What happened to Charlie Carmine?

"The book was very interesting with many twists, it pushes one to keep on reading so that one can reach the end. I could not put the book down, I wanted to reach the end "

"null"

The Book Review to End All Book Reviews

""What Happened to Charlie Carmine" is a fabulous mo-gee-toe cocktail fuelled midget orgy of psychology, fantasy and sarcasm. I laughed out loud when reading this novel so many times it made the London commuters I shared space with look at me with curious disdain - and I did not care. [Rating: 4.50 Stars] The protagonist, Jamie, is an alcoholic with bipolar personality disorder, and it shows. Told in the first person, Jamie frequently breaks narration with distractions, intrusive thoughts and narcissistic observations. At first it is difficult to tell where the mental illness ends, and the asshole personality begins (That's right, I said asshole in a review and it's to test your boundaries. The text is fabulously crass and vibrantly foul so be prepared!). However, this really is the best way to meet Jamie; drunk and extorting alcohol from teenage convenience store workers in the middle of the night, and sharing his drink with the charismatic local hobo, Hairy7. It's just another boozy night of video games and stolen liquor when Jamie's best friend, Charlie Carmine, calls to arrange a make-up dinner between Jamie and Charlie's fiancée, Katie. Invitation begrudgingly accepted, all appears to go like clockwork until Katie and Jamie realise Charlie's been kidnapped in a cloud of putrid fur. These two rivals for Charlie's affection enlist the help of Hairy7 and march into the woods to find put who, or what, kidnapped Charlie Carmine. This novel is very well crafted with personality (disorder) oozing out of every orifice. I loved the meeting of abnormal psychology and fantasy as it always kept me guessing whether Jamie was whipping up mass hysteria, creating a fantasy in his own mind, or seeing the world the way it really is. As feedback for Mr. Butler, who should be published in paperback press immediately, there were times when I felt the culture of the characters were overlooked. The story is supposed to be set in England, but at times felt more American than English. Jamie spoke of convenience stores, not off licenses. He dreamed about hot dogs but not sausages. There was overuse of the genuine address of "dude" and nary an accent could be detected, even on the Indian security guard of said convenience store. However, while the real world at times feels false, the fantasy world Butler creates is as genuine as it is surprising and very believable at its most unbelievable. Butler's writing style fits neatly in between the outlandishness of American author, Christopher Moore and kitchen sink fantasy drama British author, Paul Magrs. I was never bored in reading about What Happened to Charlie Carmine, and I hope to see Butler in print with Inkitt before the next summer solstice. SPOILER ENDING: To Mr. Butler, I humbly ask: Can the next book be entitled, "Delousing Ricardo Aldebaran"?"

Great Story

"The characters in this book was very well developed. It is very evident that the writer put q lot of thought and effort into his work. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The way he described the scenes, the plot, the setting is absolutely remarkable. Two thumbs up!"

What happened to charlie

"So far I am enjoying the story, the characters, the plot and storyline."

A harsh look at one's own self

"I am Liam Butler, and I wrote this novel. If that sounds like an AA admission, that's because it sure feels like one. It is traditional for a writer to hate his own work, it is almost a rite of passage to destroy one's own work in a drunken rage for the first time. Perhaps it's the public availability, maybe this is actually the worst thing put to page by a human, but I fucking hate this book. Don't get me wrong, I adore every part of it and stand by every idea I put into it. I failed it, it did not fail me. Let's get this out of the way; The posted prose are trash. I can barely spell and punctuate, you would think the least I could do would be to proof read well. That was apparently not the case. The worst offender is chapter 1. Chapter. Fucking. 1. The first thing people will see as they open this drivel, and I didn't even have the decency to spell that drivel correctly. Oh, and never use spell check, kids. If you're a lazy bastard like I am, you can end up butchering perfectly normal words and phrases. The story makes sense in my head. It really does. However, it is cobbled together here as long sequences of exposition and short toilet breaks of shrugging. That is, regarding the mystery. The mystery was always secondary in my mind, taking a bavk seat to the emotional journey of Jamie and Katie putting aside their differences for the one thing they cared about above all else; Charlie Carmine, and ultimately, Jamie's acceptance of who he is. It should come as no great surprise that Jamie is me. BPD and all. I don't drink as much as him (as much as I'd like to), nor do I live in the same squaler (again, as much as I'd like to) but, I am basically Jamie Heath. I am also Katie. At least, Katie is a part of me. The part of my brain that shrieks at and berates me for not being good enough. It should be noted that I have never actually harboured any resentment towards a friend's partner. I have, however, seen that shit happen, and it can tear people apart. It seemed fitting to steal that and make it more than just a conflict between a cunt and his conscience. However, I have seemingly zero grasp on tone. This emotional plot is sub-par and best and broken up by my sad attempts at humour. Seriously, I wrote this as a comedy, and it's more like a parody of something that doesn't even exist yet. [SPOILER TERRITORY] I adore the characters of Hairy7 and Mel, however their existence is one of lazy exposition buckets. Wage Slave is another "funny" character, who ends up dissapointing and contrived. The only character in the whole thing who lives up to his potential is Charlie, who was purposefully designed to be completely passive. A character of bark, not bite. The idea seemed funny to me at the time. On paper, it is practically an underline on the point of "this books sucks". I wasted 3 months on this. I shared it on facebook. This is a public embaressment. I hate this book. I hate myself. I can't tell if that's fitting or tragic. The only brightside is that, due to me mental deficiency, maybe I'm being too hard on it. However, I shall never be able to believe anyone who says anything reasonably nice about it and will categorise any such comments as pity. I am my own double edged sword. Dude, I'm a mess, so is my book, you should read it. For the world to know how much talent I lack is precisely what I deserve. Self- pity, over. Self-destruction, just begun."

Great story

"Great plot, great use of imagination, and great humor with perfectly geeky references. I just had a bit of a hard time sympathizing with most of the characters throughout the story, up until the ending... and to be honest, it was a bit annoying how the reader was being blatantly told how to feel about a character instead of getting to know them. I know it's part of the first-person setup, but I would have cared for less of the lengthy rants about Katie. Also, every scene seems to be setup that way, as a lengthy rant. It's a great story, but I admit I got a bit bored at some parts and skipped through some paragraphs. I still appreciated the story though, which means those paragraphs were probably unnecessary after all. This could have been a lot shorter, considering the plot:length ratio. But, the writing was filled with wit and dry humor, perfect for a dark comedy. All in all, I'd say it was a good and interesting read for people looking for dark (but not heavy) fantasy comedies."