Horror Books

Like The Umbrella Conspiracy, Perry did a fantastic job with City of the Dead. City of the Dead is based on the video game Resident Evil 2.

Of the books Perry written on Resident Evil, City of the Dead is probably the most detailed and longest. I literally could not stop reading City of the Dead. Page after page, the suspense and action was non-stop. One of Perry's big plus with this book is character development. You really felt and understood all of the characters - Leon, Claire, Ada, Sherry, Irons, the Birkins, and everyone else. Perry did a wonderful job in presenting all of the characters without confusing the readers. Many times in the book, the plot switches between Leon and Ada to Claire and Sherry. Normally, that would be messy and confusing, but Perry really did a thorough job in keeping the flow while telling two different aspects of the story.

Another positive point about this book is Perry didn't get into unneeded details. In The Umbrella Conspiracy, I felt Perry trailed off a lot with details of puzzles. In City of the Dead, Perry stepped away from that approach, and instead concentrated on key details of the plot, characters, and environment.

I highly recommend this book to any Resident Evil fan.

When it came to votes on forums, the game version (Resident Evil 2) is one of the best when it came to game play (not counting Resident Evil 4). The book version is the same.

The book started off great,and really pulled me in.Towards the end though there was too much switching back and forth between stories and I lost intrest.Worth reading though if you like the series.

I've never read them, but I love the Resident Evil series. My son teenage son does not like to read, or, at least, I can't get him to read anything. And then I found these books. Something he can read and enjoy, and it's meant the world to me. I've been buying all of the books in the series just because I've finally found something her can read and enjoy.

I've never really played any of the games, but i just got this book a few months ago and was really impressed. This is the fourth novel based on a video game I've read, the previous three being the first three Halo books. Perry does a great job with showing the imagery of a city overrun and the rush to sive lives. Perry also shows the dilemmas in the minds of the main characters.

I recommend this novel for fans of zombie books or fans of video game novels.

PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This isn't what I normally read. I bought this book a few months back when I saw a spree of nasty hateful reviews (that have since been removed). When that type of thing happens, it's usually because someone is jealous of the author's success and Amy Lane definitely is a success! She has written three books in this series and is the author of a number of other books too.

Vulnerable is an urban fantasy novel It's the story of Cory, a young girl living in a small town who dreams of escaping and seeing the world. For now, Cory works the late night shift to pay the bills while trying to get her degree and liver her dream. She is a goth with a sharp tongue and a sharp wit. One night everything changes due to an accidental touch and a world of dangers being revealed.

The setting for this story is Northern California. Having lived briefly in the Nor-Cal/Sacramento area, I am familiar with all the towns mentioned in the book and the area is picturesque. The story draws you into the main characters lives and makes you care about them. I enjoyed Adrian, Green and Bracken as much as Cory.

Similarties to other urban fantasies and typos aside, this is a good book worth reading. I am starting the second one soon.

I can't put into words how much I loved this book. I really got attached to the characters, especially Green, but also Cory, Adrian, Brack, and Arturo. The setting was beautiful, Green's paradise was definitely a place I wanted to crash and the plot had really good pacing. I'm dying for the next book to arrive, I didn't hesitate to buy the series and Bitter Moon!

I have never read any books by a self published author. I'm glad I decided to try this one. I have read the reviews and thought, well, it does sound interesting. It was. I was blown away. I loved Corrine, Adrian, Green. Bracken. All the characters really STOOD OUT to me. None of them were just on the page. They all had unique personality, backgrounds, etc. I felt as though I was uncovering treasure tidbits with each character.

The plot itself, I thought, was great. I love paranormal anyway, but this was different from the usual vampire, fey, etc. that I usually read. I would classify it as more Urban Fantasy than romance per se, but there was definitely romance smoking enough to keep me turning pages. I loved the book and judge it five stars based on how it kept me engaged, my attention did not stray and it took me only one day to read it.

I can honestly recommend this book to anyone who likes Paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

My biggest disappointment is that the story itself is very thin. This genre depends upon someone or something threatening the protagonists. In this case, "unraveling" the threat involves little more than Green and Adrian asking a few people before it is helpfully volunteered that a previous enemy has formed a rock band. In order to overcome this threat, Cory, the female lead, develops vaguely described power through unclear means. Overcoming the threat involves mostly scenes of the characters fearing for each others' safety. With almost no planning, Green, Adrian and Cory show up to meet the bad guy. The powers of the three are so unclear that the final showdown felt like quickly drawn cartoon.

Several reviewers comment on plot devices taken from Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series, but I thought the book was more like her Meredith Gentry series. Good sex leads to greener grass; better sex with more people leads to new trees. I sort of liked the Meredith Gentry series at first but currently have read too many descriptions of horticultural wonders born from human coupling.

I thought the sex scenes were hot.

Cory is pretty typical of current heroines--young, angry, and never "fit in" as a child. I often like this story line, but Cory seems to move from great angst to full emotional healing in the course of one scene, reminding me of a bad TV drama.

After reading everyone talking about this book I just had to give it a go. It was also the 1st time I had read an Independent author. I will admit that I was a little doubious. I was blown away by the plot line. Corey seems so real to me. I loved the interaction between Green and everyone that lives in the Mound with him. This is PNR like I haven't seen.
Now I'm rationing my next book because I don't want it to end!

As expected, Volume 2 of Monster continuues the story from Volume 1. Excellent art and story. Definately a must-buy

Sorry I'm exploitive and I wanted you to read my review from the title. That said, Monster Vol.2 is a slow burn. Unlike #1 where it exploded at the very end of that volume with horror, tension and true suspense--Vol. 2 is the continuation of an 18-volume (in Japan work) and it shows. This volume leaves the horror from 1 and focuses more on more tension and more suspense as it tightens the noose grip on Dr. Tenma's life and we begin to realize that this book is moving more from murder mystery to conspiracy and 'fugitive' style storytelling mechanics. I'm pretty awed by the craftmanship of this book as under lesser hands it would quickly fall apart into disbelief and silliness of characterization but all the while we continue to learn more about the character (in this volume) of Tenma, the sister and even Tenma's ex (which is a surprising turn for her character although the ending in this volume may not seem it). This is a grand series--highly recommended to fans of true mystery books, adult fiction or true lovers of manga (if you can read a manga on cooking just as well as Naruto then this is for you). Finally, One Piece and Monster both have a very cartoony style. It's hard to see if you're not reading many different types of manga (or I could just be crazy) but I've come to have an appreciation of both styles which have more of a true cartoony storytelling in the effectiveness of its' draftmanship, panel design and overall approach to characters...while One Piece is very cartoony..the similarities I find refreshing as this is not anime style just to fit the oppotunities for easy transition into animation like many manga has become nowadays. Great book...pick up both volumes.

Dr. Tenma, a neurosurgeon who finds himself caught in a moral quagmire, chose to execute what he believed was right when he ignored the hospital's orders and instead operated on a boy who had been shot through the head.

The series then brings us down a horrifying trail of serial murders as Dr Tenma goes down his path in search of the serial murder - the boy whom he resurrected. He accumulates clues and evidences, which ultimately point towards a greater, more horrifying social experiment.

While the series may be slow in pace, its intensive execution of emotions is well-played: there is enough time for transition between multitudes of emotions. This is important and lends the story depth, for as the story progresses, characters are fleshed out, like multi-faceted gems. Therefore, though it may be slow, it is certainly not boring; the psychological aspects of small characters bring to life the conspiracy and makes it a very real experience for the reader.

Urasawa's art is also competantly executed and highly dynamic in its own right.

The storyline itself brings us face-to-face with death and the darkest aspects of human nature. It goes beyond its genre and dishes out very poignant, but illuminating questions about human nature and what it means to be human.

If you are looking for easy entertainment, don't bother reading this series. On the other hand, if you want to learn more about life, finish this series. It is a ride through the kindest and the cruellest aspects of human nature, a ride which began and culminated with this fundamental question: The value of life.

(This review was written solely for vol. 2 of Monster, not vol. 3, where this review is also posted. I had no control over this; it was mistakinly posted as a review for vol. 3 by Amazon.com.)

Once I finished this second volume of Monster, I was amazed at how such a simple manga could achieve what this one did. The multi-tiered plot continues to get thicker, and the tension builds as the characters interact. Plus, the simple art style seems to add rather than take away, and in many ways legitimizes this story by taking away some of the exaggerated models found in most manga. And, as if I didn't have enough to make this good, the dialogue is top-notch and believable, which is key to me when reading manga as matching the words to the art is often mishandled, especially in translated manga.

The story, continuing from volume one, follows Tenma as he searches for the twin of the boy Tenma saved. But he's having a difficult time digging up information, and finding people to take him seriously. That's mostly because the twin does not have her memories from that time, and even goes by a different name... Later on, we also get to see how desperate Tenma becomes during his search for the killer of the families. He changes drastically, almost to the point of inhumanity, all in the efforts to stop a plague he believes he released on Germany.

To be honest, the continuing story in this volume slows a bit from the previous volume, which was slow itself. Though the first few chapters where Tenma searches for the twin is dramatic and in direct correlation with the last volume, it gets away from that when old characters are reintroduced and new ones are brought in. It doesn't make it bad in any way, but it seems to lengthen an already massive story, and it leaves me hungering for the third volume in this series so that things can get back to normal.

I can still recommend this manga above any other right now, though, as the story is as intelligent as I've ever found in manga. The technical details and nonchalant style of art doesn't weigh the plot down in any way, and the constantly building suspense makes you wish that they released graphic novels in larger formats (say four-hundred page hardbacks). To compare, Monster goes well alongside Death Note in terms of suspense, but because it has no fantasy elements, there is something about the horror in Monster that puts it above Death Note.

The "Aliens Omnibus" volume 2 collects all of the original "Aliens: Genocide", "Aliens: Harvest", and "Aliens: Colonial Marines" mini-series. Genocide deal with the Marines being called in to collect aliens' jelly for mass-produced pills. Harvest is about scientists wanting a sample of the queen aliens and testing an android-like Alien against the hive & its' queen. Colonial Marines was a ten issue mini-series dealing with a former marine lieutenant taking a group of marines to combat the aliens and finding out who or what killed the colonists on a space station and elsewhere.

The Aliens Omnibus Volumes 1 -3 have decided to bring us some of the best books the Alien universe has to offer. In Volume 2, this means we have 2 novels (Genocide and Harvest) and a 12-part series that deals with Colonial Marines. Each book brings something different to the table and, in some ways, explains to viewers what would happen if an organism the likes that no one has seen was introduced into the population.

Ahhh, the beauty.

While the two books deal with the same subject matter, they deal with it in surprisingly different ways. The first tells the tale of a chemically-produced substance that allows an Alien to become a Queen and gives an addict an addiction they will NEVER forget. While it has many nicknames, Royal Jelly is the most common and is sought after by many a capitalist. Enter the way that it is sought after and enter the way that men seek out, and die, for the fix of all fixes. The second book deals with something of the same manner, only science is god here and nanotechnology the deal of the day. In a way, it has the feeling of the first book and, in a way, it is a beast unto itself. Then there is the Colonial Marines series.

The series is perhaps the best in some ways because it shows how the species adapts to different environments. Water and the beast, air and the beast; the view sees the Alien and what happens to it when it is introduced to different hosts. It sort of reminds one of the dog burster from the third movie --- when you compare the way it carries itself to the bipedal types earlier encountered then you can see the difference in the beast.
Add in the human element and "the company" and you have an interesting little series on your hand.

Considering what you get, the Omnibus collections are beautiful things and are well worth getting. Even if you are not a big fan of the movies, they allow you to explore the Alien in a much different way. If started from the beginning (Book 1), you will even see where Aliens was going and what would have happened if Alien 3 did not occur and if the Alien made it to Earth.
If this sounds appealing, you will love it and love it gooood.

Yeah I really enjoyed reading this and I recommended this to kids who like this kind of stuff. This wasn't really meant for older people, obviously... But it is still well made and worth reading. I used to read these books when I was little, and I still really like them.

My honest opinion is that the illustrations are the scariest part of the book. I suppose sense I'm 36 and I love horror (having read a great deal of books and seen even more movies and TV shows which involve scary stories, folklore and urban legend. What Schwartz offers up here seems to be pretty traditional (or standard) urban legend/scary story fare. I think that this series (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories..., and Scary Stories 3) make a fine introduction to the campfire tales (those stories that have a "jump" at the end), urban legends (the hitchhiker type), and other similar fare for young readers from about age 9-14 or so. Older readers might not be at all scared by simply reading the book, but my understanding is that the audio book (voiced by George S. Irving) is quite good. I intend to give it a listen when it comes in from the library (for all three in this series). Overall, good introduction but I don't get what all the fuss is about and I certainly don't see why anyone would be trying to ban or censor this...there's more graphic and violent/scary stuff on TV. This is definitely worth a read for the "memory lane" feel one might get (I certainly did, there are a number of classics here) and for the illustrations as Gammell certainly has a style that manages to really make one's flesh crawl! I give it four stars...good but not great.

This is a book about many stories my favorite one is: The Bad News. That is my favorite story because it is about two men that love to play baeball,then they wondered if they played baseball in heaven. So they made a bet, who ever dies first has to come and tell the other one. Then later one died, he came down and told him he had some bad news and some good news. The good news was that there was baseball, but the bad was that...Now you read it to find out!

In the book there are many different stories and many different people.
The stories are very detailed and very scary and that is why I liked the book so much.

In one story called "Something Was Wrong," a man known as John Sullivan found himself walking along a street in downtown. He could not explain how he got there. He saw a
woman walking down the street so he asked her what time it was. But when the lady turned
around, she screamed in horror. I liked this story the best because it has a good twist at the end.

I recommend this book to people that like scary stories such as Goosebumps.

When I was three or four, my older sister would show me the pictures in this book and being so scared, I would cry. The images are so strong, they really make the book what it is. When I was 8, I sat there for hours.. staring at the images, afraid that just maybe they were staring back at me too. They hold so much life and creativity, they inspired me. I'm a photographer, and looking at my gallery, I can see where each picture was inspired by this book somehow (my drawings, too).

The stories themselves aren't all that scary, but exciting and morbid. They're descriptive enough, but without going overboard for children.

It gets five stars for being so inspiring to me. One (well, three) of my favorite books ever.

This is not really my thing it appears, and as such, this is a 3 average for me, pretty much. What is cool though is the Creative Commons release, as the chance I would have seen it otherwise is zero. That being said, there are a few worthwhile stories here, but a lot of light and fluffy and very missable, and way too long when they get to part 18 of doing the same thing.

Stranger Things Happen : Carnation Lily Lily Rose - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Water Off a Black Dog's Back - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : The Specialist's Hat - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Flying Lessons - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Travels with the Snow Queen - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Vanishing Act - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Survivor's Ball or The Donner Party - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Shoe and Marriage - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Most of My Friends Are Two-Thirds Water - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : Louise's Ghost - Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen : The Girl Detective - Kelly Link


Dead man story.

3.5 out of 5


Evil parents and pooches.

3 out of 5


Noisy munching millinery.

3.5 out of 5


Instructions not very useful.

2.5 out of 5


The geese should complain.

3 out of 5


Insubstantial Ping-Pongers.

2.5 out of 5


Just the leftover people for dinner, I think.

3.5 out of 5


Unrelated pairs in quadruple.

2.5 out of 5


Blonde, smooth and scary.

3 out of 5


Less one Louise.

3 out of 5


Better than reminding you of the mother-in-law, I suppose.

2.5 out of 5




2 out of 5

Some great friends (thank you Greg and Ian) made me a gift of this book in the belief that Kelly Link's playful and haunting fantasies would help see me through the down days of a major operation.

Because of the medications, it took me longer than I expected to bounce back but I did enjoy reading some of Kelly's tales of unlikely coincidences and returns from the grave. She must have been through a similar trauma herself to know what it feels like to have everyone peering st you from the land of the living while you're feeling absolutely elsewhere. Her story "Flying Lessons" begins with a piece of advice about going to hell. Make sure you die first! And as Joss Whedon knew so well, when he wrote Season Six of Buffy, sometimes the dead don't want to come back! They have attained a sense finally of belonging that their fractured family relationships and strained romantic affairs never delivered to them when they were here.

In Kelly Link's world, the membrane between heaven and earth is very permeable. In "The Girl Detective" it's right there at the back of your closet, "behind all those racks of clothes that you don't wear any more." On both sides of the grave vocabulary is eliminated to a very few words, which helps to give her fiction that Isak Dinesen edge of having been translated from somewhere absolutely cold and otherworldly. And the second person gives you the feeling of being talked to directly, like an old crone in a fairy tale speaking to you in a gingerbread house, with something of the direct address of one accustomed to "Bolivian Marching Powder" (BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY). I have heard that Link is the warmest of the new writers who are taking over American fiction from the frontier, but her writing emanates the sort of chill you get from looking at dry ice in a Michael Jackson video of the 1980s.

Fan favorites include, "Louise's Ghost," whose "mouth stays open as though he's eating air," and the troubling and melancholy "Vanishing Act," sort of a modernday retelling of the famous JM Barrie play "Mary Rose." Well, it used to be famous, a long time ago.

(Mostly) a collection of classic fairy tales seen through the eyes of a modern person, neurotically and critically at that. Haunting, inspiring and funny.

my life's course was set. i was going to be the next chekhov, or maybe the next john cheever. then i read this book, and the dream was over. kelly link is very very talented, and her talent made me see the light. i really have no talent. next to her stories, mine are merely vomit on unfortunate pages. i might as well get one of those sturdy, all-purpose brushes and go off into a future of scrubbing public toliets for a living. this woman has shown me that i am no writer. why did i ever read this book! why??????????????

In his liner notes to a 2005 CD titled "Back in New York," jazz enthusiast Peter Straub (yes, that Peter Straub), briefly touches on the concept of mastery, stating "What is represented here is mastery of a very particular kind. As a rule, mastery of any kind demands both a rich talent and an utter dedication to its development; in improvised music, only a few obtain mastery of this kind." Although Straub was referring to the great tenor saxaphonist Scott Hamilton with those words, he probably could be persuaded that they also apply to fantasist Kelly Link (heck, he's already dubbed her "the most impressive writer of her generation") , who, for the last decade, has demonstrated an unparalleled mastery of the short story form in every sense of that word. In retrospect, to say she has mastered the form is perhaps an understatement: not only has she tamed this particular beast, she's taught it a few new tricks. Her talent and dedication shine through in each and every tale.

Link's collections are treasure troves of creative storytelling, each volume a celebration of the power of the imagination, each story a unique, glittering gem worthy of careful and repeated inspection. Combining fantastic concepts with familiar elements of the real world, Link's works reveal there are myriad ways of interpreting and portraying "reality". You'll rarely encounter a writer as warm, adventurous, eclectic and sharp witted as Link. Fearless, there is no place she won't go; empathic, she effortlessly conveys to her audience the nuances of her characters' pain, bewilderment, joy and understanding.

Stranger Things Happen contains stories about dead men, newlyweds, twins, thieves, princesses, strange cousins, cannibals, marriage, unrequited love, ghosts, and girl detectives. Magic for Beginners sports stories featuring handbags, zombies, cannons, a haunted house, felines, contingency plans, divorce, a television show, and peacocks. Link writes about each of these topics with equal aplomb and inventiveness. She's aware of the numerous levels of story, of tales within tales, of the many paths she can choose in telling her stories-amazingly, she always picks what seems to be the most entertaining road to travel.

Her titles alone are arresting. Stranger Things Happen (featuring stories written between 1995-2000) contains, among others, "The Specialist's Hat," "Flying Lessons," "Travels with the Snow Queen," "Shoe and Marriage," "Most of My Friends are Two Thirds Water," and "The Girl Detective." Magic for Beginners (with stories written between 2002-2004) boasts the title story, "Catskin," "Some Zombie Contingency Plans," and "The Great Divorce." The titles fulfill their strange promise in surprising ways.

Simply put, these collections are delightful, the stories perfect for engaging your intellect and sense of whimsy and purging yourself of the mundane. Check them out, and learn for yourself that, when it comes to spinning edgy tall tales, the unconventional Link is in a class by herself.

If the previous volume contributed to the backbone of the story, this one came down packed with action. After being separated from the rest of their army, Guts and Casca have to face a large group of enemies by themselves in one of the best fights so far. Besides that, the war against Chuda intensifies, and the Hawks accept to go on a suicide mission.

One aspect that made this volume really special for me is that Casca opens up to Guts and we get to understand why she worships Griffith so much, as well as how much Griffith's dream matters to him and the things he is willing to give up for it. Now it is also easier to understand how Guts joining the band affected Casca's life and the reasons behind her resentment.

I mentioned in my review of the previous volume that I thought that there were some philosophical elements introduced in the plot, and the trend continues here. There are a couple of discussions about dreams and honor that provide the story with a depth not commonly observed in the genre. There is also a big surprise. Did you ever imagine that you would see Guts make a joke? WOW! That was certainly a first, and it caught me so off guard that I could not contain a loud chuckle. I hope you enjoy this installment as much as I did!

Our hero has been dragged along by fate and has lived in the shadow of Griffith's dream. Through his pleasing interlude with Caska and a very drawn out sword battle, he becomes his own man. In this story of dreams, I can see this will be a major plot point.

The story is building nicely toward the Hawks victory and undoubted crushing by the demon's fate.

I have to say when i watched the videos i thought it was the best thing, but when the novels came out i did not think it could get much better. These wil atleast quench my thirst for more berserk since its series is alot longer then the mange that came out. Defitily a god series if you loved the show. Hope you enjoy!

Awesome!!!!
It's really completely different from the anime, the manga let's you explore the charaters in a way you just can't during the anime. I am a huge fan of the cartoon, so the comics make me enjoy what I know about the characters already.

Berserk, in the previous volume, lost a lot of momentum during the "political intrigue" part of the story. It just didn't seem like the same old Berserk I had come to know and love, especially after getting five volumes of almost constant battling and bloodshed with only enough story to reveal character motivation. Luckily, though, by the end of the last volume, I knew that this volume and the ones following would be exciting (especially since I've seen the anime), and the slow, action-driven story is about to get deep and dark, as it was in the beginning volumes.

In volume seven, Guts and Casca finally come to an understanding with each other, and Guts gains a title that will follow him on the battlefield and make him both feared and hated. Also, a little of Casca's history with the Band of the Hawk, as well as some of Griffith's darker side, is revealed. By the end, the Band of the Hawk are on the war path once again, but this time it's against an opponent that may not be beatable.

Through the first seven volumes of the Berserk manga, I only found an issue with only two of them. One was more of a moral issue than anything else, and the other was simply that I was bored with the happenings and the plot-advancement. Now that things are back to norm for the manga, I don't expect many more disappointments, and I can, in fact, guarantee that Berserk will only get better from here on out, especially since the end of the Guts's history is near and his constant battle against demons and monsters in his present life is about to continue. So, if you liked the anime or have started reading the manga, then now is not to time to drop out of it; Berserk still is one of the better manga on the market today, and I highly recommend it to adult readers.

This novel is wonderful for teaching students to think about what could happen in a natural or man-made disaster. I think pairing this book with Alas, Babylon is a wonderful idea. I am also thinking of including in the unit Lord of the Flies. How do people handle natural disasters, man-made disasters, and war? Discussions will be great!

To start let me say that the author is one of my favorites and that is why I purchased this book. I am also a fan of this genre too. I found the book very entertaining and interesting. The thought of earthquakes so bad that the world reverts back to it infancy is terrifying and believable. In this case the people do horrible things to survive because they know no better way to survive in such a bleak world were there are no more supermarkets and drive thru windows. The only weak part, I thought, was the end. Christopher usually has some very good endings that make you really take a step back and look at yourself and the world a little differently. This ending was a little more "happy" but also abrupt and i felt i needed a little more explanation or closure. Something explain what eventually happens to the main character and his boy companion.

Overall it was a good read, but also check out the Sword of the Spirits Trilogy and the Tripods Trilogy by the same author. Very good books, geared for young readers, but good at any age. You'll be glad you did.

This is a page turner and a classic. Written in 1965 this book is timeless. Highly Recommend!

John Christopher writes exciting sci fi novels about catastrophic shifts in the world order. He has tackled everything from mass starvation (The Death Of Grass) to epic changes in the earth's weather (The Long Winter) to alien invasions(The Tripod trilogy) to giant earthquakes, which is the central catastrophe of this book.

After an enormous series of cataclysmic earthquakes wipes out modern civilization, a group of survivors struggle to stay alive in the ruins of the British Isles.
This is one of John Christophers most gripping adventure stories, filled with strange settings and memorable characters;
I especially liked the image of the oil tanker beached on the bottom of the now dry English Channel, its sole occupant slowly going mad.

John Christopher has written several novels of global catastrophe,of which this is certainly the best.
The basic premise is that of extreme earthquakes on a worldwide scale, which reduce towns and cities to piles of rubble and plunge the survivors straight back into the Stone Age. Much of western Europe is drastically uplifted, transforming the English Channel into a muddy desert overnight - whist elsewhere, lands are thrown down and drowned under inrushing seas.
The cataclysm and its aftermath are seen from the viewpoint of Matthew Cotter, a Gurnsey horticulturalist who finds himself one of a handful left alive on the former island. The future they face, attempting to begin life again with what they can scavenge amid the devastation, seems hard and uncertain enough.
Matthew then treks across the empty seabed to England, in the faint hope that his student daughter has also survived. He finds the situation far worse in a wider land, with many competing bands of scavengers. Pillage, rape and murder are now the norm as mankind revets to utter barbarism.
The actual scientific likelihood of such immense convulsions in the Earth is very doubtful, and the author's explanation - as a new mountain-building episode - is certainly nonsense, since such events take tens of millions of years. The sheer dramatic impact of a global earthquake, however, makes this book greatly entertaining for all but the most pedantic.
Its central emphasis is on the reactions of people, totally unprepared, who see their world turned (almost literally) upside down and everyone they knew destroyed. While some find natural strength and determination, even leadership, others respond with violence, with apathy and despair, or retreat into lunacy. John Christopher displays a subtle and far-ranging mastery of characterisation. He has created a stark and very believable vision of human struggles to survive in a world made suddenly strange, lawless, primitive and hostile.
It might have been even better to see Matthew Cotter and others ten or twenty years on, after the barbaric majority had mostly starved or slain each other and nature had begun to reclaim the shattered country. Would naval vessels have survived in mid-ocean and acted as nuclei for new communities? Or would the fallout from wrecked nuclear power stations have caused widespread cancers, sterility, mutations - and ultimately lethal new diseases, which would finish off the human race?
This is, surely, the essence of "thought-provoking" literature.
Regardless of unanswered questions, I would rate "A Wrinkle in the Skin" as being among the finest pieces of speculative fiction I have read.

Over the long Labor Day weekend, I treated myself with a trip to my local book store to buy a few books to help get me in the mood for Halloween--even thought it is rather a way off. The first few chapters of Savage were quite good, but once as soon as the characters set sail for America, I was so disappointed with the plot and the writing. Laymon's attempt at capturing a British accent is painful--He seems to rely to heavily on words like "bully" and "passel" to convey Englishness. Similar painful methods are deployed in his use of words like "pardner" in his cowboy characters. There are pages of dialogue that were so bad that I read them out loud to a friend--our sides are still aching from the laugh workout.
Having spent good money on the book, I finished it, but I was thrilled when I had read the last lines. I then walked the book down to my local thrift store and tossed it in a bin for some other poor soul to find. Buyer beware!!

Richard Laymon is an awesome writer and if you like gripping horror novels, he writes them best. His books can be compared to a racey Dean Koontz. I liked this book a lot. The characters were likeable and you really get into the story. I could not put the book down.

This was a pretty good book. I've read much better by Laymon, but this was certainly an adventure like I've never read before. I recommend it because it will certainly hold your interest.

This takes the ticket for the worst laymon book i've ever read. The best part being the voyage from england to america, the rest of the book is a chore to the core. I hated all the characters and the western scenerio had me bored to death. This theme is very different from the rest of laymons books. I had high hopes since this book has many fans but it just didn't cut it for me, i put it down many times which almost never happens while i'm reading laymon. 2 Stars

When I read a book, I like to be pulled in and not let go until the last word on the last page. I love to go on a journey; they best way to do that is a good book with engaging characters, active plot, and an 'easy to follow' style. "Savage" is the first book that I have read by Richard Laymon, but it certainly will not be the last. The plot is far fetched, but still plausible and exciting. I did find it to be a slight bit predictable, however, there were ample surprises that completely made up for the predictable-ness of some situations. There is quite a bit of gore and violence, but Jack the Ripper is one of the main characters, so that is expected, and enjoyed! Overall, I loved this book. It took me back in time to an unknown world. The journey was eventful and dare I say 'fun'?

This book is everything I thought it would be! I had a hard time putting it down.

This one is a fun dark ride along with Laura as she looks for the killer's of her family. It's exciting, makes you think, and satisfying. It was a great place to escape to. Wish there was a sequel.

After being contacted by the author on myspace, I bought the book. I read it all the way through and was confused half the time. It was a very weird plot, if you could call it a plot. I just think Aleman had a really good idea and it did not come out the way it was meant to. I did not like it.

Cold Streak is darker than what I'm use to reading but it's characters are what pulled me into it. They're realistic and they stay with you even after finishing the book. The writing is great. Some descriptions are gory and others are beautiful. The ending is amazing. Haven;t been abel to stop thinking about it.

This is easily the best book I've read this year, and I read thrillers, horror, classics, biographies, and just about anything else that grabs my interest. Cold Streak starts off with a bang and keeps a fast pace all the way to the last line. It's very well written with lots of vivid descriptions that bring the scenes to life. The characters are awesome. Laura is the main character chasing after the murderers of her husband and two daughters. She gets pulled between her obsession to catch the killers and trying to keep herself from becoming just as bad as they are. The two detectives Paul and Irene are after the murderers of Laura's family and herself. Their relationship is the most realistic love story I've read inside of a thriller.

I loved the metaphors and comparisons in this book. This has to be the most literary thriller story that I've come across, and I'm a bit ashamed to admit it sent me to a dictionary once or twice.

As an insomniac myself I related to Paul a lot. As a musician I loved the scenes that took place at the local concerts. Those are exactly what it's like to play a local show in a rough bar. Brought back a lot of memories of my own gigs.

If you like Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or literary books, check out Cold Streak. Can't recommend this one highly enough.