The Fury

I really hadn't intended on reading this book this year. In fact, I really hadn't intended on reading this book at all. But having seen it at a book sale for a dime, I figured, why not? I remembered having seen the movie and not being terribly impressed by it…the only thing of note being that some scenes were filmed at Old Chicago, the first (so far as I know) combination indoor amusement park and mall. It was so far ahead of its time it even bombed earlier than it should've. But anyway.

This book came out during what I call The Great Horror Revival. Not that great horror ever went away, but it was Big Steve who brought it back into the center square with the sudden onslaught of "Carrie", "Salem's Lot", and "The Shining". Never mind show more their quality…consider the timing. They hit so hard and so fast—and rightly so—that suddenly everybody remembered, gee, horror books can be really cool! The films soon followed, and now everybody wanted to get into the act. Clearly the was some coinage to be had.

Not that John Farris needed it, of course, or was trying to cash in. No, it was just coincidence, I'm sure, that Farris puts out this book about highly talented PSI kids being chased by a couple of (probably) sinister agencies, one private, one governmental. Oh, and the father of one of them. It's all fairly complex and surprisingly engaging, which—perhaps not surprisingly—was the exact problem the film had…it just didn't grab you at all. Oh, there was plenty of action to be had—it is a Brian DePalma film, after all— but not much in the way of personality. So this is yet another case of, read the book, don't bother with the movie. Or, if you want to see the scenes with Old Chicago because you remember it fondly, by all means watch it; if nothing else it does feature the wonderful Carrie Snodgress, taken, alas, too soon.

Bottom line: this is a helluva entertaining read. I imagine a lot of the "kids with powers" stories that followed probably drew heavily from this one, as well they should. If only they were as original and well-drawn as this! You won't read it in a day, but you'll want to. Resist that temptation! This is a story to savor. Jamski sez check it out.

Oh. One more thing. When you go looking for this book, you should know that it's got a VERY open ending…meaning that there's sequels out there, and "The Fury" is good enough that you're almost certainly going to want to read them as well, so if you're in a bookstore and happen to find all three, by all means, get them. I can't vouch for the quality of the second two (yet, they're certainly on my list now) but based on the original you can hardly go wrong. Mind you, this doesn't apply in all series (see: "Twilight") but Farris knows his stuff and seems a solid bet. show less

Another book pulled from the wayback machine. It's funny that I remember exactly where and when I read this (August 1977, I was 15 and at a cottage my uncle borrowed from a friend for the week), but only truly remembered one scene from the book, when Gwyn uses the hash oil on herself and then has sex with Robin--not surprising, considering Robin was the same age as me, and I was a bit of a horny kid at that age (aren't we all?).

So, it was a pleasant surprise to come back to this book 39 1/2 years later and find it really enjoyable. I was a little worried having recently shelved a couple of later Farris novels without finishing them. But this one had a nicely complex plot, some interesting characters, and some deep research into the show more subject matter. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Farris did his homework, and between that and his higher-brow writing style really elevated this story beyond the standard horror potboilers released around the same time.

If I could change anything, I'd change three things.

First and foremost, there's some dreadful spelling errors and, in at least one case, an entire opening line to a scene is missing. This book suffered from some of the more heinous sloppy editing/printing than was the norm for the time, I think.

The second would be to perhaps dial back a touch on some of the description and dream sequences and tangents, and instead show us some of the in-between growth or changes to Robin in his 18 months in custody with Gwyn. We see some of the beginning, then skip the better part of a year and find a very different person at the end.

Finally, Farris--assuming this isn't more printing errors where they mixed up page orders--makes some puzzling jumps around in time, sometimes shooting forward, then going back again. For this one, aside from relating some background info, I think a more-or-less chronological approach may have served the story a bit better.

Overall though, I truly enjoyed this novel--enough to consider reading its follow-up, [b:The Fury and the Terror|699465|The Fury and the Terror|John Farris|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312060603s/699465.jpg|1469032] shortly. At times, this novel reminded me of the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry. I'd even go so far as to say Maberry owes a debt of thanks to Farris for giving him a bit of a blueprint for Joe.

Recommended...even if it is 40 years old.

One final story that has nothing to do with the book, but it's kind of funny. Back around 1980 or so, I was over at a friend's place with a bunch of buddies. We'd just finished playing poker and were channel surfing (all three channels) to see if there was anything on. We came across Brian De Palma's movie version of The Fury. All I remember is the end, where Amy Irving (as Gillian) makes John Cassavettes (Childress - Childermass in the novel) explode.

My memory may be a bit fogged, but I seem to remember that scene showing Cassavettes exploding from a couple of different angles. Regardless, dude exploded. Then, because it was network television, the scene abruptly cut to a commercial...for pizza.

We laughed for about ten minutes over that one. show less

I came of age in the 1970s, a fact that many people trying to figure me out seem to find significant. In terms of popular culture, it was a mixed bag. It is the decade that brought us The Shining, Sophie's Choice, and Ragtime, Coppola’s The Godfather and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. On the other hand, it was also the decade of leisure suits, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and the Bee Gees. It was a decade trying to recover from the turbulent times that preceded it, rethinking and reassessing all of the beliefs that it had previously clung to. Psychology became a new religion and The Joy of Sex became the Bible for a new generation.

I know I am supposed to be reviewing a reprint of The Fury, show more originally released in 1976, but this book really is a product of the decade that spawned it, hence the preface. It is a conglomeration of science fiction, horror, political intrigue, and parapsychological thriller with shadowy government agents pursuing two teenagers with psychokinetic abilities, intent on turning them into weapons to use against their enemies. The cast includes a professional government assassin, a hot young psychiatrist, a transvestite, and the quintessential evil genius who uses blackmail to manipulate the powerful into funding and supporting MORG, his super-secret government agency. There is also Gillian and Robin, two teenagers linked throughout history, whose destiny to be twins was thwarted by a prenatal accident. Still, they share a psychic link and powers that they are just beginning to understand.

Although the plot seems a bit farfetched now, it should be noted that it was written during the age of Watergate when political skullduggery was the norm and J. Edgar Hoover had files on everyone and used them to make the FBI the powerhouse of law enforcement that it was. There was also a level of gratuitous sexual activity that is unusual today. I found it particularly unsettling in that much of it involved children.

Bottom line: A lot of great books were written in the 1970s but The Fury will not be one that stays with me. It lacks originality and its flow is a bit on the clunky side. I also found it to be a bit dated. With references to Annie Green Springs Wine, Johnny Bench and Truman Capote, it makes a better tet for students of pop culture than a thriller.

The audio version produced by Tantor Audio was ably narrated by Joe Barret.

* The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. show less

I grabbed this because I read somewhere that Stephen King had liked it. Strangely, I feel like Mr. King borrowed extremely heavily from here and I'm curious as to why? This book is copyrighted 1976, and "Firestarter", King's book that heavily mirrors this, was printed in 1980! Both had TK talented children, chased by a shadow government, assisted by fathers, and even an Native American assassin! Even that final showdown on the pastoral government complex seem much too similar! Sure, the powers are a little different, and definitely the writing styles, but The Shop and MORG seem like exactly the same bad guys! Aside from that, I wasn't that impressed with this book, but I did finish it, so that's something. And I think Uncle Stevie show more should keep quiet about it in the future... show less

I had a hard time getting through this. It felt more like I was reading a screenplay than a book. Interesting premise and I actually liked the ending. I suspect I’d like the movie but the book just wasn’t for me.

This book was won in the Early Reviewers giveaway. I had wanted to read this since the early 80s but had never gotten around to it. I won this audio version read by Joe Barrett.
This was a good book, starts out interesting and builds on characters. This is the story of two psychic teenagers who have a terrible gift and don't know how to use it and the shadow government operatives who want to try and control it. There are some characters I would have loved to see fleshed out a little more, and some characters that are throw away. I was put off by some of the sex scenes and descriptions that seemed gratuitous and unnecessary.
Joe Barrett was a delight with his different voices and accents and characterizations. I would like to hear more show more from him.
Fun to listen to. show less

Joe Barrett has a great voice for audiobooks, a bit raspy. The story is a little bit like an early Stephen King story (which is a good thing). A fun thriller with psychic powers and horror elements. This book is from 1976, and the MP3 CD I received says "2017" as its copyright. So, I think this is a newer recording. I recommend it for King fans and fans of horror in general.