Once I got going on this book I tore through it. This is definitely what I call a "porch book" - In the summer, I can sit and read for hours on the porch. Unfortunately, it's still pretty cold out, so I wound up reading it in bed when I should have been sleeping.

This is very well written splatter horror. Ketchum knows how to ratchet up the tension until the characters explode into violence and the blood flies. His characters are never good people and this book is populated with amoral and awful people, some of whom are sympathetic nonetheless. ( )

I hate Ketchum. The stories are too brutal and horrible to enjoy, but the writing compels you to keep reading. ( )

I hate Ketchum. The stories are too brutal and horrible to enjoy, but the writing compels you to keep reading. ( )

Rating: 3 of 5

Suspenseful with a steady pace. More thriller than horror. Obviously inspired by Manson (60s) and Berkowitz (70s). The only character I actually cared about or worried about was the cat. ( )

In this often times brutal and graphically violent novel set in the 1960s, Ray and two friends were out on a camping trip. While they were there, Ray shot and killed two women he thought to be lesbians at a neighboring campsite just to see what it would be like to kill them. Tim and Jennifer, the two friends, decided not to betray him, and there was not enough evidence for the police to nail Ray. Four years later, Ray is a drug dealer living large while working at his parents' motel. Ray is basically a worm of a person, a small man who stuffs his cowboy boots to make himself look taller. He's loathsome in almost every way possible, but yet remains a well-drawn character, not an easy feat to accomplish. The two cops investigating the case won't let it go, and are determined to pin it on Ray. Much like many other Jack Ketchum novels, the writing is visceral and violent, but he employs the violence more effectively here than he has in other novels. The voice he uses is strong and the action flows at a strong pace. Ketchum's writing is professional and enjoyable to read. The novel had some flaws but overall a solid piece of horror and suspense.

Carl Alves - author of Blood Street ( )