Castaways

In a fitting tribute to Richard Laymon, Keene introduces us to the cast of Castaways, a reality show taking place on an uninhabited island somewhere in the South Pacific. (Think Survivor, except… well, think Survivor.) We join the competition midway, as the contestants are swimming through the surf for this week’s immunity challenge.

Keene’s opening scene sets up the survival tone of the book beautifully. Becka’s struggle through and beneath the waves sets a precedent for later, deadlier races as the castaways are hunted by a furred hominid race of cave-dwelling cannibals.

The novel develops slower than most of Keene’s work, but he sets the table incredibly well: the castaways, the crew, the natives, and the locale are solidly show more established within the first 80 or so pages. And once the action starts, it’s relentless; Keene ably cuts back and forth between groups of contestants, giving the novel a cinematic flow.

With Castaways, Keene takes the spot as front-runner for horror novel of the year. And judging from the Urban Gothic preview, he could easily end up challenging himself. show less

This was a gory insanity romp through the mind of Brian Keene! Fun Stuff!

What would you do for a million dollars? Would you participate in a "survivor" type show on a deserted island with a bunch of strangers? Would you sacrifice life and limb for the big prize?

Well that is what happens with all the contestants on this show as they are participating for the mega bucks as they have to endure not only each other, but something else that is watching and lurking out in the wilds of the island.

When it makes itself known is when the crap hits the fan and the contestants have to go into survival mode to try to escape the "creatures" that have been watching and waiting for them since their arrival.

Who lives and who dies on this show? What show more kind of creatures are inhabiting the island? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

This book took off right away for me and it became hard to put down! The action was non-stop from the half way point to the end of the book which kept me on my toes as the minute I would put the book down, my fingers grabbed my kindle and wanted to keep going! I stayed up most of the night last night finishing up the last few chapters as I just could not go to sleep till I found out how it all ended!

This book was a bloody mess though as the gore was flying left and right within these pages! There were a lot of "cringing moments" within the gore sections of the book, but I "survived the night" to get through them as I just had to see what was going to happen next!

Giving this book four "Bloody" stars!

For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://crusader1515.blogspot.com/2021/09/castaways-by-brian-keene.html show less

Why read: Reality TV and horror? Sold.

What impressed me: Castaways was just great horror. It was scary and gross and kept me totally involved the whole story. I loved the mix of both human and inhuman evil out to get the castaways. I also loved the reality TV angle and how some of the character's personalities changed once things went bad and the cameras were off. I was completely impressed by Castaways and how it really used the Reality TV situation as opposed to it feeling completely gimicky.

What disappointed me: Character overkill. So many characters. So many names. So many things to remember about each. It was impossible to keep everyone straight. Not everyone needed a name and back story.

Recommended: Yes. Totally creepy. I'll show more definitely be checking out more from Brian Keene. show less

From the start, this book is very much an homage to Richard Laymon. The style, plot, and actions all follow what you would find in a Laymon novel. Keene uses the Afterword to explain some of the history behind the idea moving from short story to novel; you can read those details yourself in the book. I will state that as a fan of both Laymon and Keene, I loved the book!

The story follows a reality show cast as they proceed through their daily challenges. Not realizing of course that their challenges are about to get more serious and involve a lot more reality. The show, naturally called Castaways, is a close copy of Survivor where contestants are put on a deserted island and then vote someone off every couple of days. The problem ends up show more being that the island is not that deserted. A tribe of devolved, more-animal-than-human creatures are already on the island and they view the contestants as food or procreation hosts.

The action all took place in a 24-hour period which helped me to speed through the reading of the book. Things kept happening and I didn't want to put the book down. Maybe some of the minor characters weren't flushed out as much as they could be but they matched the same stereotypes that you would see in a typical reality show. In fact, one of the characters in the book even points that out and compares each character to their stereotype. You can't really get too much more specific about how the characters are supposed to act than that. A very fun read and one that should not be missed by horror fans. show less

Take Survivor, add some monkey-like creatures with teeth and claws, and a typhoon. Stir together on an island. And that's pretty much what you get with this book. Keene is a brutal and raw writer. He doesn't soften anything, and this book is no different. An interesting take on what happens when the crap hits the fan in a big way. Good fast read.

Castaways or as I like to think of it, "Survivor: Gore Island" is a superbly gruesome book by Brian Keene. The premise of the novel is modeled after the reality series Survivor, only on this island an unknown "beast' race is the indigenous species and they are none to pleased with the island newcomers. The thought of winning the million dollar prize on this show falls to the wayside as these contestants fight for their lives. This was the first book I have read by Brian Keene and I am looking forward to reading many more.

I was extremely hesitant to read this book due in part to the reality show element of the story. I hate reality shows and everything about them. It was a reasonable enough plot device to to join with the cryptid element and craft a story from though, so I forgive Keene. This wasn't his best work in my opinion, though it certainly held my interest and was by no means a "bad" read. I admit I was hoping for more blood and gore. It felt lacking in that area, at least compared to say, Urban Gothic. I read Keene because I know I will be diving into something horrific and frightening. So many works are labeled as horror, and feel like anything but to me. So in that sense, I was again slightly disappointed in this work. The pacing was adequate show more and there was a fair amount of action. I really enjoyed Troy's character as well. show less