Rating: 
Summary: Creepy Book...I've Read It Twice...
Review: There are very few books that I keep on my shelf to read more than once, but this is one of them. The setting is mesmerizing: a mysterious keep in Transylvania. Who built it and why? These questions haunt the German captain who stations his men there.Set in WWII, the author does a great job of evoking the feelings of the time. The German captain has a disdain for the Nazi SS squad that comes to "rescue" the men who are being killed. It is a fascinating combination of a vampire creature and a true monster--the Nazi who is on his way to command a death camp. The only let down is the female character and the love affair. The character is a lame stereotype. Worth a read, though, and part of a larger series (although it stands alone just fine).
Rating: 
Summary: Who are these guys?
Review: I, Originally, read this book in the early 80s and immediately anoited F.Paul Wilson as one of my five favorite authors. I read everything he writes and I'm never dissappointed. Like any author, some of Wilson's work is better than others but I always thought 'The Keep' and 'The Tomb' were his crowning achievements. Most of his later work was derived from these two works.
So why are the more recent reviews trashing this masterpiece.
This is the 47th review. Of the first 28 reviews, there were 23-5 stars and 5-4 stars. Then in June of 2001 came the first 3 star which seemed to encourage a lowering of the reviews. last month, December, the roof caved in when three people gave 'The Keep' reviews of 4,1,3 and 1 star. The first 28 reviews were almost solid 5 star, the last 18 reviews have averaged 3.2 stars, almost two stars less. I find it curious that any piece of literature could have such a wide divergence of approval.
What happened? Perhaps, Dr. Wilson broke a mirror, thereby receiving 7 years bad luck. I doubt that for I would be trashing him as well. Maybe, a jealous writer is ghost writing less than stellar reviews. Possibly, the age old Evil presence has finally escaped the Keep and is seeking revenge on our author by possessing people to write negative reviews. I think not. What I think is that several reviewers thought they were reviewing a book by Danielle Steel.
The point is that this is a fine book. How anyone could give this a one or two star rating amazes me. Have they ever read a one star book? I have and I call them STINKERS. This book stands on it's own merits. Wes Craven and Dean Koontz probably wish they had written this book. The King (Steven King),I recall, has said he really enjoys Wilson's work and Repairman Jack (The Tomb) is his favorite character,by any author.
In summation, 36 people got it right, read their reviews, then buy the book but beware there are, I believe, 4 sequels ending with the absolutly horrifying Nightworld.
Rating: 
Summary: Laughable - Not scary
Review: "The Keep" is exceptionally dull, and reads like something written by Barbara Cartland. This is not a classic horror story, horror lovers, and people who treasure the correct use of english will be turned off by the lurid passages, run-on sentences, and ridiculous plot.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book I read all year....
Review: Buoyed by the praise garnered for this book ... I purchased this book with reasonably high hopes. However, it turns out that the best part of the book was in the imagining. Unfortunately, the story is dull, populated with cardboard characters, and instead of building to a satisfying denouement, the book cranks along on rusty gears, until it slowly and thankfully eases to a halt. From this purchase onward, I have learnt to read...reviews from the "Lowest rating first" What a pity I can't set that choice as my default.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining at times, laughable at others
Review: (Some minor spoilers) A horror novel with a brilliant premise (Nazis get torn to pieces by a mysterious evil entity), it begins to drag after the first third, where it feels like Wilson is going through set actions rather than writing a real narrative. The beginning starts off with extreme promise, reading off so flawlessly and so vividly it feels like you're watching it on screen. It builds with that inevitable dread as we read off a soldier tearing off a protective cross from the keep wall (the cinema cue where the audience is screaming "stupid, stupid, stupid!"). Naturally, he dies, and following his death come several more bloody and similarly brutal attacks. Wilson advances the story by introducing a mysterious hero, whom we'll return to later, a Jewish professor and his daughter, and WIlson's crowning achievement, a rivalry between the commanding German army officer and a newly arrived SS officer. Then it gets bad. This is a novel where females would not have been missed. It sounds sexist, but hey, it's true, and I'm female too. Wilson's one prominent female character, Magda, is vapid, spends half of her time wringing her hands, crying and worrying, and the other half in a sexual self-discovery that is annoyingly detailed and really, hackneyed (which may be partially forgiven seeing as when it was written). Some readers may see the steamy sex scene as a perk, but really, it is completely superfluous, out of place, and self-indulgent of the author. The villain and hero are similarly mangled. I was actually afraid of Molasar/Rasalom (the author throws in this name change for seemingly pure randomness, although this may relate to a legend about control over demons) for a while, but once he was revealed in a tangible form, he lost all his frightening aura, and just sounded like a hypocritical, pompous aristocrat. There is no way the reader can either fear or respect him. As for Glenn, he is an underdeveloped protaganist, with no real flaws to make him either real or likeable, possibly excepting his "true" love Magda, another cliche from which Wilson suffers. The ending is somewhat flat and predictable, but seeing as how the book itself winds up, it's no real surprise.
Rating:
Summary: FUN!
Review: I grabbed this one on a whim, because I vaguely remembered reading it many years ago. I blasted through Harry Shannon's terrific "Night of the Beast," and then started my copy of "The Keep." I could not have planned a better sequence if I'd tried. This is a total, pulp-style blast of a book. I think the Scott Glenn movie, which was kind of a dud, had caused me to forget how delightful the original novel was. It kept me up half the night !I highly recommend it. Really fun!
Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Evil versus...well, the Ultimate Evil
Review: F. Paul Wilson's fine thriller "The Keep" combines so many horror elements that eventually one expects a good old fashioned ghost to be thrown in for good measure. These men are indeed haunted, but it's by much more than a ghost. The underlying, supreme evil of the vampire appears to be so indestructible, especially after it squashes a Nazi regiment with the ease of a rabid wolf in a flock of sheep, readers will find themselves wondering what the resolution of this tale could possibly be. A Nazi regiment moves into an ancient castle in the Transylvanian Alps during World War II, accidently unleashing an evil force that apparently inspired ancient vampire legends. Needless-to-say, these German warriors are picked off one by one. When an SS extermination squad arrives on the scene to "fix" the problem, all hell literally breaks loose. "The Keep" is the beginning of Wilson's Adverary Cycle (including "The Tomb" and "The Touch"), but it stands alone as a terrific tale combining elements of horror, vampire legend, fantasy, H.P. Lovecraft and, of course, our fear/fascination with the ruthless evil of the Nazi legacy. Readers will instantly identify with Theodore Cuza, an ederly Jewish professor brought to the castle to solve the horrible murders. He secretly seeks to communicate with the vampire, using it's power to conquer the Nazi war machine. Yet another character appears at the castle - a mysterious red-haired man known as Glenn. His purpose is to keep the vampire within the confines of the castle - we think. Naturally, Cuza has a beautiful young daughter strangely attracted to Glenn. It's almost impossible to put this book down. If you've experienced the greatness of the Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing Hammer vampire films of the 1960s, you will absolutely love this tale. Sure, parts of this book are cheesy and at times it has the feel of an energetic video game. But "The Keep" also establishes multiple tragic characters, among them Captain Klaus Woermann. A veteran German commander (and anti-Nazi) who simply wants to save his rank-and-file men from the growing evil of the castle, his emotional conflicts will create an unueasy tension throughout the novel. We actually care for Woermann and can even identify with the uncomfortable moral choice Cuza must face. What will enthrall fans of horror about "The Keep" is the standoff between imagined ultimate evil (the vampire) versus realistic ultimate evil (Nazi soldiers). It is a fascinating contrast. In fact, the unusual combination was so tempting talented film director Michael Mann decided to make this novel into a muddled 1983 film. The misguided effort eventually became bogged down in incoherent evil vs. evil symbolism. But don't judge "The Keep" by that nearly forgotten film. It is a finely detailed horror/fantasy novel which fans of this type of genre will absolutely gorge themselves upon.
Rating:
Summary: Nazis, vampires, and immortals, oh my!
Review: The Keep was also a good read. At first, I was like, "Oh god no, not another horror novel with Nazi's in it!" because that theme has tended to be overused in horror from time to time, but I was pleasantly surprised.
German soldiers and Nazi's have been assigned to guard and protect a mysterious stone structure with a tower. However, there is something already there that doesn't want them for company.
Rating:
Summary: WWII + Vampires = Greatness
Review: It is very hard for me to like books. But I picked this one up. I love pretty much anything about World War II. Plus I love anything about Vampires. Putting them both together makes a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Intensely Great
Review: This is one of my all time favorite books. It is creepy and clever and its just an all around great story. Any fan of horror will find this book agreeable. It has everything!
| 
