Summary: "A very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, crashes his car into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide--for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul. Then a beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and tells him that they were once lovers in medieval Germany."--From publisher description.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Davidson's stunning debut opens with a hedonistic porn star drinking bourbon as he drives, until a vision of burning arrows rushing at his car causes him to crash through a guardrail and careen down a ravine. He awakens in a hospital, burns covering most of his body. Friendless, he loathes the doctors who are working so hard to heal him and plots his suicide. Into this husk of a life walks Marianne Engel, a beautiful sculptress whose first words to him are, You've been burned. Again. Over time she tells him the story of how they first met and fell in love 700 years ago at a German monastery. His initial skepticism over the improbability of her tale, given the fact that she's been in the psych ward, gives way to curiosity and eventually love. He still isn't sure he believes her, but her tale and her presence in his life give him something to live for. There's pure magic here, a classic redemption story with a hero so cynical, so damaged that it seems so unlikely that he'll ever reach for or even believe in salvation. When he does, the reward is immeasurable. Davidson's Gargoyle is a rare gem: completely engrossing, wholly unforgettable, and utterly transcendent. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.
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