Perfect Circle: A Novel

Perfect Circle

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Mais c'est un bon livre.

Jul 15, Andi rated it really liked it. May 27, Linda rated it it was amazing. I picked up this book before a trip to Houston, mostly because it took place there and what a gem it turned out to be. Apr 09, Thomas rated it really liked it Shelves: One can find book recommendations in the oddest places. I used to read Spot the Frog, a charming comic strip about a frog living with an older gentleman. I recently heard that the strip was ending, and discovered that the author had a blog.

In the blog, I found that this writer was a fan of Joe Lansdale, among other writers I like, and along the way I read his review of a book by Sean Stewart about a haunted man who could see the dead.

It sounded like my thing, so I found it at the library. On th One can find book recommendations in the oddest places.

Just as you start to think that this is a character-driven novel of personal struggle, the author throws in a couple of plot elements to keep you hooked. The book is about William Kennedy, a man who has been able to see ghosts since he was about eight years old.

Map of the Territory

He knows they are ghosts, because they are always black-and-white, even when everything around them is in color. The roads are their connections back to the living, and each ghost is connected for one reason or another. When Will tries to help his cousin with one of his ghosts, he finds something dark and dangerous, and then when his cousin dies as a result, Will goes from being the man who sees ghosts to a man who is haunted by one of those ghosts.

The author writes in a crisp, lean style, and he manages to bring the world of the dead to life with a minimal amount of words. The book is only pages long, but you will find yourself thinking that the book has to be longer. Mar 05, John rated it liked it Recommends it for: It's not you Pefect Circle , it's me. I know I should rate this book higher. The characters are great, the writing is amazing, and the entire things hangs together well. I probably should feel guilty for not liking it more.

Yet it did not grab me. I suppose I'm a plot-aholic. There is hardly any story here, nothing that couldn't have fit in a half hour of Buffy. And it didn't have the cool factor that The Night Watch had. Not to say I didn't enjoy reading it, I did. The protagonist came to life f It's not you Pefect Circle , it's me. The protagonist came to life for me, as did his family. AJ, a ghost, was one of my favorite characters.

I could feel the sweat dripping off of me in those hot Huston nights. I did find the start rather slow going. DK was such a looser I had no empathy for him. Then Stewart built him up, brick by brick, to a really interesting, if broken, character. I enjoyed the gritty realism of the Texas oilmen and the industrial accidents that beset them. DK kills someone self defense.

The Perfect Circle

I wonder who gets haunted by that killing? DK tries to deal with it. There is a nice twist in number 5. But by that time the linear plot has bludgeoned me to death I'll haunt you, Stewart! The cool thing just wasn't there. End of world building. I enjoy a rich plot and rich world building.

Plus wonderful writing and great characters. I want it all. I suppose most books will feel simplistic after those two Banks for plot, Chabon for world building , but still. I thought that my previous review was not doing the book it justice. I would give a ten if I need to. That should be a turn off right? Who would read about a -highschool loser,with empty pockets and lonel I thought that my previous review was not doing the book it justice. Who would read about a -highschool loser,with empty pockets and lonely life?

How disconnected was the title from a guy who could see a ghost? The only thing the author did right however was writing the book, with enough punchiness in it that it kept you hooked to reading. The plot was awesome especially regarding the MC and his daughter. Their moments were sweet. Everything seems to be mixing up at first, with no clues about how the MC would clean up his mess debts,killer ghost, gun wound,first crush,etc but its just amazing how things started to tie up their loose end.

Which is a relief, considering how he really tried to be a good father and redeemed himself as a person. The author also did a great job in setting up the piece, creating spooked enough atmosphere but without withdrawing the funny parts of this. Its really was, except that I felt much like reading Good Omen all over again when the humour escapes me. The front of my copy of this book told me that it was a cross between 'The Time Traveler's Wife' and 'The Sixth Sense', while I'm not sure whether that's exactly what I'd say if I had to relate this book to something, it's not completely far off.

The book has a good plot, and you do end up feeling for the protagonist, Will 'Dead' Kennedy, but it's quite slow moving - once I'd finished reading the book, I felt like 'Is that all that happened? The characters were well thought out and the use of his own childhood memories interlaced with what was happening in the present, managed to give Will and the other characters depth and knowledge. And it just goes to show that seeing dead people and all that supernatural stuff isn't as great as some books and films make it out to be.

Jun 11, Barbara Gordon rated it really liked it. This book is awful damn good, is what. Not in the remotest way something I'd be able to write, which makes it quite comfortable to read I do read as a writer in some ways. William 'Dead' Kennedy can see and talk to ghosts. In fact, he seems to be better at understanding ghosts than he does with live people, like his ex-wife and his daughter. While the seeing dead people trope has been heavily worked in the last while, the working-poor characters and setting take it to unexpected places. I have This book is awful damn good, is what.

I have a personal loathing for books where poor people end up losing everything or are portrayed as hopeless aimless losers in the name of 'realism' The Pearl, by Steinbeck is the former, but that's another rant entirely. Firecracker's characters may be poor, and may make bad decisions, but they're not fools and they're not pitiable. And it starts with a ghost and an explosion--you can't go wrong with that. Mar 02, Becky rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Early on in the book, this engaging read promises chills and thrills via a truly creepy encounter with a young female ghost, but Perfect Circle turns out to be not so much a "ghost story" as a story about a broken man -- indeed, a man who's always been at least a little bit broken -- learning to pick up the pieces and create a life for himself.

Dryly funny, full of East-Texas local color, and ringing true about how it feels to be down so long you don't know how to get up, Perfect Circle was so en Early on in the book, this engaging read promises chills and thrills via a truly creepy encounter with a young female ghost, but Perfect Circle turns out to be not so much a "ghost story" as a story about a broken man -- indeed, a man who's always been at least a little bit broken -- learning to pick up the pieces and create a life for himself.

Dryly funny, full of East-Texas local color, and ringing true about how it feels to be down so long you don't know how to get up, Perfect Circle was so enjoyable I read it in one sitting.

(Potentially) Related Books

It's not perfect -- I felt the ghost of cousin Tom was not as menacing as he was meant to seem, and I don't feel the book's title is particularly resonant though Stewart tries hard via tie-ins with the REM song, the CDs the protagonist breaks, and the shape of cousin AJ's glasses -- but it's definitely worth a read, and a reread. This was the first book of Stewart's that I've read, and I'm interested to check out more.

Aug 29, Ruth rated it it was ok. As a native Houstonian, I found his depiction of H-Town to be weird. So I looked him up- born in Lubbock, he moved to Canada when he was 3 and stayed there through college. Apparently he did live in Houston for a period as an adult, but not enough to be able to accurately depict the city. He currently lives in Davis, CA. As a punk rock fan, I found his selection of punk bands to be… sad.

Constant name-dropping of crappy to me As a native Houstonian, I found his depiction of H-Town to be weird. Constant name-dropping of crappy to mediocre bands is sad. Finally, a woman does something foul to him that becomes a life-or-death situation for Sterlin and everyone involved. Lois Mae has turned to Internet dating. She is a stylish, full-figured woman who teaches literature at the university. Her dates sometimes turn dangerous as she has a hard time keeping her compulsive sexual appetite under control. Will her history of abuse keep her love dying or will she learn to live for love?

Vanita Irving is a churchgoing single mother. Will she take the right steps to change her life or will she keep repeating her past? Before launching his writing career, Alvin L. Horn had a fifteen-year stint in the aerospace industry. Write on, my man. Sean Stewart is one bright, funny writer. Perfect Circle is Sean Stewart at his spooky, funny, sad, and haunting best.

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It kept me up way past my bedtime. Will leads a not-quite life in Texas, working in dead end jobs, and yearning to reconnect with his ex-wife, and trying to avoid ghosts. When a cousin calls with a ghost-busting request, his financial offer is more than Will can resist. But accepting the job opens Will up to a whole new level of darkness. Great prose Stewart has some of the best metaphors going and a melancholy mood, like music half-remembered. Sean Stewart is the author of the I Love Bees and Beast search operas, two short stories and the novels:

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