The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group
Pub. Date: August 2008
ISBN-13: 9780739328958
Edition Description: Unabridged, 16 CDs
Narrated by: Lincoln Hoppe
Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: A man gets into a terrible car accident where he is badly burned. In the hospital, he hovers between life and death. When he contemplates suicide, a woman by the name of Marianne Engle appears in his room. She claims that they have known each other and have been lovers back in the 1350’s! He doesn’t believe her, and she is determined to prove it to him. He finds himself entranced by her and later realizes that he is falling in love with her.

Review: I really enjoyed this book. This was my first audio, and Lincoln Hoppe did an excellent job on the narration. I listened to this audio book the whole time I drove from South Carolina to Louisiana. That’s a 16 hour drive. Not once did I even feel sleepy because I was hanging by every word that was being said. Andrew Davidson’s a wonderful writer. He not only brought me into the story but he also brought me into the main character’s pain. The male protagonist (and I thought it was strange that the author never gave his name) was a drug abuser, alcoholic, porn star, and an atheist. He’s not exactly an ideal main character, but the author wrote him enough for the readers to be sympathetic towards him. The author wrote the burn scenes and the hospital scenes in such detail that I almost thought I was the character. I really couldn’t blame him for wanting to commit suicide.

Marianne Engel was probably one of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever read. At first, I thought she was weird but as I learned more about her past and with the male protagonist, I began to understand her more.

If you hadn’t notice already, I’m all about character development. I think if the characters weren’t interesting enough, then so was the plot. The character development in this book was an A plus. I had never read such an inspiring story about unconditional love.

Recommendation: I had trouble rating this book. It was really between a four and five, but in the end I rated it as 4 out of 5. There were a few things that bothered me such as how the ending dragged on and the details of the burn scenes. It was gory at some parts, and I actually had to skip them. I hate to say that you shouldn’t read it because some parts were difficult to go through because you would be missing out on an excellent story.