Rating: 
Summary: THE LOST TINKERS W/ THE MIND OF A MADMAN
Review: RAY PYE has murdered two girls just for the fun of it, meanwhile; his two young, impressionable friends stood and watched in terror, forever bound by this dark secret. In this roller-coaster novel we meet several troubled youth in a 1969 setting( WAR, WOODSTOCK, MANSON, STDS etc). The three primary characters:RAY, TIM, and JENNIFER are basically three losers going nowhere fast. Ray's charcter is developed nicely for the simple fact that you can never really get in his head. Tim and Jennifer are a few years younger than Ray and basic subserviants, each trying to earn his approval. Ray is a pathological liar, abuser, and womanizer with extremely little patience. Ketchum keeps the reader out of depression with characters like ED ANDERSON (retired detective), CHARLIE SCHILLING (Detective, ED's good friend), Sally Richmond (Apple of Rays eye - ED ANDERSONS young mistress. AS the plot unfolds Ray's "WOMEN" begin to turn on him. First, Sally Richmond (who blows RAY off immediately, then Katherine (who RAY procaims to LOVE) and finally Jennifer. While this is unfolding detective SCHILLING (whose character I though was kinda boring and could have been better developed), is intense on nailing RAY for the murder of the girls four years prior. But what Schilling dosen't know is that RAY's rage is about to take over and he's in for one hell of a battle - a battle that would ruin a town and change every characters life forever. A fun, easy read with depressingly sad characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Horror where you wait for the next shoe to drop
Review: A bored or angry Ray Pye is a dangerous person. In June 1965 in Sparta, New Jersey, Ray, accompanied by his girlfriend Jennifer and his best friend Tim, goes camping when he sees two girls touching and hugging one another. He concludes they are lesbians, a sexual preference he abhors. He shoots and kills one and leaves the other in a comatose state. Four years later, the second girl dies. Neither Jennifer nor Tim snitch on Ray and no other evidence links the sociopathic killer to the crime. Tim and Jennifer fear Ray and do anything he demands of them. Jennifer continues to have sex with Ray though he openly cheats on her all the time. When Katherine enters his life, Ray falls in love his style. However, she dumps him leading to a rampage that makes his previous homicides seem like a night at the opera. Jack Ketchum is a master of suspense and horror of the human variety. With each new novel he writes, Mr. Ketchum's plots seem to become scarier and scarier. THE LOST is horror at the edge of reality. The story line seems lifted from headlines making it even more frighteningly plausible. Readers so believe in what this Bram Stoker winner writes, there is probably a high correlation between installing new security systems and the release of a new Mr. Ketchum chiller. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Ketchum Does Suspense, Too
Review: After having read several Jack Ketchum books recently, I've finally discovered the secret to his success; he opens a book about true-life serial killers, picks out some psycho, and uses that as a basis for a story. Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door" utilized the case of Gretchen Baniszewski, "Joyride" borrowed elements from the case of spree killer Howard Unruh, and "Off Season" apparently took material from the Sawney Bean family. In "The Lost," Ketchum continues this trend to tell a story that is more suspense than horror, and he sets it in the tumultuous 1960's. This isn't your typical whodunit; the book starts off with a double murder committed by three teenage friends. They commit the murders because they want to see what it feels like to kill people. The rest of the story is a flash forward four years into the future. One of the teens, who evades capture by local police, is living the high life as a local drug dealer while living and working at a motel run by his parents. Despite (or perhaps because of) his vanity, his cruelty, and his sociopathic tendencies, he is able to gather around him a motley assortment of losers who follow his every order and whim. Since we know who did the crime right from the start, we're left wondering where Ketchum is going to take us. There is no need to worry about that. Ketchum populates his novel with more than enough intriguing characters. Two of the most important characters are the cops who investigated the original killings, and who are still attempting to pin the murders on the teens. One of the cops, Ed Anderson, who retired after the killings, comes to see that he has a personal stake in catching the killers. The other cop is Charlie Schilling, who delights in harassing the suspects in an effort to get a confession. The ringleader of the three killers is a fictional representation of real life murderer Charles Schmid. Schmid killed several women in Arizona during the 1960's. Even a cursory comparison shows that Ketchum borrowed heavily from the Schmid case in order to create his killer. Schmid excelled at gymnastics during high school, wore makeup, stuffed his boots with paper to make himself look taller, told outrageous stories to attract followers, and even walked with an unusual gait. Ketchum's killer shares every one of these traits. This book reminded me of Ketchum's "Joyride," but this book is developed better and is more fun to read. One reason is length; Ketchum gives himself 400 pages to draw deeper characters and better atmosphere. Everyone comes across as authentic, from the teenage killers to the young ladies who may end up as victims. What doesn't work as well here is the time frame. The book takes place in the late 1960's, but Ketchum gives only a few references to that effect. He does throw in a few references to the moon landing and the Manson murders, but there were many times that I forgot the time frame of the story. Ultimately, I think the story would have worked just as well if it had been set in modern times. "The Lost" is one of Ketchum's better novels. I really had no idea how the story was going to end while I read the book. You do know that there is going to be some type of gruesome scenario (it is Ketchum, after all), but he hides it so well that the ending surprised me. This is a good read for those who like suspenseful books, as well as those who don't get enough Jack Ketchum in their diets.
Rating: 
Summary: Booooring
Review: After the energy of Off Season, anything is bound to be a dissapointment, but this is just boring. I didn't care about the characters, except maybe the cat, the writing is typically conventional, the plot was weak, I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of developmet going on--i certainly didn't buy that the "bad guy" would kill people because he got turned down for a date and isn't as tall as he'd like to be--and i really had to struggle to finish it. It starts well, and ends well, but if you're like me, and want to read this because you like ketchum and/or horror stories just read the beginnign and then skip to the end because a whole bunch of nothing happens inbetween. If you're interested in character development and loss of inocence, read The Bottoms by Joe Lansdale.
Rating:
Summary: First time Ketchum reader fascinated....
Review: by this writer's skillful prose about three friends who are involved in a murder in the 1960's. Ketchum displays solid storytelling ability with an ability to shock and dismay. This book had a lot of juvenile atmosphere, but that was exactly the point and some reviewers didn't get it. It was juvenile like a good Laymon novel is G-O-O-D!! Ketchum is a lightning rod to the horror field and I believe he is a truly gifted writer with a NO-HOLDS-BARRED attitude and I am definitely a lifetime fan of this interesting "new-old" writer. For those of who have not read him, beware he is truly graphic and a bit close to the edge. Fans of Laymon and Little will gobble his output up.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading Marketing
Review: Disquieting. Uncomfortable. Honest.
Those are the three words I think best sum up this novel. I'd never read anything by Ketchum before and was hesitant to shell out [money] for an unknown quantity, but I'm very glad I did. The book centers around the inhabitants of a sleepy New Jersey town in the summer of 1969. You've got Ray Pye, an unconvicted sociopathic murderer. There's Tim and Jennifer, his unhappy lackeys. There's Schilling, the cop who knows Ray killed two girls in a park four years ago, but can't prove it. And Katherine, the new girl in town, strangely fascinated by Ray. The Lost is an especially apt title. Every character, from the afore-mentioned leading cast, right down to the supporting characters, is lacking one essential: happiness. Now, that makes the book seem like a tedious bore that you might use to prep yourself to commit suicide, but trust me, The Lost is excellent. Ketchum makes you feel and understand every character's motivations and emotions, including Ray (one of the 'best' villains I've seen). Every character is well-drawn; while you may not like some of them much (I know I didn't), you'll definitely see where each one is coming from. The ending is suitably bittersweet and has a well-measured dose of poetic justice. My only gripe with the book is the marketing. The Lost is not really a horror novel; the closest I can come to describing it is to call it a pyschological thriller, but even that doesn't sum it up. Despite a previous reviewer's comments, there is very little graphic description of violence or sex; what there is, is essential, in my opinion, to the telling of the story. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading Marketing
Review: Disquieting. Uncomfortable. Honest.
Those are the three words I think best sum up this novel. I'd never read anything by Ketchum before and was hesitant to shell out [money] for an unknown quantity, but I'm very glad I did. The book centers around the inhabitants of a sleepy New Jersey town in the summer of 1969. You've got Ray Pye, an unconvicted sociopathic murderer. There's Tim and Jennifer, his unhappy lackeys. There's Schilling, the cop who knows Ray killed two girls in a park four years ago, but can't prove it. And Katherine, the new girl in town, strangely fascinated by Ray. The Lost is an especially apt title. Every character, from the afore-mentioned leading cast, right down to the supporting characters, is lacking one essential: happiness. Now, that makes the book seem like a tedious bore that you might use to prep yourself to commit suicide, but trust me, The Lost is excellent. Ketchum makes you feel and understand every character's motivations and emotions, including Ray (one of the 'best' villains I've seen). Every character is well-drawn; while you may not like some of them much (I know I didn't), you'll definitely see where each one is coming from. The ending is suitably bittersweet and has a well-measured dose of poetic justice. My only gripe with the book is the marketing. The Lost is not really a horror novel; the closest I can come to describing it is to call it a pyschological thriller, but even that doesn't sum it up. Despite a previous reviewer's comments, there is very little graphic description of violence or sex; what there is, is essential, in my opinion, to the telling of the story. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Ketchum's best and most haunting since "The Girl Next Door"
Review: First of all, I have to say that I really hope the Leisure Horror line stays around for a while. I can't afford those limited edition hardcovers by some of my favorite authors such as Ketchum anymore, so I love this low-priced alternative. The line has already probably saved me hundreds of dollars. From the posting boards, it looks like plenty of others feel the same way. I could not put this book down. This is the first Jack Ketchum book in a long time that had me turning pages so fast. I was hooked right from the prologue, which takes place in 1965. Ray, a young womanizing sociopath, and his two friends, Jennifer and Tim, are at a campground where they run across two pretty young women, best friends, who are taking a getaway to get their mind off their love lives. Unfortunately, Ray gets infuriated when he spies one of them giving the other an innocent good night kiss. He decides on the spur of the moment to do something really horrible, and his two friends, who don't approve of what he's done but don't know what else to do, are sucked in. The rest of the book takes place 4 years later. There's several new characters added to the mix; a cop and an ex-cop who worked the original case, and a lost cat the narrative follows on and off. There's also two young women who unfortunately cross paths with Ray- Sally, an intelligent 18 year old who is involved romantically with one of the cops, and Katherine, described as a stunningly beautiful teenager who is also intelligent, but rich and selfish. Ray starts out wanting to date both of them...and since this is a Ketchum novel, you know things are only going to get worse, and probably at least one person is going to come to a terrible end. And it might not be the character or characters that deserve it. Especially with a title like The Lost- I never expect a JK book to have an upbeat ending, and I got the feeling early on this would be one of his more disturbing and poignant ones. I was right. Probably nothing by Ketchum (or any other author, for that matter) will ever affect me like The Girl Next Door, or hit me as hard, but this came the closest of any book he has written since that came out over 10 years ago. It's kind of similar- it takes place decades in the past, during what many would first think of as a more innocent time. It's not supernatural, and sounds like it could be based on a true-life crime. If not, you could see it happening, and believe every word. Unfortunately as in life, very sad things happen, sometimes to characters you really care about. I had a vague idea of how the book might end, but I still couldn't stop reading and though this is one of his longer novels, finished it in less than 24 hours. The book didn't end like I thought it would- in fact, plenty of unexpected turns were taken right before the ending. I loved the format of the book- chapter headings are the character's names that the chapter follows, which made them seem even more personal. I admire JK for never taking the cheap shot (a character that I was positive that he'd kill off just to upset the reader, because it would be so simple, made it through to my surprise) or the easy way out. The book takes place with a sort of stream-of-consciousness, real-time prose in parts that reminded me strongly of the late Richard Laymon (I miss him already). In fact, if I'd heard JK wrote The Lost with an unknown collaborator, Laymon would leap to mind as the first choice. This is one of those rare books where I wanted to get to the end desperately because it was so suspenseful, but at the same time, actually felt myself getting sad when I'd realize how few pages I had left to go, because I didn't want it to be over. This isn't for everybody. Anyone who has lost a friend or loved one to a crime recently might want to wait a while to read it. Also, if you're easily upset, or want books that take you only to a happy place- it probably isn't for you. Those who enjoy a good character-driven suspense/crime novel will probably be just as engrossed as I was - this is one of those books you just get lost in (no pun intended). If you haven't read Ketchum before, this is probably a good place to start to see if you like his writing. If you have read Ketchum before, and are a devoted reader of his, don't wait to pick this one up. If you're a fan of his, the book is definitely--though this might not be the best word, considering how harrowing a read this is--a real treat. Like the best of Ketchum's work, "The Lost" is gripping, thrilling, haunting, and completely devastating.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Beach Read But Little Else
Review: I bought this book along with some other paperbacks for some pulp fiction/mindless reading at the beach. In that respect, the book didn't disappoint. The writing generally keeps the story moving at an adequate pace and it can become engrossing at times. On the whole though, after I finished the last page, the question I had was - besides just pure mindless fiction, why did Ketchum write The Lost? In an age of books/movies like Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Kiss the Girls and Bone Collector - what is the point of writing a book that centers on chapters and chapters describing in graphic detail mass murder, rape, and multiple types of sexual activities? On a certain level I think Ketchum was trying to tie in Ray Pye's horrors to the destructive upheavals of the 1960s, specifically Vietnam and Charles Manson. To me though, the link wasn't convincing and served only as a backdrop. This book was a psychological thriller but not horror. I find it difficult to be scared of a book that simply repeated atrocities that unfortunately many of us have become used to hearing on the nightly news. All in all, if you want a quick somewhat interesting but gruesome book, The Lost will be fine. For something on a deeper level, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: I Got Lost In It
Review: I got this novel in the mail yesterday along with Wire Wesh Mothers by Elizabeth Massie. I didn't plan on reading either novel right away, just to skim the first few pages and see what they were like. Wire Mesh Mothers didn't intrigue me too much--at least the first ten pages--but once I got into The Lost I could not put it down. I finished the novel about twenty minutes ago, which is a real accomplishment for me since I'm usually a slow reader. Jack Ketchum's writing just flows. He doesn't do anything--like using words that require you to get out your dictionary--to pull you out of the story. He had me hooked by page ten, and by the time I looked up to see what time it was, I was halfway through the book. There's a Stephen King blurb on the cover, and for once, it's believable and appropriate. The only other novel by Ketchum that I've read other than this is Off Season, but that is soon to change. You can't go wrong with either novel, so I have a feeling the rest of his books are also outstanding. The Lost is set in the late sixties. He does a nice job of reminding you of that fact by adding details about Vietnam and Woodstock and hippies, but he doesn't overdo it, doesn't let it detract from the story or waste time with unneeded description; he just hints at it here and there. If you're a Stephen King or Dean Koontz fan, I see no reason why you won't like The Lost. I've been burned too many times when I've picked up a horror novel expecting something scary and ended up with some overwritten piece of [garbage] with little or no story, something attempting to be "high brow" or whatever. The Lost is just the opposite. This is pure adrenaline fun and reads like it was written at a fever pitch.
|
