Very intriguing premise with an ambiguous ending. ( )

I guess I could give this two stars for the actual writing, but this is my review for me and I hated this book. I really need to rethink my policy on not finishing books.
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This is a story about 4 boyhood friends who grow up in a small Southern Italian town. After high school they all leave-Mauro to become a Lawyer and marry his childhood sweetheart, Tony to study medicine, Fabio to go onto to be a successful Photographer. Then there is Art-the genius who has no direction, no clue where to go in life. Before they all leave to start their adult lives, Art binds them to the Pact. They will meet, every year, same day, same time at their hometown hang-out "American Pizza".

Decades have gone by and the day of their annual meet comes, and Art does not show up. They wonder what could have kept him, not travel or work as he is the only one who still lives in their hometown. They go searching for him, to no avail. Once during their youth Art had mysteriously gone missing, presumed dead, and then he just re-appeared-no explanation as to where he had been or what had happened to him. Was this history repeating its self?

This book is filled with a lot of nasty characters, there's the small town "mafioso" the Corona-There's the priest who could have been a pedophile. And then, of course, there is Art who is self-centered and manipulative. But at the heart of the story is the bonds of family and friendship-just how far would you go to help or protect your mates?

I could not give the book a solid 4 stars, as I hated how it ended, Also because it is not a book I would recommend to everyone. A lot of people shelved it as fantasy-knowing what I now know I would have shelved it Magical Realism/Mystery

WARNING: Violence and graphic sex.
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Something of an unusual fantasy mystery that had me intrigued from the very start to the end. ( )

*******************LOTS OF SPOILERS*************************




This is supposed to be a dark magical realism / fantasy novel. It should probably be marketed as a psychological thriller or a smutty boys-novel or something like that. This is not a book for children or teenagers. The writing style is decent and the concept interesting, though hardly original.

The novel starts off slowly with tantalizing hints of a mystery that needs solving. The description of the scenery and the food is beautifully written. The exploration of family and friend dynamics, as well as the difference (or lack there of) between magic, religion and what goes on in your head is interesting. However, the characters are stereotypically flat (and unloveable) - all four friends are members of a boys club that never grows up, all obsessed (some more than others) with girls and sex, are rather self-centered, and seem to be having a mid-life crisis. For a magical realism novel, there is a ridiculous amount of ink dedicated to sex, nudity, imaginary sex and the objectication of women. This all got tedious after the first quarter of the novel, and rather creepy after that. The "magic" only appears near the end of the book, and you are never sure if it's magic or someone needs some lithium. In addition, there are unresolved issues (what happened to Art as a kid? is there magic involved or are they all just mentally unstable?) that are brushed off and the reader is left with speculation and guess-work. The ending was weak and disappointing. I could also have done without the animal murders (!!), even though they were there for a valid reason. As for "The Book of Hidden Things" - this was a complete let down. It only appears near the end of the novel and is a mish-mash of New Age WooWoo and Catholicism. Vulgar, juvenile and somewhat creepy is my final impression of this novel.

WARNING: Animal cruelty!!!! ( )