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jackpumpkinhead's review
2.0
uuhhhggggg
this could have been great, but robert bloch spent a lot of time making sure it wasn't.
this could have been great, but robert bloch spent a lot of time making sure it wasn't.
paperbackstash's review
2.0
I try to collect Bloch books when I can. If you don't already know, he's best known for writing the bestselling novel, Psycho, later turned into the unforgettable movie by Hitchcock. A lot of his work is very good, as his writing style is simple to read but strangely creative at the same time.
American Gothic is nowhere as fortunate in the talent department as Psycho was, or actually as decent as his other works. Based on the H.H. Holmes murders in the turn of the century Chicago, the novel stays close to the original story source, but never proves terribly interesting. The heroine is a tough but naive and unpredictable character who ends up stumbling along to find the doctor's hideous secrets. She's interesting in a way, but not someone you latch onto too much. Gregg is a ... well, unique villain, but again not overly intriguing.
The main downfall of the story is not that it's not readable - it certainly is - but that the pacing is snail slow and seems to drag on and on. It would have been much better suited as a shorter story, or else where more action (even if invented) took place. His writing style is as enjoyable as ever, and Bloch fans should still read this one if they run into it. Suspense is there in moderate doses, but not with enough frequency to save this book from the to-be-traded pile.
American Gothic is nowhere as fortunate in the talent department as Psycho was, or actually as decent as his other works. Based on the H.H. Holmes murders in the turn of the century Chicago, the novel stays close to the original story source, but never proves terribly interesting. The heroine is a tough but naive and unpredictable character who ends up stumbling along to find the doctor's hideous secrets. She's interesting in a way, but not someone you latch onto too much. Gregg is a ... well, unique villain, but again not overly intriguing.
The main downfall of the story is not that it's not readable - it certainly is - but that the pacing is snail slow and seems to drag on and on. It would have been much better suited as a shorter story, or else where more action (even if invented) took place. His writing style is as enjoyable as ever, and Bloch fans should still read this one if they run into it. Suspense is there in moderate doses, but not with enough frequency to save this book from the to-be-traded pile.
jessasreading's review
2.0
I couldn't hate G. Gordon Gregg and I didn't find him charming either. Crystal is one-dimensional, Jim is boring and I didn't care that he lost his job. The ending wasn't built up and dramatic as I was hoping. All in all, it was okay.
sexton_blake's review
2.0
In terms of style, Bloch is very workmanlike here, and there’s nothing much to admire about his writing other than the fact that it gets the job done. The focus is on the storytelling, and this is a fiction that has as its basis the true story of H. H. Holmes, perhaps the most incredible serial killer of all time. Really, how is this guy is less notorious than Jack the Ripper? He not only committed a lot more murders but he built a massive hotel designed specifically to cater for his evil hobby. Amazing. And horrible. Bloch recounts the tale in a rapid and sparse manner which functions well but I really wish he’d aimed for more. As much as Stephen King annoys me with his meandering plots, I can imagine him doing this story a lot more justice. I wanted to get deeper into the characters. More psychology. More twists and turns. As it is, it’s not far removed from pulp fiction, so yes, it’s enjoyable when taken as such, but it should have been much, much better.
skjam's review
3.0
It’s so sad that G. Gordon Gregg’s wife died when she drunkenly set their house on fire. And just when things were looking up for the couple. Gregg has just completed creating a new transient apartment building with a castle-like facade and a thriving pharmacy on the ground floor. Between his private medical practice and a tourist boom because of the World’s Fair filling up the rental units, Dr. Gregg is sitting pretty. But when her fiance Jim delivers the insurance check to Gregg, reporter Crystal notices a detail that makes her suspicious that the good doctor is not nearly as broken up about his wife’s death as he appears.
Crystal does some digging, and what she finds is disturbing. People around G. Gordon Gregg have a disconcerting habit of disappearing, especially women. He doesn’t pay his bills, and there are some unsavory business practices in his past. But whenever she tries to prove her suspicions, the evidence or witnesses disappear–except for one disconcerting moment when a disappeared person shows up just long enough to prove they’re not dead!
It’s clear that Crystal will have to take direct action by going undercover into the heart of the “castle” if she wants to learn the truth. But once inside, will she ever be able to get out?
This Robert Bloch (Psycho) thriller is loosely based on the real life career of Herman W. Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes. It’s been fictionalized to give it a heroine and a neater ending.
Gregg is shown to be something of a mastermind, anticipating ways he could be caught and arranging for swap-outs that refute suspicion. But he also has a long string of people he’s put off until later, and several times has to improvise their murders when they show up unexpectedly.
Crystal is fairly believable as the reporter who’s desperately trying to get promoted from filler work to byline status. She faces some well-meaning sexism, though her relationship with her fiance Jim is more marred by her accidentally costing him his insurance company job.
Her going undercover to expose Gregg is simultaneously smart and blockheaded, as she baits a trap with herself as cheese. But to be honest, just how murderous Gregg is would escape any investigator, and Crystal’s completely blindsided by his mesmerism.
A bit of romance towards the end feels shoved in to sweeten the ending.
Overall, this is middling work by a good author; worth picking up if you like old-fashioned thrillers. For a better book on the H.H. Holmes case and how it related to the World Fair, I recommend The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
Crystal does some digging, and what she finds is disturbing. People around G. Gordon Gregg have a disconcerting habit of disappearing, especially women. He doesn’t pay his bills, and there are some unsavory business practices in his past. But whenever she tries to prove her suspicions, the evidence or witnesses disappear–except for one disconcerting moment when a disappeared person shows up just long enough to prove they’re not dead!
It’s clear that Crystal will have to take direct action by going undercover into the heart of the “castle” if she wants to learn the truth. But once inside, will she ever be able to get out?
This Robert Bloch (Psycho) thriller is loosely based on the real life career of Herman W. Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes. It’s been fictionalized to give it a heroine and a neater ending.
Gregg is shown to be something of a mastermind, anticipating ways he could be caught and arranging for swap-outs that refute suspicion. But he also has a long string of people he’s put off until later, and several times has to improvise their murders when they show up unexpectedly.
Crystal is fairly believable as the reporter who’s desperately trying to get promoted from filler work to byline status. She faces some well-meaning sexism, though her relationship with her fiance Jim is more marred by her accidentally costing him his insurance company job.
Her going undercover to expose Gregg is simultaneously smart and blockheaded, as she baits a trap with herself as cheese. But to be honest, just how murderous Gregg is would escape any investigator, and Crystal’s completely blindsided by his mesmerism.
A bit of romance towards the end feels shoved in to sweeten the ending.
Overall, this is middling work by a good author; worth picking up if you like old-fashioned thrillers. For a better book on the H.H. Holmes case and how it related to the World Fair, I recommend The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
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