Peter Halsey Sherwood Book collection

The Pale of Memory Reviews:

Simply a great book, November 8, 2012

I loved this book, the thrilling story combined with the nostalgic memories of 1990's New York made this book a real page turner. I hope to read more from this author very soon.

Davey67 This review is from: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Thoroughly entertaining!, January 21, 2013

This is a fantastic read. It starts out slowly until it has you roped in and you are eagerly turning the pages. It was not at all what I expected and was proven wrong several times when I thought I had it figured out. I got a couple copies as presents for friends and everyone loved it!

Matthew X. Buzby This review is from: Paperback Verified Purchase

An intriguing thriller, January 22, 2013

A fast paced suspenseful novel that will keep you hooked from beginning to end. As an avid reader of thrillers, I could not put this book down. Looking forward to read more from this author.

gis fitz This review is from: Paperback

A fast and intriguing read, July 22, 2014

I loved this book. Peter has a knack for creating a vision of Manhattan in the 1990's. During this decade a hideous disease strikes a community of men that brings feelings of fear and sadness into their lives. Our protagonist is a complicated young man who has lost at love and perhaps has become mildly unstable. He acts out a caper of stalking someone who has the potential of becoming a possible suitor. As his bizarre behavior becomes more apparent, everything begins to unravel and he loses the person who would have made him have a full life again. He continues on a reckless path of trying to recreate a new lover into the one he lost through his foolishness. Aside from this intriguing story I learned things about my beautiful City that I didn't know existed.

Amazon Customer This review is from: Paperback

Hitchcock in the Park..., March 31, 2014

Imagine Hitchcock as a writer friend of yours in the mid-90s, there by your side and in your head capturing your perturbed thoughts, your deep dread and that feeling, that underlying current of perpetual terror and wondering, as you made your way through relationships in New York’s gay plague-years culture. Well, Sherwood has crafted this mystery in the form of a brilliant novella in which he cloaks the template of challenges a new relationship brings with those anxieties that kept us up nights and tortured us. The Pale of Memory is written by someone you’ll find is now a new yet old master of the genre. No lie. Get this book, you'll read and re-read it. I promise

Chris Labas This review is from: Paperback

A new voice of the plot twist!, April 28, 2014

In his debut novel Peter Sherwood displays a fresh new mastery for the twisting of plots as he spins his story from delightful to dark and from romance to suspense. I LOVED his ability to so perfectly recreate the 1990s, most specifically the New York City of the 1990s. Remember when people didn't take their kids to Times Square, and when gay men in Central Park probably weren't pushing baby carriages? Mr. Sherwood does... and he expertly took me back there as well. This is a very good read, and one that eludes quick summations or easy genre pocketing. Read it, you won't regret it.

Stephen L. Pepple This review is from: Paperback Verified Purchase

Vivid Memories, January 29, 2013

Sherwood's first novel reads like one crafted by an established master of the genre. So much so that one should prepare by clearing some hours off the schedule before even opening it and reading the first page. Once started, it's extremely difficult to put down. Encountering his historically and emotionally accurate depiction of New York and the 90's AIDS crisis is at once nostalgic and terrifying for those of us there at the time. This is a must read -- I highly recommend it!

xhrvat This review is from: Paperback

Great Read!, DF, New York

You'll be weeping during the first half and your mouth will hit the floor during the second. Couldn't put it down.

DF, New York This review is from: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

loved it! will read again and gift as gifts!, March 24, 2013

Peter Halsey Sherwood's novel is a fantastic page turner that gets you hooked from page one. I've recommended it to many people and will be buying a few copies for gifts as well. Do yourself a favor and read this book! I hope to see more from Mr. Sherwood soon... great writer!

kristen vermilyea This review is from: Paperback

Had me hooked from page one

I normally am hesitant to dive into fiction, as most works fail to capture my attention past the first few pages for a myriad of reasons. HOWEVER, having taken a chance today on reading 'The Pale of Memory,' based on a glowing recommendation from a colleague, I am delighted! GLAD I started and am extremely pleased to experience the journey to the end. Sherwood's style so is easy on the eyes... witty, devoid of pretense, tactile, drawing in the reader with grace (not an easy task) instead of jarring them with the stilted prose and grandiosity that I find so off-putting in many current literary works. Author Charles Busch's estimation of 'The Pale of Memory' ('Had me hooked from page one.') is dead on...so, FIVE STARS it is, and I shall enthusiastically return to complete my review in depth when I reach the final word. Looking forward to it!

Beach Girl This review is from: Paperback Verified Purchase

You're my obsession, December 28, 2012

A provocative, gripping novella about men, love, obsession, possession, and memory. The bittersweet novel by Mr. Sherwood is a story that will not bore the reader as soon as he/she picks up the volume and opens to page one. It is also a touching homage to 1990s New York City, a lot of which is gone with the wind.

"bsomers" This review is from: Paperback

A captivating novel, November 19, 2012

'the pale of memory' is a superb first offering by a new voice in fiction. Peter Sherwood has created a novel that is by turns exhilarating, mysterious, captivating, and claustrophobic. The depiction of a cerebral obsession cum gut-level romance is absorbing in its details. A lesser writer would have simply used location as a backdrop, but this is as much a novel of mid-90's Manhattan as anything else, and Mr. Sherwood makes the city a willing participant in the protagonist's plot. The novel is separated into two main acts. The first act's taut storytelling turns the pages on its own. My only wish is that the second act was as full as the first. I didn't want it to end and a more complete second act would have fully bridged the story to the jarring climax. But these are just quibbles, because the writing is superb. This is a book that demands to be read.

Todd Peterman This review is from: Paperback Verified Purchase

A gripping tale, January 22, 2013

Peter Sherwood's first novel, A Pale of Memory, was well worth the wait. A dark foray into mid 1990's New York and set against the devastating backdrop of the AIDs epidemic, our protagonist, Scott, is at turns, coy, snide, smart and broken. Dodging the pitfalls of the gay dating scene while battling booze, commitments, friendships and a career, he opens our eyes to the darkest nature of humanity. How low can a person go? Very, apparently. This book had me snorting in laughter and holding back tears at the turn of a page. I read it in one sitting and urge you to do the same - truly unputdownable. Buy it, have your friends and family buy it and let's all hope Peter doesn't take so long writing the next one!

Hilary Kehoe This review is from: Paperback

The ground beneath his feet is somewhere in Chelsea, February 11, 2013

Sherwood's diverting romp into 1980s New York and obsession will take you back to a New York that doesn't exist except in the pale of memory. He perfectly captures the feeling of being alone in a bustling city, of compulsive lust, and of wicked and wild thoughts barely contained. Plus you'll learn a bit about the dedicated benches of Central Park. A fun, quick read!

Corky This review is from: Paperback Verified Purchase

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