like I'm babbling my way through the shell-shock. Oh, my God. I...I think I really wanted this to end happily, you know? For there to be some kind of redemptive whatever...
I feel like this is something I really want to forget, but shouldn't forget, but I'm not entirely sure if I can handle it and so I should forget...
(Pauses. Takes deep breaths.)
This is definitely not for the faint of heart, as cliched as that statement is. And definitely not for those who want a quick, light read with an HEA.
And the ending...I don't even know what to say. I feel like I'm babbling my way through the shell-shock. Oh, my God. I...I think I really wanted this to end happily, you know? For there to be some kind of redemptive whatever...
I feel like this is something I really want to forget, but shouldn't forget, but I'm not entirely sure if I can handle it and so I should forget...
(Pauses. Takes deep breaths.)
This is definitely not for the faint of heart, as cliched as that statement is. And definitely not for those who want a quick, light read with an HEA.
Read
May 19, 2011This it the most difficult book I've had to rate. Obviously I am in the minority on the rating of this book. My one star rating has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, it was well written, but after finishing it I cannot say I enjoyed this book.
I love an angsty book, in fact they tend to be my favs but to say this is a dark story with no HEA is an understatement. I was engaged in the book and then at about 80% the main character Michael started taking a very dark turn, I kept reading but was utterly shocked and completely pissed off at the last chapters of the book. I actually yelled "no fucking way" and wanted to throw my kindle against a wall. I was fuming for hours that I wasted 9 hours of my life to finish this book. I won't give any spoilers but I do not see what the constructive takeaway was supposed to be with the ending other than purely shock factor. If you like dark tragedy - and I mean dark-fucking-tragedy with no over riding redeeming points- then you might like this book, but it's not for me.
UPDATE: I ended up taking the one star rating off and not rating it at all. I didn't want it to reflect poorly on the quality of the writing as it is a very well written book. I had a strong reaction to the way it ended but others may enjoy it.
I love an angsty book, in fact they tend to be my favs but to say this is a dark story with no HEA is an understatement. I was engaged in the book and then at about 80% the main character Michael started taking a very dark turn, I kept reading but was utterly shocked and completely pissed off at the last chapters of the book. I actually yelled "no fucking way" and wanted to throw my kindle against a wall. I was fuming for hours that I wasted 9 hours of my life to finish this book. I won't give any spoilers but I do not see what the constructive takeaway was supposed to be with the ending other than purely shock factor. If you like dark tragedy - and I mean dark-fucking-tragedy with no over riding redeeming points- then you might like this book, but it's not for me.
UPDATE: I ended up taking the one star rating off and not rating it at all. I didn't want it to reflect poorly on the quality of the writing as it is a very well written book. I had a strong reaction to the way it ended but others may enjoy it.
August 15, 2011
3.5
Tormented. This was a difficult book to read, it made me uncomfortable, it made me question what I want to read in a story, it made me continue reading even when I thought I should put it down.
Brooke is an excellent writer and completely sucks you into this dark world of Michael's tormented soul. This mans childhood has completely painted the life he now leads. Michael comes across as an artist on the edge and you hope that he finds a safe happy path, yet know that this will never happen. You are just a bystander watching this man going in a downward spiral.
This is a dark story with an equally dark ending; almost like a character piece. Not for everyone (especially is you want a HEA), but if you want something different, darker, and psychological, it might be of interest.
Tormented. This was a difficult book to read, it made me uncomfortable, it made me question what I want to read in a story, it made me continue reading even when I thought I should put it down.
Brooke is an excellent writer and completely sucks you into this dark world of Michael's tormented soul. This mans childhood has completely painted the life he now leads. Michael comes across as an artist on the edge and you hope that he finds a safe happy path, yet know that this will never happen. You are just a bystander watching this man going in a downward spiral.
This is a dark story with an equally dark ending; almost like a character piece. Not for everyone (especially is you want a HEA), but if you want something different, darker, and psychological, it might be of interest.
October 11, 2011
How the hell do I rate this book? If I go by the "traditional" ratings it would be a one star, because, no, I didn't like it. But the problem is it was brilliant. Very well written, with characters that grabbed hold of me and made me feel. And I usually give at least a four star rating for that. But I DIDN'T really like what the story was all about, but I'll admit it was amazing at the same time... See, this is what happens. In reality, if it wasn't for the fact that I had committed this book to several challenges, I honestly don't know if I would (or could) have finished it.
It is very dark, very edgy. And while I like dark and edgy, this was uncomfortable. It was psychological, disturbing. There were too many elements in there that truly showed how damaged one of the MC's really was. And there was no coming back from that all. It was bleak, tortured, brilliantly written, but in all honesty, too much for me.
So, I'm glad I've finished this book. I won't be able to ever even think about reading it again, yet the characters are still staying with me. So, as such, the book has done it's job. i now just need to decide how to rate it: technically or emotionally?
It is very dark, very edgy. And while I like dark and edgy, this was uncomfortable. It was psychological, disturbing. There were too many elements in there that truly showed how damaged one of the MC's really was. And there was no coming back from that all. It was bleak, tortured, brilliantly written, but in all honesty, too much for me.
So, I'm glad I've finished this book. I won't be able to ever even think about reading it again, yet the characters are still staying with me. So, as such, the book has done it's job. i now just need to decide how to rate it: technically or emotionally?
December 28, 2013
Excellent read, though dark and very edgy. Michael is all-consuming, totally fascinating. Both victim and ambitious, though he'll always be trapped by his background. Can't say much more without spoilers! but it's a treat to read. Great prose, it slides deliciously in and out of Michael's own mind and emotions, taking you with it, no holds barred. Great UK setting and a lovely slice of the art world and the anguish/joy of art itself.
September 10, 2013
You can read the description of the plot above.
Been struggling for some weeks now trying to word this review. I cannot remember when I read a book when I disliked the main character more. From the very first page I was completely put off by his self-absorption and the way he uses people. At the same time, the complexity of his character fascinated me. He is multi-layered, intense, a brilliant artist desperately trying to pursue his dream. Along the way he meets the love of his life and achieves his dream. Once that happens his life unravels and we the reader unravel along with him. At least, this reader did because by then I had bought into Michael's world and his soul. I hated his moments of self-sabotage but I had come to love him and was rooting for him.
I really don't understand why Anne Brooke is not a better known author. I don't know why she is not a Nobel Prize winner. I have used this word before to describe her writing style: luminous. She demonstrates a thorough knowledge of her craft. With a deft use of grammar and vocabulary she controlled my emotions, making me feel what Michael felt. I shared the frustration of his lover but also the love that made him overlook the frustration to continue to love Michael and help him achieve his dreams. I lived it. When it all crashed and burned around me, so much stuff that I had hated about Michael made so much sense that I grieved deeply for the loss and waste, the horror and the tragedy. In the end, I loved Michael.
Been struggling for some weeks now trying to word this review. I cannot remember when I read a book when I disliked the main character more. From the very first page I was completely put off by his self-absorption and the way he uses people. At the same time, the complexity of his character fascinated me. He is multi-layered, intense, a brilliant artist desperately trying to pursue his dream. Along the way he meets the love of his life and achieves his dream. Once that happens his life unravels and we the reader unravel along with him. At least, this reader did because by then I had bought into Michael's world and his soul. I hated his moments of self-sabotage but I had come to love him and was rooting for him.
I really don't understand why Anne Brooke is not a better known author. I don't know why she is not a Nobel Prize winner. I have used this word before to describe her writing style: luminous. She demonstrates a thorough knowledge of her craft. With a deft use of grammar and vocabulary she controlled my emotions, making me feel what Michael felt. I shared the frustration of his lover but also the love that made him overlook the frustration to continue to love Michael and help him achieve his dreams. I lived it. When it all crashed and burned around me, so much stuff that I had hated about Michael made so much sense that I grieved deeply for the loss and waste, the horror and the tragedy. In the end, I loved Michael.
December 27, 2013
"Looking back on it now and for his sake only, we should never have met."
This was definitely a dark and disturbing story. It has garnered mixed responses from those who have read it. Most seem to rate it highly but others have found it too uncomfortable. It is definitely hard to say you 'like' it.
It is not an easy book to read and I found the ending painful and unexpected. It is a depressing story although very thought provoking. Should you read it? I'd say yes but be prepared for an emotional read without a happy ending.
I won't say more, there have been enough reviews written that go into depth. I would recommend checking out Kazza's review for some more insight into the story.
July 31, 2013
Wow.
Wow.
Finally, the key to it all. An innocent word, spoken by children all the time, that's mentioned only once (and once was all it took, because belaboring the point would've diluted its power). The word that determines Michael's fate well before we meet him. The dangerous man behind and within the dangerous man.
Brilliant. Especially the final scene, written in a mad present tense that keeps unraveling and unraveling just as Michael's psyche is doing.
Sorry this isn't a proper review. I could write pages and pages about this book, but I've just finished it, and it's rendered me inarticulate.
Read it at your own risk.
Wow.
Finally, the key to it all. An innocent word, spoken by children all the time, that's mentioned only once (and once was all it took, because belaboring the point would've diluted its power). The word that determines Michael's fate well before we meet him. The dangerous man behind and within the dangerous man.
Brilliant. Especially the final scene, written in a mad present tense that keeps unraveling and unraveling just as Michael's psyche is doing.
Sorry this isn't a proper review. I could write pages and pages about this book, but I've just finished it, and it's rendered me inarticulate.
Read it at your own risk.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2011
If you enjoy thrillers, are a bit of an Anglophile and/or think it’s high time that literary fiction depict a more diverse spectrum of gay characters, then take a walk on the dark side with Anne Brooke’s extraordinary novel A Dangerous Man.
It’s the story of ambitious, yet damaged, young artist [and sometime hustler] Michael Jones and his ill-fated attempt to make a name for himself in the London art world. At the outset of the story, Jones’s whole world is the seedy neighborhood of Hackney, where he rents a small room from Joe, an art dealer, and Joe’s caustic lover, Paul. Paul, the story’s main antagonist, gives the destitute Michael a break on the rent in trade for "services rendered," and their scenes together really ooze creepiness. In many ways, Michael is still a child; trapped by circumstances and lacking the emotional tools or intellectual wiles to escape. Not only does this help the reader to sympathise with him, but it provides the perfect set-up for the tragedy that unfolds.
Because Michael is the narrator, we see the world through his slightly skewed perspective and it is strongly hinted that his perceptions have been coloured by traumatic childhood experiences. I give Brooke a lot of credit for creating a character who is so difficult to embrace. He’s a classic unreliable narrator - bitter, paranoid and not entirely in control of his emotions, which gives him a depth that many a contemporary gay literary protagonist tends to lack.
Descriptions of down-at-heels Hackney and Michael’s edgy artwork itself (bold pencil and charcoal sketches) represent outward reflections of the bleakness inside the young man. His worldview is depressing - a monochromatic sooty grey and he sees everything [and everyone] in overly simplified terms. Black or white, good or bad.
With the help of Joe, he lands a gig creating some pieces for a posh reinsurance office and, in the process, manages to captivate Jack, an executive at the firm, ultimately moving in with him and convincing him to partially underwrite a solo exhibition. But when he’s told he must put up a portion of the funds himself in order to mount the show, it leads to his undoing, because, unfortunately, Michael only knows one way to make money.
I think Brooke’s only misstep is with the relationship between Michael and Jack. She seems to feel obligated to let the reader know Michael is truly in love with Jack right from their first meeting, while still implying that there’s a mercenary element to Michael’s interest. It would have been more intriguing (and, in the end, way more tragic) if Michael had been initially attracted by Jack’s wealth and true love blossoms only later, as he gets to know Jack better. Not to mention that the passages in which Michael secretly pines over the hunky Jack tend to be a tad school-girlish in tone.
The violent ending builds to a satisfying pitch, leaving the reader ripping through the final pages to find out how it will all end. While she shies away from giving the most grisly details (a bit of a disappointment), the book still stands up to any classic modern thriller on the market today.
It’s the story of ambitious, yet damaged, young artist [and sometime hustler] Michael Jones and his ill-fated attempt to make a name for himself in the London art world. At the outset of the story, Jones’s whole world is the seedy neighborhood of Hackney, where he rents a small room from Joe, an art dealer, and Joe’s caustic lover, Paul. Paul, the story’s main antagonist, gives the destitute Michael a break on the rent in trade for "services rendered," and their scenes together really ooze creepiness. In many ways, Michael is still a child; trapped by circumstances and lacking the emotional tools or intellectual wiles to escape. Not only does this help the reader to sympathise with him, but it provides the perfect set-up for the tragedy that unfolds.
Because Michael is the narrator, we see the world through his slightly skewed perspective and it is strongly hinted that his perceptions have been coloured by traumatic childhood experiences. I give Brooke a lot of credit for creating a character who is so difficult to embrace. He’s a classic unreliable narrator - bitter, paranoid and not entirely in control of his emotions, which gives him a depth that many a contemporary gay literary protagonist tends to lack.
Descriptions of down-at-heels Hackney and Michael’s edgy artwork itself (bold pencil and charcoal sketches) represent outward reflections of the bleakness inside the young man. His worldview is depressing - a monochromatic sooty grey and he sees everything [and everyone] in overly simplified terms. Black or white, good or bad.
With the help of Joe, he lands a gig creating some pieces for a posh reinsurance office and, in the process, manages to captivate Jack, an executive at the firm, ultimately moving in with him and convincing him to partially underwrite a solo exhibition. But when he’s told he must put up a portion of the funds himself in order to mount the show, it leads to his undoing, because, unfortunately, Michael only knows one way to make money.
I think Brooke’s only misstep is with the relationship between Michael and Jack. She seems to feel obligated to let the reader know Michael is truly in love with Jack right from their first meeting, while still implying that there’s a mercenary element to Michael’s interest. It would have been more intriguing (and, in the end, way more tragic) if Michael had been initially attracted by Jack’s wealth and true love blossoms only later, as he gets to know Jack better. Not to mention that the passages in which Michael secretly pines over the hunky Jack tend to be a tad school-girlish in tone.
The violent ending builds to a satisfying pitch, leaving the reader ripping through the final pages to find out how it will all end. While she shies away from giving the most grisly details (a bit of a disappointment), the book still stands up to any classic modern thriller on the market today.
July 4, 2013
WOW. Just, fucking WOW. Honestly, this is one of the best books I have ever read. As an American who has visited London and has English friends, I found the descriptions of London to be, for lack of a better word, intoxicating. The harsh, realistic style Brooke writes is incredible, and the story she tells a modern day Crime and Punishment (my favorite book of all time). I was crying for about half of the book, I tell you in all honesty! This is a work of art, no doubt about it. Every line had me either holding my breath in suspense or cringing in shared embarrassment with the protagonist. I almost wish the story had been set in Glasgow, which I think would have evoked even more class differences. I also happen to love Glasgow in a way that hurts, and my impressions of London have left me wanting more. Perhaps the protagonist could have been a "ginger", etc., to add that extra dimension of star-crossed love. I don't care for the ending so much, in one way, as I was not expecting it - but at the same time, I love the ending, because it left me rife with so much emotions I couldn't hope to express them. This book has left a solid impression on me that I believe will not fade, like so many other M/M romances have - the kind that rely on the tried and true cliches. I almost wish I could give Brooke a hug and thank her for this lovely addition to my library. Cheers!
February 3, 2020
This book jumps right in, and the no-frills no-nonsense style did grow on me. I have read a couple of reviews here complaining of 'no plot', making me wonder if we read the same book. I found that it moved along well, some tension was always driving me forward and especially near the end, things started unfolding faster and faster.
Michael was believable to me and the idea that he would hustle to supplement his art career. His attraction and relationship to Jack also worked, the tensions that cropped up once Michael started to clash with the decor, so to speak; as well as the slow, bitter realization that no matter how good or dedicated we our to our art, what we produce may still not be what the world has been waiting for---- and that what we are willing to sell is all too often, not what others want to pay us for.
The ending was not what I expected, but good, (it would've been nice to not have a 'oh you're a hustler cause you were sexually abused' ending, but oh well) thought the story wrapped up well===== Michael (and Jack, for that matter, as well as the secondary characters) came alive; and I was sad to see them all suffer that unforgiving life lesson: that sometimes, no matter how hard we try (in art, in life, in love, in managing our selves)---even our best is often not enough to push through the universe's awful indifference.
Michael was believable to me and the idea that he would hustle to supplement his art career. His attraction and relationship to Jack also worked, the tensions that cropped up once Michael started to clash with the decor, so to speak; as well as the slow, bitter realization that no matter how good or dedicated we our to our art, what we produce may still not be what the world has been waiting for---- and that what we are willing to sell is all too often, not what others want to pay us for.
The ending was not what I expected, but good, (it would've been nice to not have a 'oh you're a hustler cause you were sexually abused' ending, but oh well) thought the story wrapped up well===== Michael (and Jack, for that matter, as well as the secondary characters) came alive; and I was sad to see them all suffer that unforgiving life lesson: that sometimes, no matter how hard we try (in art, in life, in love, in managing our selves)---even our best is often not enough to push through the universe's awful indifference.
April 4, 2011
5 stars.
Wow. The author has written a novel that surpasses all my expectations. Michael's desperation became my desperation. His wildness and need to run made me physically get up and pace. Michael's need for approval and his own art show, is that how addicts feel about their next fix, had me cringing from the power of his emotions. When Michael descended into madness I felt myself start to spiral down with him. I still feel Michael's need to run inside of me.
Ms. Brooke has outdone herself with the writing of this book. I'm glad I read it but I will not read it again. It makes me question my own grip on reality. Would I recommend it? Yes. Everyone should read this, one because it's so much better than good and two to be grateful this is not their life.
Wow. The author has written a novel that surpasses all my expectations. Michael's desperation became my desperation. His wildness and need to run made me physically get up and pace. Michael's need for approval and his own art show, is that how addicts feel about their next fix, had me cringing from the power of his emotions. When Michael descended into madness I felt myself start to spiral down with him. I still feel Michael's need to run inside of me.
Ms. Brooke has outdone herself with the writing of this book. I'm glad I read it but I will not read it again. It makes me question my own grip on reality. Would I recommend it? Yes. Everyone should read this, one because it's so much better than good and two to be grateful this is not their life.
September 8, 2019
Like watching a train wreck
This book is dark, twisted and creepy. The main character is very unlikable. He's toxic and tragedy follows him around like a bad smell. Michael is very disturbed and the fact that the story is told in his POV throws you into his world. I've got to admit, I couldn't put it down. I didn't like him but I wanted to wrap my arms around him at the same time. I will definitely be reading more from this author, her writing style is just beautiful.
This book is dark, twisted and creepy. The main character is very unlikable. He's toxic and tragedy follows him around like a bad smell. Michael is very disturbed and the fact that the story is told in his POV throws you into his world. I've got to admit, I couldn't put it down. I didn't like him but I wanted to wrap my arms around him at the same time. I will definitely be reading more from this author, her writing style is just beautiful.
August 11, 2018
WOW!!
I am in shock! What a pleasantly surprising read. From start to finish, you're never quite sure what the next page will hold. Well written indeed. I feel like reading the last two chapters over and over again because the author really surprised me. I wasn't ready nor expected the depth of this story wrapped in the mystery revealed. WOW!!
I am in shock! What a pleasantly surprising read. From start to finish, you're never quite sure what the next page will hold. Well written indeed. I feel like reading the last two chapters over and over again because the author really surprised me. I wasn't ready nor expected the depth of this story wrapped in the mystery revealed. WOW!!
May 20, 2019
I found this story hard to get through, but I decided to persevere till the (not happy) end. The story is told in first person narration and we only get Michael's POV. Michael, is a mentally unstable artist, obsessed with his art, and determined to prove his worth. I couldn't relate with him, and it was to read about his self-destructive actions.
March 17, 2011
Dark and scary! Not a book I would chose to read or a book I would like. Despite it being disturbing, it is undeniably well written and well done. If your looking for love story or a story of characters being redeemed.. this is not the book for you. Gave it a 4 because of how well written it is.
May 6, 2016
Well written, although not at all what I expected. Disturbing is an appropriate adjective - I was on edge almost from the beginning.
June 29, 2011
Take a look at Kassa's review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... I can't even think of anything else to write. I'm totally depressed...
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