Curse the Names (original 2012; edition 2011)

by Robert Arellano

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
71	35	373,444	(3.15)	11
High on a mesa in the mountains of New Mexico, a small town hides a dreadful secret. On a morning very soon there will be an accident that triggers a terrible chain reaction, and the world we know will be wiped out. James Oberhelm, a reporter at Los Alamos National Laboratory, already sees the devastation, like the skin torn off a moment that is yet to be. He believes he can prevent an apocalypse, but first he must escape the devices of a sensuous young blood tech, a larcenous old hippie, a predator in a waking nightmare, and a forsaken adobe house high away in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains whose dark history entwines them all. A massive bomb is ticking beneath the sands of the Southwest, and time is running out to send a warning. James has to find a way to pass along the message- even if it ruins him.--From back cover.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	lupoman
Title:	Curse the Names
Authors:	Robert Arellano
Info:	Akashic Books (2011), Paperback, 200 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	None

Work Information

Curse the Names by Robert Arellano (2012)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

daby, BarbaraGriffiths, tim_mo, Chazlyn, KingRat, AJBraithwaite, wm3395

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 11 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 36 (next | show all)

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

If I had to make up a genre for this book, it would be Atomic Noir. The beautifully brutal terrain of New Mexico is perhaps the most endearing character in Robert Arellano’s tale of the sort of paranoia that drug abuse and apocalyptic dreams engender. That said, I really dug it. I would search out other books by Arellano to see if they are all like this.
(

)

railarson | Feb 22, 2023 |

I don't know if 'pre-Apocalyptic' is a genre yet, but that's where this book seems to sit. I thought it was brilliant: a disturbing and dark tale of a man's disintegration in the hot summer glare of Los Alamos. (

)

AJBraithwaite | Aug 14, 2017 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Interesting little book which would seem right at home in the bizarre book section at your local head shop. The story and premise start out intriguing but they both fail to fully deliver.

I think there is a great story here but it just didn't quite do it for me. The pacing was engaging and I certainly was able to visalize the character and scenes. I think the author almost delivered on this one and could have knocked this one out of the park with a few tweaks to the storyline.

Would I recommened this one? Probably not. I will however be looking forward to the next book by this author because I think he has tremendous imagination and potential. (

)

copefiend2 | Oct 4, 2012 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

It was an interesting book, but it left me unsatisfied. The pace is good, the storyline has potential, but it is missing a lot of context or informations. Can't really put my finger on it, but I did feel lost at some point, the story taking me in different direction without actually telling me why. It left a lot of questions and I felt like I was missing the point. (

)

ct.bergeron | Sep 23, 2012 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

A great story idea..... and I found it easy to read, however, it felt incomplete. I do not pretend to be a book critic, and I am not going to waste your time or mine talking about the story in depth or character development, etc. Quite simply, I was expecting something more from this book and the teasers on the cover, but alas it failed. I did finish it as it was fairly short. (

)

RobtCM | Jul 13, 2012 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 36 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors

▾Series and work relationships

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Curse the Names

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2012

People/Characters

James Oberhelm

Important places

Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Robert Arellano

▾Book descriptions

High on a mesa in the mountains of New Mexico, a small town hides a dreadful secret. On a morning very soon there will be an accident that triggers a terrible chain reaction, and the world we know will be wiped out. James Oberhelm, a reporter at Los Alamos National Laboratory, already sees the devastation, like the skin torn off a moment that is yet to be. He believes he can prevent an apocalypse, but first he must escape the devices of a sensuous young blood tech, a larcenous old hippie, a predator in a waking nightmare, and a forsaken adobe house high away in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains whose dark history entwines them all. A massive bomb is ticking beneath the sands of the Southwest, and time is running out to send a warning. James has to find a way to pass along the message- even if it ruins him.--From back cover.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

HIGH ON A MESA IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NEW MEXICO, a small town hides a dreadful secret. On a morning very soon there will be an accident that triggers a terrible chain reaction, and the world we know will be wiped out.

JAMES OBERHELM, A REPORTER at Los Alamos National Laboratory, already sees the devastation, like the skin torn off a moment that is yet to be. He believes he can prevent an apocalypse, but first James must escape the devices of a sensuous young blood tech, a lecherous old hippie, a predator in a waking nightmare, and a forsaken adobe house high away in the Sangre de Cristo mountains whose dark history entwines them all.

A MASSIVE BOMB IS TICKING beneath the sands of the Southwest, and time is running out to send a warning. James has to find a way to pass along the message—even if it ruins him.

Haiku summary