Crimson

Reminiscent of King's "The Body" and "It" and Malfi's "December Park", "Crimson" is a coming-of-age-type book about 4 young boys who come face to face with pure evil when they resurrect a supernatural creature by mistake in a small Canadian town. The boys are sure that the creature is the disembodied spirit of Old Jacob Harrison who killed his entire family decades earlier. What they find is far more than any evil spirit that they could image. As the creature gets further and further inside the minds of the boys, they soon realize that they are unable to fend the creature off.

Parents and friends are of no use because only the boys can see the creature. Hopelessness and despair follow the boys as they age into their teens. The will of show more the creature comes and goes as he plays with their minds and emotions.

Rollo, author of the outstanding, "Jigsaw Man" does a credible job ramping up the horror and suspense throughout the book as the boys battle for their survival against the seemingly invincible creature. The book is primarily plot driven because there are fewer characters than one would expect in a story such as this. Moments of pure horror do pop up at different times throughout the story as the plot lumbers to a rather unexpected ending. The book drags a little in spots, but did have enough plot twists in the last third to keep me turning pages.

While I didn't find this book as engaging as "Jigsaw Man", I will certainly put Rollo on my list of authors to read again in the future. show less

Crimson is a tough one to review for me. After reading Rollo's fantastic The Jigsaw Man, I couldn't wait to dive into this one. Out of all the great books that I read in 2014, Jigsaw Man was tied for my absolute favorite. The writing was crisp, the characters were three-dimensional and fully fleshed out, and Rollo made an unbelievable story completely believable. Jigsaw Man was also his second novel. Crimson was his first and it shows. Gord's fantastic writIng style is still there. But, you can tell he was still cutting his teeth. The characters didn't feel fully developed and the story had the feel of a puzzle that was put together with the wrong pieces and were made to fit even when they didn't. Don't get me wrong. There are still show more some great ideas explored in Crimson. Unfortunately, all of those ideas didn't make for a great, cohesive story. I'm going to chalk this up as Rollo learned many things between writing Crimson and Jigsaw Man. If the progression between #2 and #3 as it was for #1 and #2, then the third story of his should be lights out. show less

Rollo's second novel (hot on the heels of his amazing debut, THE JIGSAW MAN), is a mixture of Stephen King's IT, Ed Lee's INFERNAL series, and a violent men's prison flick.

In 1977, four young friends discover an underground bomb shelter and decide to make it their fort. But before long they help to unleash a demon who's been hell-bent on escaping its temporary prison for over 20 years. After being tormented by a huge spider and talking scarecrow, one of them is eventually murdered by this dark being, and (oddly enough) things sort-of go back to normal.

Flash forward to 1986. Johnny has become the youngest person ever to rise to power in Canadian Parliament, and his friend David is continually plagued by gruesome nightmares stemming from show more their childhood experience. And worse---David begins to realize the creature has come back to use him and his friend Tom for its grand plan: it frames him for a savage murder, and David winds up with mutliple life sentences.

Hence we come to the third section of the book, set in 2006: David spends his time behind bars, trying to convince himself he's better off where he is with no creature to cause further harm. Johnny comes to visit him one day and reveals an awful truth about the creature and his father. On top of this, David is forced to be a "corner man" for one of his friends in a brutal underground prison fight known as The Game--where the loser doesn't leave alive. He begins to suspect one of the participants is under the creature's control but discovers there are worse things coming his way than he could ever had imagined.

From its shocking opening pages to the horrific conclusion, Rollo's CRIMSON--while featuring a familiar story and several been-there-done-that scenes--manages to give it all his own flavor and ends up with quite a satisfying read. As with his previous novels' updating of the Frankenstein Mythos, CRIMSON will be enjoyed by anyone into the coming-of-age tale. 'Big plus here for Chapter 25's prison fight scene: it'll have you rooting and cheering like the first time you saw ROCKY.

(Note: Prime Books originally released this as a Trade Paperback in 2002) show less

Crimson wasn't IT by any means, although the similarities are there. I really had a fun time reading through this book as I tried to figure out what would happen next, but every time I tried to do so I was unable to accurately predict anything, except for some parts of the ending.

The monster of this story is a really evil being, one that I really wasn't expecting to read about when I first picked up this book. Its--or rather his--back story is well done and provides an interesting perspective on classic interpretations of one of the common planes of existence following death.

The main character is quite engaging and his ability to think things through and find what he needs to help those he knows--and those he doesn't--solidifies his show more part in the story.

Depending on your point of view, the novel could have a downer ending, but I prefer to think that the conflict that has been created at the end will be able to resolve itself well. Gord Rollo has done an excellent job with this story. I give it four stars out of five. show less

Crimson is a fun read for those looking for something in the paperback horror genre. It is light on character development and leans more on the plot and action to drive momentum. The creature, as it is referred, is the most fully realized character in the book with the other cast members there to provide a medium for its mayhem. There's no real connection made with the other characters other than to garner some empathy for what they have to endure. But its fun mayhem with memorable scenes and an interesting description on the origins of the creature.

The book is also billed somewhat as a coming of age story although I disagree. The book is divided into thirds with so much time spanning between each section and a sudden shifting to the show more future each time. The result is three separate but related storylines. There is also no real camaraderie between the characters. No coming together as a group to fight the evil in their midst. I don't make this point as a criticism. It's just as a heads up on expectations for those looking for another Stephen King's It or Dan Simmons Summer of Night.

So read it for what it is: a good, but not great, horror tale from one of the new writers in the genre. I’ll look for more from Gord Rollo in the future. show less

I absolutely loved this book. Good ole fashion horror that had me almost looking under my bed! AND, I can never watch the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz again without thinking of this book. Great read!

I absolutely loved this book. Good ole fashion horror that had me almost looking under my bed! AND, I can never watch the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz again without thinking of this book. Great read!