Malice

It took me almost a week to finish this book--but that's only because my 5th grade daughter kept sneaking it away from me and when we took a car trip with friends, the 5th grade son of my friend kept sneaking it away from her. Of course the flashy 3-D cover caught their eyes right away but it was the inside that hooked them. This book starts right out so creepy and mysterious that it pulls you right in. The mystery of the comic book featuring kids from missing children flyers and the chant to have Tall Jake 'take me away' is just too much to resist. Then the kids who recite the chant end up in the comic books and are trapped in a world of horrible mechanical monsters and crazy rules. It's the ultimate mix of fantasy, horror, and comics. show more The only thing I didn't like was the cliffhanger ending that left off in the middle of the story with no closure at all . . . but you can be sure I will be getting the next installment. I will also be definitely ordering this in for my elementary school library. show less

First of all I have to say that the cover of this book is startlingly creepy. It’s bold red with the title and an antagonist in eye-catching relief. I love it! I’ve traced the lines of that character (Tall Jake) a hundred times while reading it!

The description on the back cover pretty well sums up the plot of this YA horror novel. It says: “Once you get into the story, there’s no way out.” Well, the truth couldn’t be any plainer. Malice is the name of a comic book but it’s also the name of the place in the comic where, if the kids are foolish enough to take the dare of presenting the specified offerings and repeating the required chant, they find themselves in a dangerous world of monsters, caves, dark corridors, booby show more traps and many more hidden dangers. Just when I thought I’d come across the worst evil-doer, the following page would be all the more terrifying!

To Seth and Kady, best friends since childhood the rumors of Malice are too much to resist. What follows is an adventure of a lifetime – and maybe several lifetimes. The book is full of intrepid and resourceful teenagers battling the evil lurking behind every corner in the real world and in Malice. But they’re normal teenagers too – they have arguments with their parents and deal with peer pressure. And the antagonists!

I love adventure stories and when I saw the cover of this book, I couldn’t resist reading the first page. And then the next and the next. Ok, I had trouble putting the book down. Its easy to read format and the story line drew me in completely. The book’s beautifully graphic cover extends to the inside where the story is interrupted in at least six places by a comic depicting the action going on. That was great! Sometimes it’s easier (especially if you’re a visual person) to see something rather than have it described by the written word. So the descriptions of some of the fantastical creatures were depicted in equally strange drawings.

I didn't realize until I finished the book that this is a series! I cannot wait for the next one to come out! I love having books to look forward to...I recommend this book to any kid who loves creepy horror stories (who didn’t see or hear about or read at least one book from the Goosebumps series?). And some adults too! show less

As young adult books go, Malice's plot line is fantastic. Mixing the urban legends we all grew up with (ours was Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror) and the fantasy world of a comic book. Wooding does a good job of fleshing out the alternate reality, making it feel real and threatening. And integrating the graphical novel with the written is a superb change of pace, although I wanted more quality from the comic panels that felt rushed and, sometimes, difficult to discern. I'm guessing the quality of a high-caliber graphic artist is cost-prohibitive, still could't help wishing for it. And Tall Jake. We almost immediately started using that name for the bogeyman in our house. Great bad guy, all the way around. Just not enough of him (I'll show more assume he shows up more in later books).

While the writing was good, I didn't connect with the voice (I'm weird that way; can't put my finger on it). So I ended up speeding reading. The story seemed somewhat predictable until Kady discovered she had been to Malice and forgot. Nice turn.

My two gripes. Small one first. Kady and Seth meet Henry for the first time and almost immediately get him to agree to hypnotism. That earned an eye-roll.

Big gripe. It has no ending. I hate series novels that end with cliffhangers to create an appetite for the next novel. It's so unnecessary to leave the reader without a conclusion, and this novel is one of the biggest offenders I've read in quite some time. If you don't mind this kind of endings, then add a star to my review. show less

When I saw that Wooding had released a book that was part graphic novel and part book I was very excited. Not to mention the cool premise of the book. So when I was offered this book through the Amazon Vine program I was ecstatic. It ended up being a great book; I didn't realize that it is the first book in a duology. The second book "Havoc" is supposed to be released some time in 2010. Overall it is an interesting read and a pretty cool idea, it has some issues but for the most part those are out-weighed by the creative storyline.

Luke and Heather sit down to read a comic called Malice. Malice is full of incomplete stories of teens fleeing horrible things in the dark. Luke decides to try and summon Tall Jack, the bad guy from Malice, show more doing a ritual that kids are talking about. When the lights go out, eventually Luke finds out that the ritual worked. Seth is Luke's best friend and after Luke's disappearance he decides to check out Malice for himself. When he sees Luke's grisly death in the next issue of Malice he decides that he needs to stop Tall Jack. He willingly enters Malice and there runs into another boy that helps Seth learn the ropes. From there the boys descend into the hellish city of Malice.

This is an interesting book and it is very creepy. Most of the book is written as a novel. Specific fight scenes are then done as scenes from a graphic novel. So you have mostly book and a little graphic novel. Does this work for the story? Kind of. I am a big fan of graphic novels and books, so I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately the graphic novel scenes are done in a very sparse and non-detailed style. This ends up making it hard to tell what is going on in the graphic novel scenes, the scenes are actually drawn in a kind of immature way. I found myself wishing that Wooding had gotten the artist from one of the mangas I read (like Hellsing or Berserk) to draw the monster scenes, because they were just lacking.

As for the novel itself it was fascinating. Wooding does a good job of depicting a horror filled world that is interesting, very detailed, and full of wonder. The characters are so-so. They are kind of stereotypical and at times talk like they are in a cheesy action films, but I didn't really mind that much...it fit with the story. The strong point through is definitely the super creative world that Wooding has created. Also the idea behind how the kids get to Malice is fascinating.

Another warning, the book ends mid-plot...which always irritates me. The remainder of the story will be picked up in "Havoc". Overall I enjoyed the book, even though it wasn't perfect. I have previously read "Poison" and "Storm Thief" by Wooding and in both cases it was the ending that absolutely blew me away. So I will have to see how the next book plays out before I can fully judge this first one. show less

Really cool spooky fantasy that has sections in comic book format. It's not as beautifully illustrated or inclusive as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but it's a halfway decent comic and does advance the story. It's about a boy who vanishes inside a secret horror comic book, and his friends try to, first, find out if he's alive in there, and second, get him out alive. Pretty cool! There's a lot more to it than I originally expected, and it is clearly a first volume in a series (argh). I also love the three-dimensional cover! (it is sculpted plastic)

This book was a birthday present from a friend of mine. He loved The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray. I couldn't ge tinto that book, so I was a little hesitant about this one.

Malice follows Kady, a cute American girl living in England, and Seth. After their friend Luke disappears, they go on a scary and dangerous journey to find the truth behind the rumors of Malice -- the world and the comic book.

This book is really dark. From the cover art and the decription, it really didn't surprise me. However, I wasn't ready for some of the children in the book to die so casually. Granted, the characters in the book take it rather hard; however, Wodding writes it as though it is a normal occurance . . . Well, I suppose, in Malice it is.

I found it show more interesting that once inside Malice, the world takes on a steampunk type style. The automations are run on something other than steam; however, the concept of the creatures all being automations and made of cogs was very steampunk. It gave the world depth. Something about it also made it feel darker.

I love using the combination of graphic novel and regular novel! It defintiely gave it a unique reading experience. It also allowed the reader to share an experience with the characters in the book. Reading through the graphic novel/comic sections made me feel as though I was one of the unfortunate children to pick up a copy of the comic, Malice.

This was a good book! I really enjoyed it. Currently, I am trying to track down a copy of Havoc, but I'm having no luck! show less

I don't really read a lot of horror novels, but this one caught my eye in the library. Perhaps it was the picture of the eerie man with a mangled hand on the front cover, or maybe it was the foreboding title. Either way, I thought it looked interesting, so I began reading it. Malice is about two kids, Seth and Kady, investigating how Luke, one of their friends, disappeared. Looking for clues, they find out about Malice, a comic book. Rumor has it that if you gather up the right materials and say the right words, Tall Jake will come and take you away. In order to try and save their friend, Seth and Kady do the ritual, and this is where the amazing adventure begins.
The beginning of the book starts of a bit slower to try and explain all show more the ghostly activities happening around Luke and other victims, but the action picks up very quickly. The book is extremely well planned and thought-out. Truly, Malice seems like an alternate universe you could be teleported to. The characters, places, and events are all very realistic. The author makes great use of foreshadowing to foretell of events to come, but subtly enough so that not everyone can find it the first time around.
One of the only complaints I had about this book was the drawings. I couldn’t understand which character was which or what was going on until I looked through it three or four times. In my opinion, I think Wooding could have done a much better job than the artist just describing the action.
Once I picked up this book, I could not put it down. This must be one of the top three horror books I have ever read. The cliffhanger ending hooks you for so much more, and you can bet I’ll be running out to read Havoc, the ending to this amazing series. show less