One of my Better Blonde Moments


The Gargoyle
Andrew Davidson
Vintage Canada


A few weeks ago, I made a quick trip over to Port Huron to hang out with my best girl, Amy. It was a perfect day -- the weather was gorgeous, the drive was uneventful, and I got there early enough to check out a Target and buy a couple of books.

It was The Gargoyle's cover art that drew me in -- at first glance, it looked like it had been burnt in a fire and I picked it up to take a closer look. Upon reading the publisher's blurb, I discovered that the novel was about a man's descent into hell, his battle with his addictions, and the relationship he develops with a psych patient who is convinced that they were married in the fourteenth century. It sounded like a bit of a mixed bag -- but interesting -- so I thought I would give it a whirl. When I got home, I stuck The Gargoyle on my TBR shelf and didn't give it a second thought.

Flash forward a few weeks. The DES is at the drugstore buying Nyquil for a wicked cold and found herself in the book section. On the shelf is a novel with beautiful cover art of a girl with a pair of wings tattooed on her back. A sacred heart is emblazoned in the middle of the cover and I was so struck with it's beauty that I decided I had to read it. Yeah -- it was the Gargoyle. Same book, different cover. Sigh. Sometimes I'm not so smart.

Happily, it turned out to be a fantastic read and well worth the extra copy. In fact, I think it just might be in the running for the D-E-S book of the year. It was that good. Four smiling grotesques out of five.