The Dead Fathers Club: A Novel

I really liked the writing style of this novel, kept me hooked until the very end. The ending which was quite different than I expected but left me thinking about what it really meant. Who knows? But a novel that keeps me wondering like that is Amazing!

I'd not heard of Matthew Haig before, but I got this from the Mystery Guild Book Club and it sounded intriguing. Essentially a modern and comical retelling of Hamlet, eleven year old Philip Noble first sees the ghost of his dead father at the funeral, who tells Philip that it was his own brother, Philip's Uncle Alan, who had him killed (this is not a spoiler, as it's part of the synopsis printed on the book flap) because he wants the dead man's house, wife, and money. Philip's father then sets a task for Philip, one that Philip has to complete within a certain timeframe or doom his father to an unhappy limbo beyond the veil. The author does a fantastic job of getting and keeping you in a troubled eleven year old boy's head, which can't be an easy feat! So that you get a feel for the narrative, here is how the first chapter begins: The First Time I Saw Dad After He Died I walked down the hall and pushed the door and went int the smoke and all the voices went quiet like I was a ghost. Carla the Barmaid was wearing her hoop earrings and her tired eyes. She was pouring a pint and she smile at me and she was going to say something but the beer spilt over the top. Uncle Alan who is Dads brother was there wearing his suit that was tight with his neck pouring over like the beer over the glass. His big hands still had the black on them from mending cars at the garage. They were over Mums hands and Mums head was low like it was sad and Uncle Alans head kept going down and he lifted Mums head up with his eyes. He kept talking to Mum and he looked at me for a second and he saw me but he didn't say anything. He just looked back at Mum and kept pouring his words that made her forget about Dad. It's really darkly funny and innocently touching, and at the end I was left with more questions than when I started, and I assume that's the point...

The no punctuation was a bit annoying. I just figured it was because the story was told by an eleven year old. I couldn't help thinking it was meant for kids of that age to be the readers as well. The story itself kept me interested enough to keep reading. But the end seemed to come out of nowhere. All of a sudden, that was it. No conclusion.

Lousy copy very poor didn’t even reflect the cover that was shown

I am a big fan of Matt's writing and enjoyed this book. There were some troubling parts that in the end made a lot of sense. A good read for sure.

I was quickly trying drawn in by the voice of Philip, an 11 boy, as narrator. The dead father's ghost was central to the story, but not nearly as well developed as the other main characters. The story line wasn't predictable, yet it flowed well and was suspenseful throughout.

Unlike any other Matt HaIg book I've read. This was just weird. There were some good moments but ...ugh Not one of his best.

Terrific book! A modern take on Hamlet, set in Northern England, where Elsinore Castle is replaced by a pub. Brilliantly written in the POV of eleven-year-old Philip, whose dad has recently died and appears to him as a ghost. The rest, however, isn't history...

I really cant read this book because its written from a kids point of view and has terrible sentence structure and no punctuation so I said to myself You know what Im gonna delete this off of my Kindle straight away. See what I mean? Annoying review? Try reading a whole book like this!

Love Matt Haig and his books, no exemption on this one. Really good!

I've now read all of Matt Haig's books and loved them. This one was so boring I didn't bother reading passed the 2nd chapter. Written as if an 11 year old is the author, he's also taken a kids method of punctuation(or lack thereof) . Totally distracted from what might have been a good yearn Don't now as couldn't put up with it. 0/10

Great books. With Haig it doesn’t matter the book, they are all original and entertaining

Absolutely hated it. The lack of punctuation makes it hard to read and detracts from the content. I love to read, I love Shakespeare, but this book I didn’t love. I am very glad it wasn’t required reading for me, and I was able to quit after a while. The book is a modern day retelling of Hamlet. Some things are really clever, such as the pub named Castle. That automatically makes the owner the king of the castle. But in general, it was dry reading. The lack of punctuation drove me nuts.