Customer Reviews
Great read for those who know how to take their time - By: Roger, 16 May 2008 
Beautifully crafted story. All the pieces falll into place like in a Tetris game. The mechanics of the writing matching the mechanics of the main character. A rare book in a very unconventional environment, a story with no sex but so much sexual tension.
millefeuille - By: D. H. Dugan, 27 Mar 2008 
NB's best written work. It demands a patience of the reader which reflects the endurance of it's protagonist.
Wonderfully suspenseful, in an old fashioned, crafted way. Sublimely layered story telling which takes you to the brink so many times...
It is slow & intense, this will keep your attention.
A tense layered psychological thriller - By: Nick Alexander, 26 Feb 2008 This stunning novel creates psychological tension, not through the endless shocks & horrors typical of the video generation, but through layer upon layer of authorial craft, slicing & shaving its way to the heart of a man. An unusuallly incomunicative creepy man.
The result is engaging & tense, intriguing & gripping, in a gentle pervasive way that is far too rare these days.
Read the book. It's weird, it's strange, it's art. And then wait for someone to ruin the film.
Moving and profound - By: Dabby Northmead, 06 Feb 2008 I found this book a most enthrallling & moving read & my excitement & enjoyment increased as my reading progressed. What a joy to have this book to return to after a day at work. The theme of deeply thwarted, hidden desire in the hot summer of 1967 is beautifully handled & convincing. The ending is moving & profound. Overalll, a very impressive novel quite unlike anything I have read before.
Frustratingly poor - By: Ben Wilkinson, 31 Jan 2008 
Skin Lane could have been gripping & full of suspense; however it was dragged out & predictable. The climax was non existent & I was left frustrated & annoyed at having wasted two weeks in reading the book.
As well as the painfully slow build up, I found Bartlett's narration very annoying. Instead of leading the reader into their own views & imagination, the author would chip in with comments such as `I don't know about you but I think.......' And `you are now probably thinking that........' for me this was too much & I found I was not left to make up my own mind on situations. Also there could have been more subtle & intriguing links made to Beauty & the Beast, but callling one of the characters Beauty! To me this was too obvious.
This could have been a great short story, but I felt it was over worked & ended up being rather poor. Don't believe Will Self's endorsement!!!
