This book was very creepy. It made me uncomfortable as I read it, in the very best way. I loved it. ( )

One Rainy Night is my fourth Laymon book after In The Dark; Darkness, Tell Us and Among The Missing.

I have learned not to expect any depth or character development in a Laymon book. All of this is thrown overboard in favor of suspense and action.

But in this one, I don't know. It just didn't hang together well. Don't get me wrong, the idea is killer. An isolated town where simply going outside will turn somebody homicidal. It could have been Laymon's 'Salem's Lot. In the hands of Stephen King or Bentley Little this would have been a classic.

Part of the problem is that Laymon focuses on too small a group of people. Maybe between chapters it would have been helpful to show what else is going on in the town. After the first few chapters you forget that there are more than ten people in Bixby.

Also, it often seems like the characters aren't especially concerned. One of the groups you follow has the time to park it on a sofa and watch A Fistful Of Dollars. Why wouldn't they spend that time barricading themselves in?

Another thing is the crazies themselves. It seems like the rain drives people over the edge and turns them into animals. Great! Then later in the book they are acting more rational. Being scared off by threats of violence. Where was the madness we saw earlier? When some of the good guys get wet the can just sort of shrug it off. We aren't even told how they do it. It just seemed like Laymon changed the rules whenever it suited him.

If One Rainy Night were a movie, it would be the type of move where you are hoping for a remake to improve the original. The idea was there, it just wasn't followed through. ( )

http://monsterlibrarian.com/zombies.h... ( )