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Title: Pact of the Fathers by Ramsey Campbell ISBN: 0-312-87869-9 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 December, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: flat and uninvolving
Comment: This novel never really shifted into second gear. There were few surprises, much of the plot was painfully obvious, and there were far too many descriptions of insignificant things. There was not much sense of menace or suspense in this so-called horror novel, and the climax felt rushed and tacked on. A major disappointment from this usually stellar author.
Rating: 1
Summary: Not a review, just a caution
Comment: I'm not usually so restrained in my vitriol as I will be today, for I admit I haven't read the entire book. In fact, I couldn't get past the prologue.
The second page features the phrase "...the inside of her skull...", the fourth "...stabilized the contents of her skull...", and the sixth, "...The contents of her skull had almost..."
In amongst this repetitive prose is a fair amount of overwriting. Sentences run-on like an excited child recounting playground exploits. Imagery is too gravid by far. Simply, I couldn't continue any further. There is little to suggest that this is more than a first draft, rushed into circulation to capitalize on the author's name.
Even the opening sentence "...lost count of how many times she'd stopped herself wishing she were somewhere else..." has escaped much-needed editing.
Fans of the author and those new to his work have a right to be suspicious, for it seems they have been treated without resepect: "Give 'em muck" (often credited as a quote from Dame Nellie Melba) seems to have been taken to heart by publisher and author alike.
So I'd suggest being very cautious, and read a good 20 to 50 pages prior to purchasing this book. It may pick up after this, but I am unwilling to bet the rent money on it. I was taught, y'see, that you need to grab hold of the reader's imagination immediately and there should be your best writing.
Quite clearly, if this is the case, and the book goes downhill from here, I used my time wisely, by moving to more proefssional, skilled authors.
Rating: 1
Summary: Schlocksmith
Comment: I'd like my five hours back. Stilted dialogue, poor characterization and the abovementioned total lack of any surprise thanks to the jacket notes make this the least entertaining novel I've read this year. I wanted to cringe every time Mr. Campbell mentions the main character looking into a mirror. I wanted to vomit when she gets "physical" with the love interest. I was amazed at the number of people in this book's universe who wear t-shirts, and shocked that the author might think that we care about such a thing. Or the minute details of a character's bathing habits. Or the way every thing seems to stab the eyes like a knife. Tired imagery, yes, and cliched and undeveloped supporting characters throughout. Must the author describe the orientation of every female character's breasts?
A novel is about character development in a protagonist. This lacks even that -- Daniella throughout the book is by turns bereaved, confused, apologetic and self-righteous, but never seems to grow out of these things. She remains a caricature of a whiny extra from the set of "Trainspotting" or "Sliding Doors" who is caught up in a conspiracy that she can't hope to expose because she clearly is incapable of understanding it. As is the reader at the end of the novel.
The one plot twist (which would have made O. Henry or Hitchcock cringe) is so blantant by the midpoint of the book that the reader is left waiting for the other shoe to drop. I would expect this sort of unvarnished story-telling in a cartoon spinoff for an action figure, or from a TV movie on a third-rate cable channel. Far from being a great novel, or even a good novel, this is not even a moderately well-crafted novel. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of it comes in the "Acknowledgements," in which Mr. Campbell states that "the greatest strengths of [this book] are the work of my editor," who has clearly been paid far too much.
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Title: The Darkest Part of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell ISBN: 0765307669 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Gateways by F. Paul Wilson ISBN: 0765306905 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Speaks the Nightbird, Vol. 2: Evil Unveiled by Robert McCammon ISBN: 0743471393 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz ISBN: 0553802496 Publisher: Bantam Books Pub. Date: 09 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Taking (KOONTZ, DEAN) by Dean Koontz ISBN: 055380250X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 25 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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