Rate this book

On The Lips Of Children (2000)

by Mark Matthews(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

review 1: In On the Lips of Children, tattoo artist Macon has been training for his first marathon, a feat he hopes will convince his girlfriend and accomplished runner Erin that he is a worthy suitor. Little does he know that a routine jog will bring he and his young family face to face a group of depraved and bloodthirsty creatures.Any regular urban runner can attest to the flighty,nervous feeling one gets when running under an "occupied" underpass or down a poorly lit trail. Author Mark Matthews does an excellent job of juxtaposing the process of painful struggle, growth, and rebirth associated with distance running and body art with the real life fight for survival in this book.
review 2: I received On the Lips of Children as a free audiobook in a promotion organiz... moreed by audible.com and the author. Thank you, Mark!On the Lips of Children is a short novel that is part thriller, part horror. Macon and Erin are a couple with a daughter, Lyric, and a penchant for running and for tattoos. All three inadvertently stumble into a world of subterranean horror of a very human - but very disturbing - kind.I really enjoyed this book. The plot was taut, and while it was somewhat predictable in general arc, the details were not. And we all know where the devil makes his home. The characters were well fleshed out; I felt like I knew them, and I cared what happened to them. Or, more precisely, I cared whether very bad things would happen to them. Matthews' prose was straightforward and effective, and his use of language was interesting without being distracting.I kept thinking about the characters of this novel for a long while after finishing it, too. That's always the sign of an effective storyteller, for me.I have a couple of nitpicks, though. We really learn a lot about the main characters, because Matthews tells us a lot about them. Sometimes, that information came in a few big chunks of exposition that brought the narrative to a screeching halt. It also made the story feel padded, which it unfortunate; lumping it all together made the characters' past experiences seem "extra" in some way that it really wasn't.The other nitpick was with the audiobook narration. In general, it was very good, but a decision was made to have the characters' inner thoughts sound like they were being spoken over a phone. It was distracting and unnecessary.All in all, though, this short novel is a short, sharp thrill ride, and I recommend it. I would like to read something more by this author, perhaps in a longer form.HBJ less

Download links for: On the Lips of Children

Advertising