The Gates

If you're a Monty Python fan or love "Hitchhiker's Guide" then you'll love "The Gates"

This was a really fun book. I had read Connoly's "The Book of Lost Things" (another great book) and was excited to read "The Gates". However, where TBoLT was dark and introspective "The Gates" was surprisingly upbeat and funny (given that it is about a boy trying to prevent the gates of Hell from opening and leading to Hell on earth). This is the kind of book I could envision Monty Python making into a great movie in their heyday. It is a quirky, quick read that has surprisingly engaging characters and a funny plot. I highly recommend it.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended

This book had me laughing so much. It was one of the best reads I've had in a long time. Connoly's acerbic sense of humor reminds one of old Monty Python. I will now proceed to read everything the man has penned!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good entertaining read!!!

This book was entertaining to say the least....hard to explain, but passed the time anyway.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Thoroughly enjoyable

Clever, creative, and highly entertaining. This book will put a smile on your face, and have you laughing out loud!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Fun to read

As an adult, I found this reading to be quite entertaining, The story was good and the writer's imagination was really great. Very entertaining reading.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

Wow was this book stupid. I don't even want to explain why it was so stupid. Not even worth my time. Not even a nice demon named Nurd could save this one!!!

2 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

John Connolly has done it again.

I love this story! It will be added to my annual Halloween reading. It is such good fun, it would be perfect for reading aloud to the whole family. I have had the privilege of seeing Connolly at a number of author events and of all his books, this comes closest to the personality he displays - charming, witty, imaginative and highly entertaining. I love the Charlie Parker books but I hope he also writes more novels like this one and The Book of Lost Things. I highly recommend it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This lighthearted fantasy is an amusing tale of good vs. evil in a world of cynical disbelievers

Three days before Halloween in Biddlecombe, England, eleven year old Samuel Johnson of 501 Crowley Rd. accompanied by Boswell the Dachshund goes trick or treating to get a head start against the competition. At 666 Crowley Rd. Samuel debates Mr. Abernathy as to who or what or why they are trick or treating three days early than the official date.

Inside 666, using subatomic physics kicked, punted or booted (not being a scientist not sure which is the vernacular) inside a particle accelerator, Abernathy and three's company create two giant gates that prove to be a portal between earth and Hades. All hell has broken out on the planet as the first time since the original dot 13.7 billion years or so ago exploded into the Big Bang, demons cross over in what seems to be the beginning of the small crunch. Samuel the warrior kid fights the horde but fails to persuade adults including his parents that a demonic invasion has begun.

This lighthearted fantasy is an amusing tale of good vs. evil in a world of cynical disbelievers. Samuel and Boswell battle the adversary almost alone as ironically their only ally is a low life Nurd the incompetent sub-demon. Targeting young adults with puns, hyperbole, and Abbot-Costello slapstick starting with John Connolly's version of who's on first, older readers who enjoy jocularity in their quantum physics will appreciate the tweener and the canine save the world; although some might wonder why bother.

Harriet Klausner

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great for Pratchett fans!

I was sitting in a waiting room, with strangers. And I was silently giggling so hard that someone asked what was the matter.

I ended by reading some of the passages aloud, and causing giggling among the other people.

It ended with us discussing the likelihood of angels doing the foxtrot on the head of a pin....

The Gates

First thing first: The Gates is not as good as The Book of Lost Things. If you pick it up hoping to walk away with the same satisfaction Book of Lost Things gave you, you will be sorely disappointed. That being said, it is still a good book. It is chock full of charm, humor and heart. The human characters are sadly a little bland. Samuel is supposed to be odd, but doesn't seem too odd really. Arguably, the demons have the most character; not necessarily a bad thing. The plot is very generic and very predictable. You can pretty much guess what is going to happen next throughout the book and usually you will be correct. So far what I've said hardly seems to be the type of thing to inspire a potential buyer to purchase The Gates, so I should clarify that I am a little jaded by the fact that I HAVE read The Book of Lost Things and can't help but compare the two a little. The Gates really is funny and there are little bits of wisdom inserted into the story that really make it enjoyable. The last thing I should say is that this book seems to have been written for kids (yet Barnes and Noble stocked it in the Mystery section...odd). Connolly is actively self monitoring throughout the story and makes several statements directed at what he clearly believes is a young audience. Certainly not as deep as The Book of Lost Things, but well he can't just rewrite the same book and this one is still good.

A enjoyable book to come out during October.

I was very surprised to see this book comming John Connolly and to me it was as nice a present under the Christmas tree. I found the story both thought provoking and amusing. I nice combination.

Wit and Imagination are a good combination

John Connolly took some time off from writing his Charlie Parker novels and has now been able to expose a whole new audience to his brilliant style of prose.

This book is very imaginative without being over the top in gore. Written so that children and adults could enjoy it, I dare Disney to pick it up for a movie.

I was LMAO so hard and so much i thought i would never stop

i dont know where 2 start. i thought this book was gonna be a horror book when i read the jacket. turned out it misread it ---- it turned outb b n hilarious. i had people at work wonderin what is wrong w/me. i began laffin when young samuel johnson goes out on an early trick or treating w/his dog boswell to 666 crowley road & Mr Abernathy opened the door. that did it 4 me. thats where all the laffin began. there was moments that i was laffin so hard that i couldnt stop ---- at all. turned out my favorite character was Nurd, the scourge of the 5 deities. just dont let him drive. oh & the character under sams bed had me lmao when i got 2 that part --- just the thought has me already laffin. the things that nurd did was 1 of the few things that got me started (laffin). if only those people at work knew what they were missin out on. this is my 1st book by john connelly & i loved it. i went thru it in 1 day. talk bout hard 2 put down thats what this book was 4 me. i dont know the last time i laffed like that due 2 a book. its great 2 read anytime of the year & perfect 4 halloween.

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