What do readers think of The Quick by Lauren Owen? Write your own review.

This is a beautifully written book full of rich phrases that make you want to keep reading. When the author is describing the closing of James and Charlotte's childhood home she writes "it was as if their lives were a pencil line drawn on a piece of paper and someone had followed behind erasing the line as they went".

The author has the ability to make you feel like you are standing there on a London street corner or sitting in a Victorian parlor with her vivid descriptions.

The one unfavorable comment I have is that so many characters are introduced as the book progresses and are referred to alternately by their first or last names that it makes it somewhat confusing to keep them all straight.

The Quick is cumbersome, in more ways than one. It's a large book at 500 pages and the extensive cast of characters and winding plot is honestly a bit exhausting. I did not find it an enjoyable read, especially as I am not particularly fond of the "vampire" genre. It was dark macabre on every level, with characters who showed little or no redeeming qualities. Just not the book for me.

I found Lauren Owen's book, "The Quick" to be, from technical standpoint, well done. I enjoyed her writing style and admired her ambitious story line. I have a reading preference to be engaged with the characters - where I like them or despise them, they must engender emotion in me. Sadly, I found no connection with any of the characters.. I do need to add, I do not enjoy vampire genre. please note, I only read half of the book as it just didn't hold me.

I enjoy a good Gothic novel and this didn't disappoint, I was actually surprised by the supernatural/paranormal twist in it (something I am not normally drawn to) and the ending was a little disappointing to me - will there be a sequel? At times it was hard to follow and it was a little too long with not enough character development (quite a few -perhaps too many). Nonetheless it is worth the read. Good debut novel by Ms. Owen.

"The Quick" is written in Dickensian style cleverly written, revealing itself to the reader in layers. The author captures the period with it's class levels and social strictures keeping the reader's interest and slowly telling the story of what happened to James Norbury. London is a mysterious place with unexplained events happening not just on it's dark and dirty alleyways.

This is a long book. It's also a very good book; however, it risks being bogged down by its sheer volume of people, places and situations. I've not read a better description of London at the turn of the century - the atmosphere is brilliant, and it is populated by fascinating (and wonderfully weird) people. Gothic in the extreme, and ultimately, very satisfying.

This was an atmospheric Victorian novel with all the glitter & decay of that time period, but revolving around the vampire society. THE QUICK was a fast & entertaining read. Definitely a good debut! I could not fault the ending. Ms. Owen-----another, please!

I really wanted to like it. It started out really grabbing my attention. Half way through I became bored and I never recovered. It really could have been 10 chapters less. It has a few good twists but not enough to keep me interested.