Reviews

Charisma by Steven Barnes

mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I was wandering the sf section just browsing when I turned this one up. I've picked up Barnes only books before and not found one I wanted to read but this when had something to it. And yet I put off reading it for three months.

First of all it's on that line between thriller and horror, but with a vaguely [b:The Boys from Brazil|99894|The Boys from Brazil|Ira Levin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328882615s/99894.jpg|815712] vibe. And the author has this uncanny way of selling you a character and then killing them. And the ideas, which were there and good, just weren't served up quite the way I wanted them to be. In one bit there was a couple of pages of straight info-dumping.

That said, it was a good strong read and definitely creepifying. Not sure if it was worth reading but definitely not a waste of time. 3.5 of 5.

wegmarken2006's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.75

kevinhendricks's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This was a fascinating, slow burn thriller. At 450 pages maybe a little too slow (it took me a while to finish), but the story of engineering low income youth tapped into a lot of intriguing and timely themes.