Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Read advance reader review of Low Town by Daniel Polansky, page 3 of 4

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

Low Town by Daniel Polansky

Low Town

A Novel

by Daniel Polansky

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Published:
  • Aug 2011, 352 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Reviews


Page 3 of 4
There are currently 23 member reviews
for Low Town
Order Reviews by:
  • Vicky S. (Torrance, CA)
    Great Descriptions
    The author does a great job of describing the environment and I could feel that I was there while reading the story. I liked the mixture of fantasy, adventure, relationships and mystery though the writing felt a bit affected at times.
  • Maggie R. (Canoga Park, CA)
    Low Town
    Elements that are interesting combine with others that are not so well developed. The result is a promising first novel by an author whose imagination should produce more consistent works over time.
  • Daniel A. (Naugatuck, CT)
    Low Town
    This first novel by the author is a cross-genre story; a science fiction and murder mystery. I found myself immersed into the plot until the very end. People have told me that I have an above average vocabulary, but I had difficulty in reading parts of this book. I'm sure if the author used simpler words, he would reach a wider audience. Overall, I enjoyed reading it.
  • Catharine L. (Petoskey,
    not for the faint-hearted
    The title, Low Town, describes exactly what the reader is in for. If you enjoy reading about drunks, druggies, and degenerates, this is the book for you. It is a mystery; and Warden, an ex-government detective, discovers the first of several murdered children and becomes involved. A glossary would have helped to define words - scryer, wyrm. Most of the characters had few redeeming qualities, and I didn't care what happened to them.
  • Melanie H. (Beaver, WV)
    Low Town
    This book is very dark and violent. I tried to finish reading it because the plot was intriguing but could not get past the violence and drug underworld characters. The unusual descriptive words prevented the story from flowing and made reading a little difficult.
  • Heather K. (Brooklyn, NY)
    The Road Well Travelled
    My feeling about Low Town is one of deja vu: I've been down this road before.

    Warden is physically and emotionally scarred by life, a loner, a drug addict and dealer who used to be on the other side of the law. And despite all he's seen, all he's suffered and lost, he still ... cares, looks to protect, seeks justice. He doesn't want anyone to know he still has a bit of a heart, nor that he yearns for some sort of redemption. He's not a likable individual: gruff, harsh, prone to violence, smart, canny, and lethal.

    And fiction abounds with precisely this type of protagonist. I wish I could say something about Low Town sets it apart from other similar novels, but there isn't anything particularly new about the author's approach to this theme. Except, perhaps, for the spurts of peculiarly contemporary language -- this is largely a medieval setting, so the vernacular was jarring. There's some small bits of humor (not nearly enough to offset the horrifying brutality), there's suspense, there's a conclusion, and a few of Warden's mysteries are, throughout, revealed. It is well written (despite my snarky comment above about the language), and much of the writing is beautifully crafted. But it wasn't much fun to read, and Warden wasn't much of a hero to root for, so for me it was a disappointment.
  • Kim L. (cary, IL)
    Grim tale
    Interesting characters. The author does a good job of describing the setting and the characters. It is a dark and grim tale. The author aptly brings this across through his use of words. I found it difficult to read only because the subject matter is sad.

Read-Alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The Frozen River
    by Ariel Lawhon
    "I cannot say why it is so important that I make this daily record. Perhaps because I have been ...
  • Book Jacket
    Prophet Song
    by Paul Lynch
    Paul Lynch's 2023 Booker Prize–winning Prophet Song is a speedboat of a novel that hurtles...
  • Book Jacket: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    by Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Book Jacket
The Rose Arbor
by Rhys Bowen
An investigation into a girl's disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense.
Who Said...

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.