The Book With No Name

I really enjoyed this book. It's funny, exciting, gory and different. I read it on holiday and have just started the sequel, The Eye of the Moon. It made me laugh out loud and I found I couldn't put it down, I wanted to keep going and find out what happened next. Give it a try, I think you'll like it!!

Reads like a first draft (1/4 people found this helpful)

I bought this based on Amazon reviews and because I liked the story behind its publication. I found it far too guesomely violent for my taste - which isn't my major gripe, maybe I'm not the target audience - but what I was REALLY shocked by was how bad the writing is. The author is clearly inventive, but desperately needs a good editor. I never got into the book because the language was so clunky I kept tripping over it. I ploughed through to the end because I really wanted the book to be great but it just wasn't.

I hope the author gets more editorial help on future releases because I'm sure he can do better than this.

The Book With No Name (3/4 people found this helpful)

Having read such rapturous reviews on this page, about this book, I thought it high time I gave it a shot, and purchased this "Blockbuster".
Never in my life have I ever read a bigger load of NONSENCE, and I LOVED every page of it! This is not really my kinda novel, considering some if it's characters, like Elvis', murdering Monks, people who can only live in the dark, and Lord knows how many others. I have never read of so many murders (in all their gory detail) since "Bram Stokers Dracula", (little bit of a clue there!).
There being so many characters I thought would be confusing, but whoever ANON is, they make it unbelievably easy to keep up with them all, and the pace of the, many story-lines. I just cant help but think I have read this (or something very, very similar) before. Stephen King could have written this book, but it is not long winded enough. Dean Koontz, perhaps. But nearing the end of the book, it hit me - Richard Laymon. The similarities are close to "Savage", and there are other books of his where the stories run parallel.
But many books criss-cross with others, and that should not diminish the value, and experience of reading "The Book With No Name". Buy it, read it, pass it round to everyone you know, because this is a novel that no one should miss out on.

Speghetti Western in Writing (2/3 people found this helpful)

There is a lot of hype around this book: it's an internet sensation, ground-breaking, novel piece of fiction, and there are rumours that the author has stoned while writing. And while all that is true, "The Book with No Name" doesn't really cut it.

The book has been described as Tarantino meet the Da Vinci Code - and I agree with the Tarantino part. Reading "The Book with No Name" is like watching a speghetti western - kitschy, violent, and thrilling in its no-nonsence-or-I'll-shoot-direction, but not extraordinary.

"The Book with No Name" follows a hord of different characters in Santa Mondega: the bartender Sanchez, detectives Somers and Jensen, the mysterious Jessica who woke from a 5-year coma, small crook Dante and his girlfriend Kacy, crime lord El Santino, two Hubal monks, the hooded Bourbon Kid - just to name some of them. It has a couple of chapters to get into the story, but the multitude of characters and points of view is part of the novel's cinematic approach, which I enjoyed.

A mythic necklace, called the Eye of the Moon is stolen from a Hubal temple and the search is on. Several parties have an interest in getting their hands on the necklace and there are no rules when finding the precious stone. Guns for hire, hitmen, thrieving, and occasionally sly planning are part of the game. I liked the story line, even though I really didn't take to the vampires in the second half of the book.

Definitely a book worth reading - but a bit of the edge.

Louise.

COOL (3/3 people found this helpful)

A fantastic, un-put-downable book.

I was a little sceptic at first to be honest- was it all just hype? But then I realised ... the title, and the fact that it's written by 'anonymous', is not, as has been stated my many, a marketing ploy- the book was originally self published on the internet, so this is clearly not the case. I think it's actually written by a certain children's author who wanted to be taken seriously writing something else.

The first chapter is a fantastic opener- very mysterious. At first I thought it as a little cheesy in places- The Bourbon Kid?! Really?! But as I carried on reading, I felt this was almost some kind of comic relief. The characters are fun and the chapters endings are always real cliff hangers. There is some great humour in there too in places.

The only reason I have not given this book five stars is that it can be dated- Up until a certain point in the book I had no idea what era it was supposed to be set in, and I feel this added to the overall mystery. However, with various references to films, this was taken away. :(

The best word I can use to describe this book is 'cool'. Have a read and you'll know what I mean. Right, I'm off to buy the sequel...!

The Book With No Name

Anonymous

Reader Reviews:

An enjoyable read (2/3 people found this helpful)

Reads like a first draft (1/4 people found this helpful)