Ugh. This ending left me so... Blah. I wanted to really like this book because it had me so worked up and then the ending knocked me down. I think the author really could have made the ending better. Instead of Bruce killing Molly he could have had it where Bruce kidnaps Molly and hides her claiming her ex killed her and have him framed. I wanted a bigger and better ending. :/

This is the sort of book that I personally liked very much, but due to the heaviness of the subject matter and general bleakness it would be tough to recommend. Suffice to say you have to be in the mood for it. And yet, if you are, this tale of love and madness might resonate for you. It's exceptionally well written, Goldberg utilizes sparse prose to great effect, the economy of words only maximizes the emotional wallop. The basic plot is a man comes to investigate the disappearance of his estra...

Book got a lot of good reviews but I found the never ending monologue of a man trying to come to grips with reality and his place in the universe tiresome.

There are few more disturbing books that I've read. I felt insane myself by the end and my mind is still swimming. I feel like the addiction this man has to his missing wife is the same addiction the reader feels for this book, it's more than a page-turner, it quite literally sucks the reader in. This book is about a man's journey to find his missing ex-wife with his 19-year old girlfriend in tow. His mind is fragmented and the reader sees the story through this disturbed mind. All of the lives

I liked this book so much that I read it in one sitting. I think some of it may have gone over my head though. A teacher of anthropology at a community college in Los Angeles has some mental heath and memory challenges mostly having to do with his failed marriage and his daughter. When he receives a call from the town where he had lived with his wife stating that she is s missing, he and his nineteen year old girlfriend drive up to see if he can figure out where his wife might be. As straightfor...

First of all there is way to much that isn't going on in this book. It is all thoughts really with some dialog but it seems like a man just rambling. I'm not sure if the author was aware of certain things. Basically the main character says at one point regarding a bottle of Paxil saying it is an anti depressant which is correct then when he sees a bottle of Xanax he states that it is another anti depressant which is not true. But later he states that his wife always had Valium or Xanax which are...

It’s rare that I can’t put a book down. Tod Goldberg’s writing was fantastic. I got completely lost in the story & characters. Already ordered 2 more of his books.

Living Dead Girl follows the mysterious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the estranged wife of Paul Luden, a manic/depressive and mentally ill anthropology professor who dissociaties as a coping mechanism to escape his inability to comprehend the universe. Goldberg writes in a purposely confusing manner in order to put the reader in Luden's confused shoes- after all, he can't remember what has happened to him. Unfortunately, Luden's voice comes off as smarter/holier-than-thou and a...

Paul and his ex wife may have killed their daughter. Maybe they didn't(?)Now, ex wife is missing and Paul may have killed her. Or maybe not (?)Paul is mentally unstable and has blackouts, so, did he hurt his wife? Where is she? I liked the plot, I liked truly not knowing where ex wife was, and I do like a great deal of psychological intrigue, but some things were kind of implausible for me, I couldn't connect with any of the characters, especially Paul (ugh, I hated Paul), and his never ending i...

In the beginning of 1CLiving Dead Girl, 1D Tod Goldberg 19s anthropology professor protagonist, Paul Luden, is driving his gregarious cutie-pie girlfriend up from L.A.in a rental car towards an isolated lake deep in the woods of Washington state. She is taking in the changing autumn colors and the smoky taste of damp wood, formulating her ideas out loud for an original screenplay she 19s been thinking about for a long time, like something out of 1CDelieverance, 1D or a David Lynch movie, she say...

Mystery authors have the right to follow whatever narrative style they like, but then the readers have the right not to like the style chosen. This is the case with my reception of Tod Goldman's "Living Dead Girl". In this novel the narrator has all information already at the very beginning of the plot, yet the information for the reader is carefully rationed so that we are allowed to learn little by little about what happened in the past, and it is only by the end of the novel that we finally a...

It is hard to recommend a book that you know is going to make the reader uncomfortable. It came to my attention by an expert in the field of book talking. She was offering titles that might appeal to young adults, but are not traditionally thought of as teen titles. Those of any age who like books about mental illness or about those who have not always made the best decisions will enjoy this offering. From the beginning chapters, one is allowed into the mind of this troubled man and taken on his...

A little gem of a book. This goes way beyond genre fiction -- particularly so for the disappearance sub-genre of the larger suspense genre -- to make a claim to real literary status. And it packs an extra little kick at the end with a better "twist" than its literary ambitions would lead many authors even to attempt.

I was glad it was short, because I didn't feel like I could take much more of his odd ramblings about his place in the world. I was hoping it would all culminate to a more satisfying ending, but I was rather let down.

Felt like a word vomit monologue of a ‘crazy’ man-child? I’m left wondering what I even just read?

I didn't know what to expect from this book. I found it in a book fair and it seemed interesting enough, so I picked it up. When I began reading it, I wasn't very excited. It's just not the type of novel I usually read.At first, it was quite confusing, but also interesting. The mystery of the plot made me want to find out what happened and why. Also, the subjects it talks about, such as anthropology and mental diseases, and the complexity of its characters, made it even more gripping. The author...

Wow. I picked up this book because the author has a fantastic podcast, Literary Disco (http://www.literarydisco.com/), and I was curious. It turns out to be a literary thriller at its page-turning best. I don't want to write too much for fear of spoilers, but it is a story that draws you in, lets you think you have some grasp of what's going on and then slowly reveals that really, you (and the main character) have no idea. Good stuff.

The jacket blurb calls this a “murder mystery”, but I would disagree. There is a missing wife and a dead child, and Goldberg has recently written crime novels. Even the publisher, Soho, specializes in crime fiction. But this novel keeps building to a mystery but never gets there. It is more a study of relationships and madness, and, as such, it is excellent — both very well written and plotted. This is very much worth reading, and there is a mystery at the bottom of it all that’s finally unravel...

Suspenseful & disturbing psychological drama. The twist at the end wrapped things up a bit too quickly & neatly, but otherwise I’d recommend this book.

I guess you can say almost all of my reviews would include something like "This book made me feel in ways I can't even explain and more." But truer words have never been said before. The first time I saw this book, I knew I wanted to have it. It doesn't really suit the books I've been reading lately but I knew, for sure, I wanted to read it. Too bad I had to sacrifice it. Too bad I had to hand it for someone else to buy. I've been regretting that decision ever since. But this book. THIS BOOK. Th...