Cul-De-Sac involves a very burned-out ex-cop, whose life is turned inside-out by the sudden appearance of his sensuous ex-girlfriend, the fairly freckled Annie. There's also the ex-girlfriend's husband (an ex-Jesuit). Most notably, there is Growler -- an ex-con who, after serving time for a murder he didn't commit, goes on a bloody rampage of vengence against all those who put him away. Growler's prison experiences have left him with a serious grudge as well as a new set of teeth; he's a man on a mission and in addition to wreaking some extremely violent havoc, is in desperate search of...yup, you guessed it; an elephant. Really.

This book made me laugh out loud. It also made me avert my eyes from the page occasionally; while some scenes are very funny, be warned that the violence is not for the faint of heart.

I've bought four more copies for friends thus far, because I won't let mine out of my sight. I've also scrambled to get my hands on all of Martin's previous books (only partially successful); Cul-De-Sac takes gets my vote as Martin's best for its sheer audicity, outrageousness, and great, great writing.

If you're a fan of Pulp Fiction or Twin Peaks, Cul-De-Sac will thrill you


Martin avoids some of the pitfalls and implausibilities   March 27, 1999
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The dialogue is right out of NYPD Blue (a compliment, of course). The discussion by a couple of the characters on whether Growler's name is pronounded Grow-ler or Growl-er is hilarious. Also appreciated by this reader is that Martin gives a plausible rationalization for Annie returning to Cul De Sac, knowing that a killer is probably waiting for her. So instead of saying to myself, "Lady, don't go in there!", I'm saying, "Yeah, I can see why she'd do that." I liked that he cared enough about the reader to realize that we'd need a reason for her risky behavior.


Nail-biter   December 7, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

David Martin strikes again. I am completely in awe of his creation of Growler, a maniacal serial killer with an interesting twist. I was so caught up in this story that there was no way I could put it down and ended up finishing it in one afternoon. Martin's writing is clear, and he drew me in with all the twists and turns to this story.
Donald Growler knows he has been wronged. He has just spent several years of his life in prison for a crime he says he never committed. Now he's out, and he's in search of all the people who caused him to be locked up. I was squirming in my chair with the descriptions of some of the more creative murders in this novel. The plot twists are amazing, and there were quite a few surprises. I love that Teddy Camel makes another appearance; he was a great character in Martin's LIE TO ME (another incredible serial killer novel).
Martin is not for the squeamish! He is very detailed, and his bad guys are downright brutal. But he is a master of plot and character development. This is well worth the time to read!


Does not live up to the hype... trying to stay awake is a chore!   December 11, 1998
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I wasn't riveted, fascinated or spell bound by this tawdry little book. I gave it two stars instead of one because I love characters that are just a little out of sync with the rest of the world. Annie and Teddy were interesting as lead characters alebit you never understood why their brief summer affair couldn't have ended with something close to reality. Teddy didn't want to marry Annie so they broke up.... how trite given the nature of their summer together. Annie finds out she's pregnant and doesn't tell Teddy at the time but years later he's apologizing for not being there for her when she was pregnant. So when do you think the author might let it slip in that Annie had told him she got pregnant that summer. The whole stupid book is full of this sort of crap. Starting things and then forgetting how to end them and what they relate to. It's so ridiculous especially the 'bad guy'. So abused and taken advantage of by everyone you start hoping he gets to kill everyone. If you want me to feel sorry for the rat finks that lied at his trial then you gotta do better than this. I hated to see the way he died given he never did a thing to deserve the horrible things done to him while in prison for a murder he didn't commitOh yeah, just to let you know, there is no big mystery here. You know who's doing what from the first chapter. What you can't possibly know is that the author doesn't have anything else to really say.