Reviewer: A reader
 Danny , 29 Jan 2006
This is my new favourite book. Its so dark, twisted and disturbing, I could barely put it down. Often reading up till the early hours, I've never encountered anything like it.
Danny is nineteen and extremely beautiful. Its the kind of beauty that both attracts and repels everyone he meets. Even his own family. John is the most tragic victim of Dannys magnetism. Deeply in love but eaten up by inner demons, John covets Danny from a far until he can no longer stand it. Thus a battle of wills begins. Johns desire to control and Dannys desire to test him.
When I read reviews and details for this book, I expected Danny the character to be a blank, submissive sort that was used by everyone around him. But I was pleasantly surprised. Danny is tough and very much in control. Even when he is coerced into sex with numerous partners, he is still the one who ends up in charge. He has what everyone wants. And he knows it.
Though saying that he is not likeable. I don't think he is meant to be. He can be just as nasty as those around him, if not more so. John is terrifying. Rab is pathetic. Ian is perhaps the most unsettling, extremely warped and depraved. Danny is the unknown. You never really understand what he wants.
The one character I loved for some reason was Stephen. Its was maybe the effect he had on Danny that endears me to him. In a book filled with anonymous, meaningless sex, the scenes with Stephen always seem to bring out a side of Danny you don't see with anyone else.
At a 1000 pages its a big brick of book that never really falters in its narrative. There is always something to keep your interest. Not many books half this size can do that. I tried to pace myself so I wouldn't finish it quickly but alas I failed. It was just too addictive.
Be warned though. Don't expect a happy ending or even all your questions answered. After the cliff hanger ending and the preview of DV2 I was left screaming "When is the next one coming out?". I'm desperate to find out more about the Jackson Moores and how they deal with what has taken place.
Like every character in the novel, I need my Danny fix!
Reviewer: Jordan Miller
A Love Story , 28 April 2005 They say that Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is the definitive model for the traditional romance but we have now found the model for the future of the genre. Step down Mr Rochester and make way for John Jackson Moore, the new romantic hero in this dark and gothic tale. John is the man to die for, and all the boot-in-the-face males of literature fade into a well-deserved background in his wake.
Chancery Stone's DANNY is the New Romance. It out-tips Tipping the Velvet, it out-psychos American Psycho, it soars to heights well beyond the Wuthering.
If you love displays of passion and doomed love you will love this book.
Reviewer: A reader
 The truth is always painful! , 2 Aug 2004
I think DANNY should be read by all persons within social work /police etc who come into contact with abusers and the abused -it might help their understanding
I'm staggered at Chancery Stone's insight into the way people think. I have had absolutely no experience of abuse, either first or second hand but her depth of detail into both thought processes and actions of all characters in the book have given me some idea as to the causes and effects involved. At no time was I bored in spite of the enormous number of sexual encounters described! At first these were read as pornography but very soon they became more of a description of how people demonstrate the pain they feel inside.
I found it a sad book. That's an understatement. It's a tragic book. What happens to Danny could be transposed into so many peoples lives and so many kinds of abuse - not always sexual.
The phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover' keeps coming to mind as being the essence of Chancery Stone's message - don't judge any of the characters at face value - always look below at the cause. And of course that was what all the characters were doing to Danny, judging him/responding to his looks, never looking below the surface to him as a person.
As I said, Chancery Stone's depth of insight is just staggering. She is one hell of a clever person to be able to keep the reader interested throughout such an uncomfortable, soul-searching, lengthy book. I'm sure it will touch the hearts of many and I hope increase their understanding of what is such a taboo subject.
I never read newspapers because all they deal with is fear and surface judgements. They have, and continue to, damage everyone and not just their readers, by the presentation of their so called 'facts'. This book, compelling but not a comfortable read (I had to force myself to read on in places), is so refreshing in that it is so real. These, I imagine, are the 'facts', not the fantasy put about in the tabloids in order to sell more copies. It must have taken an enormous amount of courage and conviction to continue through all the volumes knowing that it was not what the majority of people would want to hear. The truth is always painful!
Reviewer: A reader
Shockingly brilliant, a total masterpiece , 2 Aug 2004
This book is pure genius. The contents are of a very explicit , shocking adult nature but if you are broad minded enough you will not be able to put this book down. Part one of a proposed 4 part series, the book covers the saga of the 'Jackson-Moore family and believe me a more depraved , sadistic family you will not meet. The dialogue and action are brilliantly portrayed although many will find the taboo subjects covered 'Offensive and deeply disturbing'. Mixed gender explicit sex including incest and violence are covered in this highly controversial but brilliant novel. I believe this book will become a must have and a modern day classic. Highly recommended but only for broadminded adults. I cant wait for book 2.
Reviewer: Michael Well Glueck
 Of interest primarily to criminologists , 28 Sep 2004
If you are a devotee of books about real crimes and actual criminals, and if you don't mind constant hard-core profanity, then you may wish to consider this title. It reproduces quite faithfully and, to this reader, monotonously, the actual language of subcultural types, and it is not relieved by any other themes of a more general nature. This work is definitely not suitable for children or teenagers.
BACK to REVIEWS MENU |
