OYENTE

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Didn't stick the landing for me.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-03-25

Don't get me wrong, it's a fun read, And If you are an extreme horror fan there is plenty of gore and taboos. However, the gore seems to be there to check boxes - not for necessity - and the story just didn't pull it together for me.

This will sound funny to some of you, but I found myself asking "What is the character motivation here?" a lot during this short read. So many dumb decisions, with no foreseeable payout. It was the literary equivalent to yelling "Don't go in there! why would you do that?" in a 80s B-Horror flick.

Maybe it was overhyped - I kept hearing people say "Oh, you've gotta check out 'Gone to See the River Man,' it was very disturbing." And that title is exquisite! So, I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunate for me; the character reveal of Lori was well-done and I found myself wanting to hear more flashback chapters and the backstory for other characters with run-ins with the River Man more than the adventures of Lori and Abby. The performance didn't help either. she isn't bad, but her "Abby" was grating and every male character has the same intonations and accent. And there were a number of mispronounced words (I wouldn't normally even care, but they happened enough that it pulled me out of the story). I might try one more by the Author before I write them off entirely.

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Well, that was disturbing.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-19-25

Quality story that puts a grimy sheen on a hopeless afterlife. some extreme content, though not gratuitous or unnecessary. Each new horror leading our protagonist on an unavoidable journey.

Great performance, well-written story.

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Another tasty read by Ketchum.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-08-24

Dark, twisted, and terrifyingly delicious. I could tell you about the obvious thematic similarities to The Hills Have Eyes, or lean into the gruesome lengths that the protagonists go to in order to survive this living nightmare... but I won't (go read another review for that - I am sure there is one).

Instead, let me tell you what Ketchum adds to horror in this, and all his other books. Realism.
His signature brand of horror is utterly doused in it. No supernatural elements. No undulating, polymorphic, subterranean monster crawling from it's watery hole. Just gritty, unabashed human horror.

These "vultures" reside in a trash-filled, dank cave... True enough. But they also find a home in the logical part of the reader's mind. Those fears that live on the periphery of the nervous system. Those chills that can surface in broad daylight; because they are human fears, with human origins.

If you are a thirty-six year old man who worries about a chance run-in with a vampire - you may cause your friends to worry. However, the concern over the neighborhood adult who spends too much time with children, or the town dreg who seeks retribution on a society that he feels has wronged him, or (in this case) the inbred family who is responsible for a number of recent disappearances... well, that is only logical.

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Great concept!

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-22-24

I really loved the concept of a horror story told from the perspective of a child. She functions as an unreliable narrator at times while still being extremely intuitive when it comes to reading those around her.

Spooky ghost story, with a bit of a twist.

my only gripe, and it is a small one, is the mother character at times is so unbelievable self-absorbed that it is just that... unbelievable.

Yes, there are bad parents out there. Yes, there are selfish people... however, Ursula puts that front and center for almost the entire book.

Great proformence as well!

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Another Fantastic Ketchum piece.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-07-24

The pacing, character depth, and narration are all on point for this gritty little thriller that pairs some wannabe outdoorsy types with a PTSD stricken Vietnam Vet. Ketchum always nails the human driven horror for me; enjoy!

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I really wanted to love it.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-14-23

So, let me start by saying that I am a huge Stephen King fan (Joe Hill's father), and though I don't think that Hill should emulate his father's writing style (he is his own author) I was hoping that some of his father's style would rub off on him.

The performance was fine, not amazing, but good. However, some of the character voices were grating. Now I would prefer a few grating voices over not having individualized voices at all. So in the end I was satisfied.

Now for the bulk of the review: Many people complain that King's works (especially the longer pieces) meander and "go on and on." However, I never found that to be the case King does a lot of world building and character development - the more work the character needs to do, the more time that takes.

In NOS4A2 I found that exact criticism true of Hill's work. I read his collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, beforehand to get a taste for his writing style - and though not all the short stories were great, I enjoyed the bulk of them. So it was NOS4A2 or Heart Shaped Box for my first deep dive into his Novels.

The story starts strong and Vic (the main character) is given a good intro with her crumbling family. However, the meandering starts after her first run-in with Manx (our immortal antagonist). It is as though Hill wanted to put a space of time between her initial encounter and her ultimate showdown (I get it), but he just didn't stick the landing. It felt like inconsequential pieces of life that didn't define her struggle nor show that she was progressing - only regressing. And maybe that was what he was going for. However, I found myself bored with her lack of effort with her son and husband/ex husband, as well as her hospitalization for "hearing dead people" which we only read about in past tense. Plus her overall lack of belief in her own experiences.

So, I assume, at some point she will have a watershed moment where it all comes flooding back to her "Yes, I did have this experience, Yes, I have seen crazy things. This Horror is real!" but no. She just accepts that all these things that she did experience and remember (THE WHOLE TIME) are real once her son is kidnapped and taken to xmas land. Her lack of awareness gets old too. She has a magical bridge that takes her to wherever she NEEDs to go, and once arriving seems to forget she is tracking evil men who tried to kill her, kidnap her son, murdered her dog, beat her with a hammer... and upon passing a "God is Dead - only devils remain" sign of a burned church seems to think "Yeah, I will drop my guard and 'Sir, may I use your phone.'"

Pair that with an FBI agent who sees bizarre things that cant be explained, and weird coincidences that Vic shouldn't know about, but still doesn't believe our character not to mention essentially teleportation (that she can track). What convinces her? well the 5th time Vic says the same thing to her, of course.

I finished it, and loved the nods to Stephen King's work within the story, Manx is a cool villain... but boy, oh boy did I have to force myself to get through the last 9 hours. Which is just not how I want to feel when trying to enjoy a book.

I saw another review that said "Everytime I took a break from this, I had to give myself a pep talk to turn it back on again." - I felt this in my bones.

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Great story, many characters.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-20-21

If you are like me, you love the characters that King breathes life into. This book has got them, and boy are there some quality villains... the REAL kind. I like this story to if King wrote Lord of the Flies.

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The final entry in the BH's Trilogy

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-08-21

As always Will Patton's performance is amazing. He knocks this final instalment right out of the proverbial park.

With this final entry, King lets the old Det- Ret. try to track his nemesis Brady, the suicide prince, as a slew of suicides begin to emerge in the Midwest town. Holly once again steals the show with her brilliance and Bill deals with a stomach issue that may be far more serious than he is letting on.

End of Watch is a wonderful final chapter to a series I adore. But don't worry avid readers (listeners), Holly will be back in the Outsider and If It Bleeds for those that need that amazing detective goodness!

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Another great by the greats!

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 06-22-21

Will Patton once again brings the words of King to life in a way that only he can. Before the final chapter finished, I had already purchased the last of the Bill Hodges series, End of Watch!

This creeping spine-chiller is a slow burn that takes the story of an obsessed fan to different (from Misery) levels. Once again I feel the need to tell readers that King brings characters to life in a way that makes there unshakeable presence known... and remembered.

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Deep waves of emotion.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 06-22-20

Absolutely incredible! This was my 14 King book, and he does it again. When I started reading King it was to experience horror that has been sensationalized by popular culture. What I found in his writing was the most human of experiences bracketed between mystery and characters, so real that you would swear you knew the same people.

This story is nothing short of heart wrenching. The performance by Fuller was impeccable. I highly recommend this book to anyone in need of a deeply loving and troubling story. Whatever should I read next!

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