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Red Bride
After a whirlwind romance with Ixora, a woman with whom he fell in love at first sight, John Chapel begins to suspect that the woman he intends to marry is hiding a dark, evil side. Reprint.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
2 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Fowler
269 books1,288 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 29, 2021
Имаше увлекателни моменти. Доволно сюжетни обрати, които обаче не успяха да скрият развръзката, колкото и да се опитваха. Това ми беше и основният проблем - стана ми ясно какво ще се случи в края, ама трябваше да мина през 300 стр., за да се потвърди.
"Кървава невяста" е минала покрай хорър (корицата е най-хорър нещото в цялата книга), чисто криминале си е.
"Кървава невяста" е минала покрай хорър (корицата е най-хорър нещото в цялата книга), чисто криминале си е.
December 15, 2014
I was sure I had a good list of suspects for what seemed a rather average mystery, for Christopher Fowler anyway. Of course, his average is far above many other's best, but I figured "older novel, not quite a polished as his later." I was wrong. He had been showing me indirectly exactly who the killer was, but I kept denying it to myself - it just couldn't be *that* character. I liked the person, and there were many other characters I wanted to see as the murderer. And even when the big reveal came, the ending Fowler put on it was included a chilling scene.
Several characters from what would become the Peculiar Crimes Unit are investigating the murders, and I always love seeing Janice Longbright pop up.
I shouldn't have waited so many years to track this one down.
Several characters from what would become the Peculiar Crimes Unit are investigating the murders, and I always love seeing Janice Longbright pop up.
I shouldn't have waited so many years to track this one down.
February 28, 2017
The synopsis sounded promising, but Fowler succeeded a little too well at creating an absolutely ordinary protagonist: the guy is so boring I couldn't bring myself to care what happened to him. Something is not working in a book when you've just read a gruesome murder scene and left the protagonist enthralled by a stunning, mysterious woman - and then forget to read on and the book gathers dust for over a week.
For readers who have the ambition to read everything by their favourite author, everyone else should stick to his Bryant & May books - that's where Fowler shines.
For readers who have the ambition to read everything by their favourite author, everyone else should stick to his Bryant & May books - that's where Fowler shines.
May 10, 2014
This is an early novel of the author's and it has some early novel issues. That said it has obviously been worked over and well researched. It was clearly conceived to be a "novel" and has been worked over and carefully structured. For me it has more density and detail than I believe is required and this tends to halter the narrative's forward motion. Also, it is character loaded, which requires a bit of calling up and slows the narrative race to the end of the book.
The author has said he was disappointed in the sales of the novel and I believe, perhaps, he should not be. His two previous books were successes and as this is an early book, it contain characters, locals and tropes that will figure in his development his wonderfully realized Bryant & May series of books.
It is my goal to read much of his "early" work as possible, a lot of which are quite good short story collections, before I begin re-reading the entire B&M books in order.
The author has said he was disappointed in the sales of the novel and I believe, perhaps, he should not be. His two previous books were successes and as this is an early book, it contain characters, locals and tropes that will figure in his development his wonderfully realized Bryant & May series of books.
It is my goal to read much of his "early" work as possible, a lot of which are quite good short story collections, before I begin re-reading the entire B&M books in order.
January 17, 2015
Christopher Fowler's books have always been pretty difficult to get hold of. When I first started reading his work, I found that Amazon and Waterstones were always the best places to find his past novels. This twin-pronged attack served me well until I only had one of his novels left to find, an early book titled "Red Bride". I'd virtually given up finding a copy as it was out of print, and even the author himself describes it as "virtually impossible to find anywhere"
That was until it was located for me on eBay by a friend who knew how big a fan I was and how hard I'd hunted for a copy. When it was sent to me, I was like a child on Christmas Day, diving into the package with great hopes and expectations. Having enjoyed all of Fowler's work up until this point, would the search of every second hand bookshop I passed be worth the time and effort now that the book had been found for me?
John Chapel has just made a strange career move, from accounting to public relations. In his first days in his new job, he is introduced to the captivating model and actress Ixora de Corizo. Despite having been a happily married family man, when time allowed, in his old job, he falls for Ixora. He sacrifices virtually everything he has to be with her, losing his wife, his home and his job as a result of their liaison.
However, it seems that Ixora may have a hidden past. As their relationship progresses, John is warned away from her by a number of men who have previously loved her. Men who subsequently die in strange ways. It soon seems to John that to be associated with Ixora is to either die horribly, or to bring yourself to the attention of the Police. But the more John comes to know her, the more he loves her. Yet while the knowledge of Ixora's past eludes him, he can never quite trust her.
This is one of Fowler's earlier efforts and unfortunately, it shows. The story takes a long time to get going and never really gets to a place where you're completely gripped by it, which is quite unusual for Fowler. It's as if he wants to spend a lot of time setting the scene, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Fowler's strength has always been his ability to keep things happening and keep the pages turning. Once you're into the real meat of the story, things do pick up a little, but they've had to build up to get there, rather than being on the pace right from the start.
The other thing that's noticeably missing from Fowler's normal style is the touch of reality. He's frequently categorised as "urban horror", because much of what occurs in his novels happens in a known world, usually London, and features people you can relate to and, in many cases, see yourself in. The situations are often quite realistic and sometimes the scariest part of reading a Fowler novel is the knowledge that what is occurring could happen to you.
Sadly, there is none of this in "Red Bride". The whole situation is a little too fantastic to leave you looking over your shoulder. Whilst John Chapel is supposed to be "everyman", the character we can all sympathise with and relate to, but he wasn't well drawn enough to seem realistic. As a supposed "hero", he is too weak to get you on his side and it's hard to figure out what Ixora sees in him. Ixora herself is fairly two dimensional as well which, as the "Red Bride" of the title, means that the whole book is lacking as far as the characters go. Fowler has written characters you can empathise with and really care about what happens to them but, sadly, none of them are in "Red Bride".
However, perhaps the biggest crime in the novel is that it's all worryingly predictable. Admittedly, some of the murder scenes are nicely done and show a touch of originality, but they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule as far as this book is concerned and the victims are not well enough known for it to be possible to care about their demise. Fowler's strength has always been to turn a normal person's life into a nasty ride, but here he seems to be treading the same tired path as any number of horror writers before him. The end result is that few of the story's events are surprising and the ending is probably the least of these. It is only the details surrounding the story that vary slightly from anything that's gone before in the field of horror writing and they're not well written or original enough to take your mind off the obviousness of the basic story.
The book was, for me, much like getting a tie for Christmas. You might need them, and it will be a valuable addition to your wardrobe, but you really wanted something a little more exciting. After hunting high and low for this book for two years, it turned out not to be worth the effort and I'm grateful only that it was bought for me, rather than paying for it. At the same time, knowing it's quite a rare book these days and because I have to have every book written by my favourite authors, I'm glad to own a copy. But like that tie, it will go to the back of the wardrobe and only see the light infrequently and even then, mostly for decorative purposes rather than for serious use.
If you're a fan of the horror genre, I wouldn't bother with "Red Bride", as you'll probably have read this story before, albeit in a different form and probably better written. If you're looking for a new author, I would never hesitate to recommend Christopher Fowler, just not this particular book. If you're a fan of Fowler's writing, it's all going to come down to how much you want to complete a set of everything he's written.
This review may also appear under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
That was until it was located for me on eBay by a friend who knew how big a fan I was and how hard I'd hunted for a copy. When it was sent to me, I was like a child on Christmas Day, diving into the package with great hopes and expectations. Having enjoyed all of Fowler's work up until this point, would the search of every second hand bookshop I passed be worth the time and effort now that the book had been found for me?
John Chapel has just made a strange career move, from accounting to public relations. In his first days in his new job, he is introduced to the captivating model and actress Ixora de Corizo. Despite having been a happily married family man, when time allowed, in his old job, he falls for Ixora. He sacrifices virtually everything he has to be with her, losing his wife, his home and his job as a result of their liaison.
However, it seems that Ixora may have a hidden past. As their relationship progresses, John is warned away from her by a number of men who have previously loved her. Men who subsequently die in strange ways. It soon seems to John that to be associated with Ixora is to either die horribly, or to bring yourself to the attention of the Police. But the more John comes to know her, the more he loves her. Yet while the knowledge of Ixora's past eludes him, he can never quite trust her.
This is one of Fowler's earlier efforts and unfortunately, it shows. The story takes a long time to get going and never really gets to a place where you're completely gripped by it, which is quite unusual for Fowler. It's as if he wants to spend a lot of time setting the scene, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Fowler's strength has always been his ability to keep things happening and keep the pages turning. Once you're into the real meat of the story, things do pick up a little, but they've had to build up to get there, rather than being on the pace right from the start.
The other thing that's noticeably missing from Fowler's normal style is the touch of reality. He's frequently categorised as "urban horror", because much of what occurs in his novels happens in a known world, usually London, and features people you can relate to and, in many cases, see yourself in. The situations are often quite realistic and sometimes the scariest part of reading a Fowler novel is the knowledge that what is occurring could happen to you.
Sadly, there is none of this in "Red Bride". The whole situation is a little too fantastic to leave you looking over your shoulder. Whilst John Chapel is supposed to be "everyman", the character we can all sympathise with and relate to, but he wasn't well drawn enough to seem realistic. As a supposed "hero", he is too weak to get you on his side and it's hard to figure out what Ixora sees in him. Ixora herself is fairly two dimensional as well which, as the "Red Bride" of the title, means that the whole book is lacking as far as the characters go. Fowler has written characters you can empathise with and really care about what happens to them but, sadly, none of them are in "Red Bride".
However, perhaps the biggest crime in the novel is that it's all worryingly predictable. Admittedly, some of the murder scenes are nicely done and show a touch of originality, but they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule as far as this book is concerned and the victims are not well enough known for it to be possible to care about their demise. Fowler's strength has always been to turn a normal person's life into a nasty ride, but here he seems to be treading the same tired path as any number of horror writers before him. The end result is that few of the story's events are surprising and the ending is probably the least of these. It is only the details surrounding the story that vary slightly from anything that's gone before in the field of horror writing and they're not well written or original enough to take your mind off the obviousness of the basic story.
The book was, for me, much like getting a tie for Christmas. You might need them, and it will be a valuable addition to your wardrobe, but you really wanted something a little more exciting. After hunting high and low for this book for two years, it turned out not to be worth the effort and I'm grateful only that it was bought for me, rather than paying for it. At the same time, knowing it's quite a rare book these days and because I have to have every book written by my favourite authors, I'm glad to own a copy. But like that tie, it will go to the back of the wardrobe and only see the light infrequently and even then, mostly for decorative purposes rather than for serious use.
If you're a fan of the horror genre, I wouldn't bother with "Red Bride", as you'll probably have read this story before, albeit in a different form and probably better written. If you're looking for a new author, I would never hesitate to recommend Christopher Fowler, just not this particular book. If you're a fan of Fowler's writing, it's all going to come down to how much you want to complete a set of everything he's written.
This review may also appear under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
August 20, 2010
Not generally my kind of book, story-wise, but really well-written, and up to Christopher Fowler's usual high standards. His love affair with London shines through.
August 8, 2012
Not one of his best novels,but an enjoyable read nonetheless.
December 12, 2014
Slow and uninteresting.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews