I have long been a lover of horror books, but only recently have I decided to step up my horror game. I have been getting more involved with instagram and facebook groups, and have learned about tons of horror books and authors that I didn't know about. Richard Laymon is one of those authors.

I picked up To Wake the Dead at a used book story. I thought it would be a good story about a mummy running amok. Boy was I wrong. This book is crazy! So many plots that only loosely come together at the end. It was like reading several books in one. I described this book to my friend as the one that has a mummy and a crazy sex dungeon. Those were the two most striking subplots to me. There is also a really annoying bit about some runaway teens trying to get to Hollywood. Blech. The little sister was awful. I could have done without this bit.

I really enjoyed the flash back, in the form of journal entries, to the discovery of the mummy, Amara. That part was fascinating. I loved reading about the archeological digs in Egypt.

It is hard to describe my feelings for this book. I read it quickly, in just over one day. It was very entertaining, and full of WTF moments. I really wasn't expecting so much sex, and the sheer kinkiness of it all. But I guess that is one of Laymon's trademarks. I am looking forward to reading more books by Laymon in the near future. ( )

This book had one great thing going for it: A 4,000 year old mummy is released of her magic-induced coma and busts out of her coffin in the present day, essentially going on a killing spree whilst trying to fulfill her ancient, ancient goals. I love the idea, but despite her name being the headline of this (UK version) novel, she's very much secondary for a lot of the in between, and that's the first of many stumbles.

What works against this book? First of all, and most annoying, the dialogue is usually not fun. It's juvenile. It's full of lame-ass contrived jokes that you imagine each character sporting a smug, shit eating grin after each sentence. It's simultaneously the kind of dialogue teenagers write to sound adult and adults write to sound like a teen again, and that's quite the feat, Mr. Laymon. I wrote many of my characters like this in high school. They weren't very good. Don't even get me started on Imad. There is a way to make a character sound very educated without being insufferable. You won't find it in this book.

There's also this whole kidnapped for torture-sex subplot that takes up much of the book's pages (and also is home to some of the worst exchanges of dialogue in the whole book), which starts off interesting enough, but takes too long to build to a meaningful climax (which is completely groan-worthy and absolutely contradictory to a certain character by the way), that I found myself skimming through those chapters until something important happened.

The only saving grace this book has is Amara. She is fierce, strong, and almost completely unstoppable. The fact that she "hungers" for human flesh is a bit disappointing but her scenes are fast, tense, bloody, and fun. The two that really stand out in this book are the struggle at Claire Thompson's home and the final battle that's Susan, Geoffrey, and Tag vs. Amara.

The book is weird. It's imaginative, and it's fast. Had it been any slower, I don't think I would have been able to finish it. I'm glad I did though, so I could see some of the characters I wanted to stop talking get ripped apart by Amara. This was my first Richard Laymon novel. I have maybe 24 left to read. I haven't written him off yet, but I'll be cautious of the next one. ( )

What if characters from a porno movie were stuck in a lackluster horror plot? This. ( )

Amara was one of the first book rings I signed up for through BookCrossing. The ring got stalled or lost along the way, so I purchased my own copy. Finally after having the book sitting on my shelves, I've bothered to read the book. Frankly, I wish I hadn't.

Amara the rampaging, blood thirsty mummy has very little to do with the over all plot of the book, save for killing off a bunch of otherwise pointless characters late in the book. The bulk of the story is actually a bunch of poorly written, ill-conceived erotica. There's a house with a basement where kidnapped people (of both genders) are being raped through plastic barriers but the experience is so pleasurable that they actually enjoy their situation (um, yeah, sure) and there's an Egyptian Copt who is apparently God's gift to womankind. So in between the Copt's sexual exploits and the torture in the basement, the actual plot of the curator and her detective boyfriend tracking down Amara before she can kill again lumbers along.

Frankly the book bored me to tears. Erotica. just isn't my thing and the sex in this book seemed to be the only point. Of all of the books I've read this year, Amara is one of the worst. ( )

Something a little different from Richard Laymon... As a matter of fact, as I worked my way through the first 50 pages or so, I actually wondered if the book was even written by Laymon (especially since the novel was published a year after Laymon's death in 2001). It didn't take long after that point in the book to put those thoughts to rest as it took off in classic Laymon style (i.e., gore, violence, sex, great characterization, and a non-stop, action-filled plot).

The story revolves around the Egyptian mummy, Amara, and suspicious murders that begin to take place in the museum that houses her body. When police find Amara's coffin lid open, the body missing, and strange markings and hair fragments on the dead body of a nightwatchman, the mystery begins to take shape. When another set of murders take place with the same MO, police and museum officials begin to question whether supernatural forces might be at work. Surely there couldn't be any connection between the deaths and the thousand-year old mummy, could there?

Laymon does a great job providing the reader with a number of diverse subplots and interesting characters that all come together in the end. Of the twenty or so Laymon novels that I've read, "To Wake the Dead" may have the most complex plot because of all of those sidebars. Because of this and the great cast of characters in TWTD, the book now ranks in my top 10 of favorite Laymon stories. Yes, it's a little different than some of his other works, but I would feel confident in saying that most of Laymon's fans will really enjoy this book. NOTE: A later publication of the book is entitled "Amara". ( )