Horror Books

These two authors are fantastic. I can't recommend their books too highly. Fantastic read, all of them.

I've read most of their work and Pendergast is one of my favorite modern day literary characters, but this was one of their weaker efforts. It dragged in the middle and seemed to sidetrack a bit too much and lacked the punch I usually expect. The end was very good reading and a setup for their next book Dance of Death which I have already picked up and will start on right away.

Brimstone was a fabulous, easy to read tale that is exactly what we've all come to expect from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I haven't read a Preston/Child book since Riptide and had forgotten how great their work is. Brimstone is a great tale that lets the supernatural-leaning part of your mind run wild with suspicions and a little bit of fear as the book reintroduces Agent Pendergast and Vincent DaGosta to us all over again.

Brimstone takes who from the frenzy of New York City to the charm of Italy. Our heroes are again pitted against some vile enemies as they attempt to solve two bizarre murders in New York and another in Italy. Brimstone allowed my imagination to run rampant as it led me skillfully through the story. With the back story always running, keeping my hooked, I have now picked up the books that follow Brimstone so that I can find out what happens.--That's it though, no more spoiler!

Brimstone is a great book, not only for fans of Preston/Child, but also for anyone who enjoys a good read and wants to get their head into a book and away from the world for a few hours.

Timothy Lassiter, author of Three Degrees of Separation and The Devil You Know

I took this book with me on a trip for a beach read. Being a Preston and Child fan, I looked forward to reading another Pendergast mystery. However, unusual for me, I had a hard time getting into this book. There was the initial hook of the first murder, but after that the book lost me for a bit and I found myself re-reading pages that I seemed to have skimmed over and not comprehended (I thought from boredom). But, I have to truthfully admit that the lure of the landscapes in Costa Rica probably played a large role in that boredom with a book! Once I knuckled down and paid attention to the storyline, it was a standard P&C effort, though in my opinion, not their best.

Another tale in the life of Special Agent Pendergast - and this time he's gotten quite annoying. In this book he really comes off as snotty and condescending, and his attitude towards Sergeant D'Agasta is borderline reprehensible. The basic storyline, however, was intriguing - until they started to throw in a lot of "side-stories" with the Reverend that really amounted to nothing but a bit a filler fluff to draw out the tension in the main storyline. The book would have been much better (albeit shorter) without this inclusion. I did like the fact that the book kept you guessing as to whether supernatural forces were truly at work, and was gratified that the answer, while fantastic and unlikely, was rooted in reality... of a sort. This book would have been much better as a shorter, more streamlined version of itself, but nevertheless was worth the read.

I found this volume to be very good reading. Pretty much all of these stories were thrilling, and some were extremely scary, necessitating a brief break before I could continue reading. It took several months to finish reading this book, but this is the kind of book you read in sessions anyway. Definitely makes me glad that I live in a brand new house. One of my favorites was "The Whistling Room" by William Hope Hodgson. Highly recommended.

This book has alot of stories, some are good, some are not so good. These stories go as far back as the 1800's. They are well written but they aren't going to appeal to the folks who are looking for a good scare.

There's the old addage, "never judge a book by its cover" (this cover is pretty cool) and I should have listened to it. Mammoth? Yes, clocking in at over 500 pages. Scary? Err, not really. Barring the one story of a Russian father and son repating the past to the horror of a neighboring tenant, this book was downright boring and allot of times hard to follow. Comprised of many short stories I thought this would be a good one to keep near the bed for when I wanted a quick read, what I didn't realize was how outdated the stories were and how confusing some of the dialect would be. My advice, skip this one.

This huge anthology is a wonderful treat for any lover of the spookiest of all horror genres - the haunted house. The selections are highly eclectic, although weighted toward the coziness of the British 19th century tradition (although there's NOTHING cozy about "Lost Hearts," the M.R. James tale included here!). You'll find a terrific balance between familiar names like William Hope Hodgson and Robert Bloch (best known for Psycho) and the more obscure - this anthology was my introduction to Basil Copper and H. Russell Wakefield, whose "Ghost Hunt" is a highly enjoyable bit of pulp. Also included are a number of stories by "literary" writers not known for the horror genre, including Penelope Lively, Fay Weldon, and Virginia Woolf.

Some of the stories are mostly of historical interest - modern tastes aren't likely to be thrilled by misers getting tediously Victorian comeuppances in the afterlife, and the "funny" stories are painful to sit through. But this eclectic collection offers gem after gem as well, and if you want a survey of the breadth and depth of the haunted neighborhood, here is your field guide.

The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories is a vast collection of stories touching on hauntings in about every situation one could imagine. The book is divided into topical sections: Haunted Places, Avenging Spirits, Shadowy Corners (restless spirits), Phantom Lovers, Little Terrors (Ghosts of Children), Psychic Phenomena, and Houses of Horror (favorite stories of movie stars like Vincent Price).

For me, the overwhelming majority of the stories were new with The Judge's House (by Bram Stoker) and Lost Heart's (M. R. James) being the most familiar. There are stories that are frightening and others that struck me as quite tame by comparison. The beauty of this volume is that all voices from the literary world are heard and I am sure that some stories that I found less rewarding would appeal to other readers. For me the most frightening was the first story The Haunted and the Haunters by Bulwer-Lytton. It is the kind of story that has one jumping at minor sounds in the house. Equally scary was Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House, a story by Le Fanu that I was not familiar with. The Grey House by Basil Cooper was nicely written and atmospheric but not particularly frightening; it would make an interesting film. The House of Dust is a nicely written story injecting a bit of sex into haunted house tales.

A story that I was very interested in reading was In Letters of Fire by Gaston Leroux (who also wrote The Phantom of the Opera. I would not strictly categorize this story as involving a haunted house but one that has an evil room. The book has a nice selection of stories with an informative introduction to each providing us with the location and peculiarities of the haunted house and some brief biographical data about the author. There also is a helpful appendix that describes haunted house novels that I found intriguing.

I was very pleased with this retelling of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Donald Cook's illustrations will especially help in bringing the action to life for children. This book offers parents and children an opportunity to discuss the action and what they believe may have been the outcome based on the mysterious ending of the story. As other reviewers maintain, this is a great spooky story for kids.

My son LOVES this story, in all its many versions. Easy reading
(second grade) and lovely illustrations. A must have for those who love to be "spooked"!

This is a children's version of the Washington Irving ghost story. My 7-year-old son read it in one afternoon and loved it. This will get any child reading who is the least bit interested in scary stories. Especially recommended for kids who are a little too young for Goosebumps but desperately want to read them.

A classic, brilliantly written novel. A schoolmaster, and a little town in colonial New York, create a normal, sometimes humerous beginning to the novel. However, as the tale goes on, you hear of the Ledgend of the Headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow. This mysterious, classic thriller will have you sifting through the pages you'll never be prepared for the unexpected, climacting conclusion! A must read for any Halloween fan! Just a brilliant story, hands down.

Honestly the worst thing I have EVER read. I've read a lot too. There was not a single likable character, the main character was painfully boring, the writing truly horrendous, and the mindless, pointless plot is spotted with random and cruel depictions of badly explained violence.

I read the full book in the vain hope that one single ray of redemption would show itself, but no, the main character ends up curled up in his bedroom waiting for his obviously heartless parent's to turn him in to be killed horribly.

That was a major problem. In the beginning you are treated to the description of a vampire being led away to be blinded and killed horribly. Vampire yes, but you are given no reason. Was this person really this bad? Who is this person? Who honestly deserves this? I am not easily effected by violence, especially in print, but I just found this scene distressing.

And the main character, I don't even remember his name. Is he mentally retarded? This can be the only explaination he talks like an idiot. Something along the lines of "They walked ahead. I walked after then. I walked slower."

Any of the mythology thrown in is hopelessly tacked on in this badly missmatched excuse for a novel. You get a bit of an explaination, but nothing compelling or interesting. In the end, no one wins and it all just sucks. NOTHING HAPPENS. AT ALL.

Nothing important is resolved and what wasn't boring made me feel just plain bad.

It literally made me ill for the two days after I slogged through it's wash of horrendous writing. It's not even worth reading for the value of saying that "yes, this is bad."

Never touch this book. Ever.

Burn it if possible.

I hated the ending. The book itself wasn't all bad. It was just mostly bad. I love vampire fiction and this fell way way short.

I think this book was at most: okay?? maybe. Listen this book is too long winded to begin with because it's mostly him being whiny and doing really dumb stuff or wonder if he should have done something different. Also his character didn't really developed... even though he was turning into a vampire. So not only did he not gain anything but I as the reader didn't either. I actually lost something, my time.

An interesting take on the whole vampire legend. In Chris's world, vampires have always existed. People are wary of vampires, and lynch them when they find them. As his hometown prepares for the annual Sad Festival of Vampires with an ancient ritual (held in a Whitehen Pantry) that keeps Tch'muchgar, the Vampire Lord locked into a prison world, Chris seems to be turning into a vampire. Can he trust his friends and family NOT to lynch him, if that happens? Should he trust Chet a self described celestial being to help him not become a blood sucking freak?

While this was a good idea of a new approach to the old I-was-a-teenage-vampire novel, it was ultimately unsatisfying. It was amusing at points, but it just seemed like the author has a good idea that drove him about half way through the novel, and then he had no idea where to go. It meanders to an unconvincing end. It's quite bloody and violent, so if you prefer the more stylized vampire novel, (like the Twilight Saga) beware.

Unless you feel a need to read every vampire novel available, skip this one.

This book allows you to jump into an alternate universe where vampires and other magical creatures are common place and humans act as the police of such creatures. While I enjoyed the subcontext of racism and prejudice, I did not enjoy the ending at all. While I will not revel it, I found that there was this large climax that just did not happen. I was waiting for it and then the book ended.

"House of Thunder" is one of those stories where you are never really sure if the heroine, Susan Thornton, is really experiencing the events unfolding in the novel, or is she simply crazy and hallucinating? After a horrific car accident, Susan suffers from selective amnesia, and while trying to put the pieces of her life back together, nightmare-like ghosts from her past suddenly begin to haunt her waking world. Are the visions real or are her tormentors just a by-product of a brain injury suffered during the crash? Together with a young doctor, Susan is determined to find out.

This novel is pretty unusual and not what you would expect from Dean Koontz. There are several twists and turns taken through the story, and the ending is a doozie (if not a little dated). Hopefully, you've skipped the editorial review on the product page here, as they drop a whopping spoiler towards the end of their review. If you like Koontz, you will like "Thunder". It has the characterization Koontz is known for, and it's a quick read. The action has a nice pace, and doesn't lag, and Koontz does a great job of building up suspense and creating a spooky aire of paranoia that has the reader questioning everything by the end of the tale. Recommeded for readers already familiar with Koontz's other work.

Yeah, it is bad; and dated. As most have explained, the beginning is much better than the ending. The Russian angle is interesting only in that I can't believe we (Americans) we're really that paranoid, but I'll give him that one. What I really didn't like at all was all the over-explaining. It was really annoying being talked down to like that. Its like being told a story about a story when all you wanted was just the story. Ah well it is an early work, only a consummate Koontz fan should suffer it, though. Thank goodness his writing has matured. The good new is there is a new Odd Thomas book out!!

This effort on Koontz's part is just not up to his usual level of entertainment. One of the reasons that he's so good is that you attach to the main characters and progress through the book like a tail hooked on a cat. You feel what the character feels and empathize as if you are the object of the story. This, however, enticed me only as an observer into the life of a character I really didn't care that much about. The book had the possibility of being one of Koontz's better novels but these prospects were never realized. We have a lady hospitalized after a car accident, a fraternity hazing, a sinister corporation, a hospital with secret doors, people who aren't who they say they are - wow - what a set up! Unfortunately, it just didn't come together. Love Dean - I'll patently wait for his next installment of the Frankenstein series. bg

Hopefully you're not reading this fine DK tome on an airplane trip home...you'll want to bail out without a parachute, the spine-tingling twist toward the denouement easily makes this Koontz offering worth the price of admission!

Viva el Koontz!!!!!!!!!!

I had already read this book years ago but just ordered a ton of Dean Koontz's books to be read again. I am very happy that I did. This was an excellent book. Somewhere in the back of mind, I kept thinking that I remembered the ending but I didn't. I am thrilled that I read this book again and I can't wait to pick up another one and read it!

At this point, I am confident that those that are following this manga have realized that this story is so good that it consumes your life. Each volume gets better and better, even though when reading the first one I thought that there was no real way to improve on that, and little by little the story becomes darker. When I watched the anime I thought it was one of the most violent and sexually explicit productions in the genre, but the manga easily tops that. The amazing quality of the graphics contributes to the vividness of these scenes.

At the end of volume 2, Guts was in serious trouble, beaten almost to death by the count and his inner demon, and hanging on barely by a thread. The present volume starts with a crucial development, since by using the Behelit, Guts, Puck, the count and his daughter end up in a different dimension. One where they encounter the God Hands, and where there are important revelations about Guts' past and the meaning of the brand. Also, a main character from the anime makes his appearance. Griffith is one of the demons in this hellish dimension, and it is clear that Guts already knows and hates him.

The final episode in this volume has to do with Guts' childhood, which is when the main story in the anime really begins. We get to see Guts as a baby, "rescued" by the ruthless Gambino and his lover from a sure demise, and then witness his tough upbringing. This trip back in time is a great idea, since it allows the readers to understand this fascinating character better. The end of the volume is as disturbing as it is enigmatic, so once again, it is probably a great idea to have the next one handy.

A new level of violence is reached in this volume, so there may be a few people that could stand this until now but find this new step to be overwhelming. Nevertheless, I believe that most hard-core fans will find this volume to be extraordinary and will be looking forward to the next one, as am I.

Guts is in rare form as he confronts the target of his search in this volume. Berserk is a violent and disturbing book. Guts seems to no longer care about anything or anyone except revenge on the one who betrayed him. In many ways, this reminds of Conan (dark, bloody fantasy where magic is both rare and feared).

The TV series was largely a flashback except for the first episode. In volume 3 of the manga, is still focusing on "the present" though there are elements of the flashback present.

Having watched the TV series and yearned for an actual ending, I began buying these volumes. As only maybe 7 of these have been released and the manga is something like 28 volumes, I don't know that it will happen. However, I am seeing much more of his further adventures (that take place after the final episode of the TV series) even in just these first few volumes.

Berserk, amazingly, continues to get better, and for a series that was already a five in my book, that makes it very difficult to rate this, as five is the highest it can go here. With this volume, I'd give it a six easily, and possibly a seven. The artwork is great, the characters and their interactions are well-done, and the dark atmosphere that surrounds the story of Guts is enough to gag on, but in a good way, to be sure.

In this volume, Guts's battle with the Count continues, only now there is a witness to this fight of blood and madness, the Count's daughter and pride Theresia. And, of course, the ever present Puck. But just as the conclusion seems to be coming, the fight is interrupted by the God Hand, and among this group of five demon gods is Guts's hated rival, Griffith. This is probably the highlight of the manga, especially if you've seen the anime series, as it finally links Guts's past to his present. After that, the story goes deep into the past, and to the tortured childhood of Guts under the mercenary Gambino.

I'd recommend this volume and all of the Berserk manga volumes to anyone who is a fan of mature manga. In fact, I highly recommend buying not one or two but three at a time, money permitting, because you'll find yourself finishing these books in short order.

Advance Warning: This volume contains some very mature content (including an orgy scene and implied molestation), so for anyone who feels uncomfortable about things of this nature, do stay away. This is definitely a manga for adults and should be read with care. Treat this like a bottle of prescription medicine: keep it high on a shelf where no children can reach it.

When we last saw Guts, he was getting assaulted by the Count, now turned into a hideous monster. In volume 2, Guts fought bravely, but was easily overpowered by the Count, who is capable of throwing Guts around the castle like he's nothing. In the end, Guts was knocked out cold, nearly dead. Puck didn't know what to do, and the Count's daughter, Theresia, was left in her room. This volume concludes the fight, but it ends in a way that keeps you on your toes. Anyone that's seen the animated series before reading these books will see some jaw-dropping images halfway through, as characters we only got a small taste of in the final episodes make a return. The only word that comes close to describing what I felt when reading this volume is "intense". Every page had something incredible going on, even more than the past two volumes. There's really no need to read the rest of my review if you don't want me to tell you what happens. And if you've already read the first two books, then you'll get this without needing to read a review.

Guts is still on the ground as the Count's about to finish him off. Puck, incredibly emotional over knowing that his companion's about to die, tries to stall in case Guts is able to get a second wind. Telling the Count that he knows what happened, and how he's become a monster just to hide his true form by not accepting who he really is. That humans aren't as weak as he makes them out to be. The Count laughs at this, and admires Puck for actually saying something, since he always thought elves had the intellect of birds or squirrels, and says he'll let him go free. When Puck goes to try and revive Guts, a Behelit falls from his pack. The Count sees this, and goes after Puck. Just then, Theresia runs into the room, distracting the Count, who now focuses on her. Guts awakens, and attacks again. This time though, he uses Theresia as a shield, knowing the Count won't attack him through his own daughter. Guts makes some swift moves, and cuts off the Count's head. But, the blood from his body and head reaches the Behelit. The nose, eyes and mouth on it move around into the form of a face, and it's time. God Hand has been summoned, and they come to grand the Count his wish, which is to avenge him and kill Guts. Guts looks terrified, but sees their newest member, and takes it upon himself to complete his mission.

The last third of the book ends with a flashback, and starts where the animated series truely started (after we're introduced to Guts as the Black Swordsman). We see Guts as he was born from his mother's corpse after she was hanged from a tree, and Gambino and his lover, Shisu, pick him up. They're part of a band of mercenaries, and because Shisu lost her child, she grows attatched and keeps him, though he's just barely alive. Gambino raises Guts as a fighter, training him with a sword bigger than he is. But, some of his men see Guts as an omen- how they found him under those conditions, and fear he's bad luck. This starts when Shisu dies of a disease, and is continued in the next volume. Guts grows to be a good fighter, and while Gambino seems abusive, there are some moments where he's seen as a gentle person. This is something the animated series left out. The book ends with a terrifying moment for Guts. Something that's change him for the rest of his life.

Go on and get this book. It's intense, the artwork never loses its quality, and you'll never want to stop reading. Heck, buy one of each volume all at the same time so you can move on right away- it's that good. I rarely rave about much, but Berserk is easily the single best book I've read. Not just comics, but that includes novels too. The only problem, and this is very slight, is that these translations get cut-off in some books. A letter will be missing from a word or something because the word bubble is on the edge of a page. It's not a big deal, and it's not like we don't understand what the characters are saying, but it makes me wonder if they'll fix this in the future reprints. Blah, just get the books.

Oh, how it pains me to read a volume of Berserk, each one leaving me pining even more so for the next one. For fans of the anime series, volume three is THE volume to own! Where the first two books started off showing a bit more of Guts life right at the moment, not much reference is really made to the part of the story shown to us in the anime, which was pretty much one giant flashback.

However, in this volume, we get to see Griffith!! Already a proud member of the demonic Godhand (and loving it, may I add), the interaction between the two is absolutely fascination. And, there is a also a flashback to when Griffith and Guts used to fight battles together, back when Griffith was still Guts' Idol.

And, might I add, I really like Puck, a character unique to the manga alone. With the story being as graphically violent as it is, its kind of nice seeing a little compassion comeing from somewhere at least. This little Elf is pretty darn cute and he does add a bit of comic relief.

But best of all, in this volume, we get to see baby Guts!! He's so cute!! And 3 year old guts, and 6 year old guts, and 9 year old guts! (I'm sure you see a pattern here). After finishing the exciting story arc of the mad ruler turned demon slug type creature, we are shown a flashback of Guts' birth and past growing up. Most of this was depicted in the anime, but we see slight variations. His adopted father, while being depicted in the anime as being moderately cruel all throughout (not counting when he totally loses it at the end), he is shown here with a wider variety of personas, going from horribly cruel, to surprising moments of kindness.

However, the end leaves you hanging with a part of his past that wasn't in the anime at all, so I'm absolutely dying for the next volume. This is a series that you won't want to miss. Berserk is my all time favorite manga and anime ever!

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A carnival arrives in a small town. Bad stuff happens.

I'd tried Bryan Smith's first book House Of Blood twice but quit because I didn't like the writing much. I decided to try The Freakshow to see if he'd gotten better. Well, The Freakshow is much better written than House Of Blood. That being said it still had a boatload of problems.

Bryan Smith seems to be growing into a very good writer. Some bits of this book were very powerfully written. I had some issues with the writing style, but overall it really gripped me. The problem is that he is still pretty uneven. When he's good, he's quite good. Then he would write bits of narration such as: "He freaked" and "His eyes bugged out." Maybe I'm just old, but slangy stuff like that should be reserved for characters to say or think. It makes the author seem like a teenager himself when it shows up as narration.

His characters were pretty devoid of character. You can see he's going for the Jack Ketchum/Edward Lee type of gut-wrenching horror here and his writing almost pulls it off. The problem is the characters weren't well written enough to make you care. All were pretty flat, stock horror movie types that it was tough to feel much for. Without believable characters this type of horror isn't nearly as effective.

Still, I didn't mind the on again/off again writing and flat characters. What really got me was the... senselessness of the story. It never really felt like it flowed together to tell a story. Instead it felt like it was just meandering its way between pointless (though sometimes very well written) scenes until a quickie wrap-up brought things to a close. Bryan Smith has the makings of a good writer, but he isn't yet a good storyteller. I got the sense that he knew what he was trying to say, but just wasn't very clear in conveying it to us. Lots of unexplained things happened that never really went anywhere. What was the deal with the guy in the woods for instance? Was he related to the carnival? I dunno. I guess so.

He really could stand to polish up his skills with foreshadowing and pacing. Stephen King is a master of this. Bryan Smith is not. New plot twists would just clumsily plop in out of nowhere. Things were kinda-sorta-mostly explained at the end, but it was hundreds of pages of stuff that felt arbitrary and unconnected only to be suddenly (and very clumsily) wrapped up in the end by a character telling what happened. He needs to work on weaving the details into the context of the story, revealing a little at a time rather than the 'Presto!' approach used here.

I'm kind of hung on a final decision here. I finished this one, but towards the end it felt like I was grinding through just to complete it. Still, I will pick up his future books to see where he goes. If he can get his storytelling up to par with his writing, he will really be something.

I have been hearing a lot about Bryan Smith recently so I decided to give one of his books a shot. "The Freakshow" is a crazy, violent, journey. This books is filled gore and blood. I Loved it!!

In the vain (although not quite the same) of Richard Laymon, This book is very easy to read with plenty of sex and violence. From the very first page to the very end this story is something out of a bad trip. Killer Clowns, Hunchbacked crazies, a two headed women who tortures and kills almost everything is comes across. I just went out and bought the rest of his books (House of Blood, Deathbringer, Queen of Blood) so I will definitley be expecting much of the same from his other books. Overall four blood soaked stars. A very entertaining book!!

I am a huge fan of lesiure's horror books. They really have some great authors in their stable. There are some really talented ones, and some that aren't as talented, but still a lot of fun. The Freakshow is neither fun, nor is it written with any kind talent. I have never read another book by Bryan Smith before, but I do hope that they are much better then this disaster of a book.

There is something to be said for taking your time to build up the characters and actually grow to care, or at least like them, before they get thrown into this stupid sideshow situation that Smith has going on here.

I can understand how some of these readers could give this book a good review. Smith kept the colorful situations weird enough and presented them in a very fast way that you could miss the fact that there was nothing underneath the surface. People could like that, there are plenty of mentally handicapped people out there.

thats all this is. comparing this hack to ketchum is ridiculous.
i read this book with high hopes. dashed. i'm reading these great reveiws for this book and am wondering if i read the same one? so i got my copy and looked through it and....nope. lousy book, stupid plot and want my money back.

Lets face it if you read a book called "The Freakshow" what do you expect?? The bad reviews were not to be paid attention to unless you do not like horror and gore. Then...do not read the book. This book is a roller coaster ride all the way to hell! Loved it!! Good horror and lots of gore. Highly recommend!

This artwork is so much better than the first two, it fits the story much better than the old artist would've. And the story is really a good ghost story. I like that the story is several chapters long and not different stories every chapter.

All right the first two books were amazing this one takes some getting used to. Don't get me wrong their still good. but instead of lots of differnt stories it's one long one. The illustrator is different also.
at frist I thought I wouldn"t like it but after reading it again it grew on me. It's still just as dark and twisted just like we like it.

After reading volume 1 and 2 of Nightmares and Fairy Tales, I was excited about the third instalment. But, after the first few pages I became disappointed in not only the childish artwork, but the story line.
Don't get me wrong, I like Crab Scrambly very much, but his work seems childish when compared to the detail of FSC. Mr Scrambly's work doesn't seem to fit the story at all, in my opinion. Another flaw is with the storyline it's self. Serena Valentino has said she'll release only one more volume after this. So, I was hoping this would shed some light on the creator of Annabell (as Annabell promised in the first volume, she would tell the tale of her maker) and how she escaped from Dominique, or what about Jillian's tale, or how Aunt Bea found Annabell.
I can only say that unless you are a hardcore fan, don't bother with this volume. It hardly includes Annabell to begin with!

Wow, this was just a fun book to read. There isn't much depth here, which I usually look for in a book, but it was such interesting action...beginning to end...that I'll give it 5 stars even though it's not going to change your mind or your life or your philosophy. It was just fun.

Of course, the ending came as a total surprise to me and was really interesting given events that came long after the story was written. I was actually in shock as I read it happening.

Not much else to say - this book was incredibly fun from start to finish. Just not deep...

not the best stephen king book i've read but still very cool book. a must read

I could not put this book down. I had to know how it was going to end. Another well written book by Stephen King/Richard Bachman. It definitely has the Bachman feel to it. It is not a happily ever after ending but the main character gets his justice in the end!

Set after 2020, I think what makes this story scary is the public's obsession with reality television...and the more gruesome and self destroying the better. In the book the participant is manipulated by the media, making him appear how they want him to appear...even that is scarily realistic!
King had amazing foresight to see how mercenary society could become. Okay...so we're not quite so sadistic to watch a game show that hunts people down and kills them but it's not THAT far fetched to imagine a world that would.

Great to read a book with a likable character who we can root for and an ending that fits the story.

I haven't met a Bachman book so far that I haven't been a fan of. While this isn't my favorite from the pseudonym, it is still very enjoyable. This book was originally published in 1982, and like "the long walk" focuses on a futuristic America. (this time the year 2025).

It's always interesting to read books written over 20 years ago about a futuristic America in which we now live. (even though we're not quite to 2025 yet) Some of the small things you notice are that cigarette vending machines are present, the costs of items are more representative of what they were in the 80's, and the dialogue has obviously changed. Most would look at these as distractions, but I actually found them enjoyable. It made me appreciate that much more the story Stephen King wrote because it gave me better perspective on when he wrote it.

In King's novel every household is, by law, equipped with a "free-vee" whose programming is designed by "the network". The "games" that people watch exploit those participating for the entertainment of those who are watching. (sound familiar?) This was written long before reality television was mainstream. One of the games depicted by King is called Treadmill to Bucks. The contestants run on a treadmill and have to answer questions. If they answer incorrectly the treadmill speeds up. According to the author, "they only accept chronic heart, liver, or lung patients sometimes throwing in a crip for comic relief".

Like all of his books, especially of the Bachman variety, the story centers heavily on the people. In this case it is Ben Richards an unemployed father whose daughter has pneumonia and he can't afford medicine. His wife is prostituting herself just to be able to buy black market medicine for the child and food for the family. (This is no Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film of the same name. They have very few if any similarities.)

Very enjoyable, and a quick read. Definitely recommended.