Rating: 
Summary: Wow
Review: Ketchum demonstrates why he's a master in the art of writing reality-based horror. I spent most of my time reading this book waiting for the next shoe to drop. I mean, the central character KILLS TWO WOMEN in the prologue and from then on you're hooked waiting to see what will come of it. And, trust me, something does. It always does. In Ketchum's world, when something violent happens, it's usually gruesome and all-too-real. THE LOST is definitely worth picking up. DEFINITELY.
Rating: 
Summary: ..and that's it?
Review: Ketchum has an engaging writing style and a vivid sense of description. The books opens with a gruesome double homicide and then we leap forward five years. At that point we learn more about the characters, and we learn more, and we learn more- actually your stop learning more and keep learning the same things over and over. There are all kinds of "mysterious" things set up in this tale (an erstwhile cat that gets chapters to itself, a new girl suddenly in town from Fresno with some bad habits) but the shoe never drops on them- the cat BTW serves no function. It isn't as if any of these things cause any real tension mostly idle curiosity. The book isn't frightening and the main villan turns out ot be such a small time punk he's really almost pitable. Worse, when the climax finally does come it is suitably gruesome but mostly pointless (one actually will spend some time think, what brought this one) and pretty much devoid of any feeling.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, not the worst
Review: Ketchum's "The Lost" is a decent book. I must admit I was a little disappointed by it, only because I know the genius that the author is capable of. A very violent, blood-soaked intro and ending, and a lot of attempted character development in between that kind of falls flat. Recommended for Ketchum fans, but not the book I would suggest to a reader wanting to familiarize himself with Ketchum's stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Unrealistic, depressing drivel
Review: Oh, I wish, I wish I could give 0 stars! I bought this book because the cover seemed intriguing. Who is this person who would murder two women in the woods in front of his friends? I love mysteries and psychological suspense. This, believe me, wasn't anything like the cover claimed. So, why did he kill them?Good grief... because he thought they were lesbians? Don't worry, that's not spoiling anything, it was in the first 10 pages. I'm sorry, but what man *ever* but especially one as world wise and addicted to sex as Ray is, wouldn't say, 'Cool! Let's watch!' Also, Ray spends most of the book trying to avoid letting on anything about how he killed the girls in the woods, and then all of a sudden, he throws away four years of smug defiance and the probability of never being arrested (certainly not convicted) to get revenge? I don't *think* so. Almost all of the characters were paper thin (character-wise), drunks or drug addicts (or both), as addicted to sex as Ray, or so screwed up in other ways as to not be able to function in any believable way. The whole book is depressing and there's not enough variation in the mood and tone to be entertaining at all. Finally - Ray's conviction. It's like the author is saying, 'Oh, look at how ironic I can be! This whole business started because this character killed two women he thought were lesbians. Let's turn him from a rough and tough drug dealer/murderer to a plaintive, whining, reluctant homosexual! Yeah, that'll be ironic!' Pah. Degrading not only to homosexuals, but an insult into the intelligence of his readers. And the worst part of all - the very worst, is the apparent feeling that AIDS is a fitting punishment for what Ray's done. I don't believe AIDS is a punishment for anything except the corporate rape of our Earth. Ketchum should be ashamed.
Rating: 
Summary: A blast from the recent past, 1969 to be exact.
Review: On the surface, The Lost is about the escalating conflict between a murderous sociopath and a zealous lawman. Look closely, however, and you'll find a book dealing with questions about the nature of love, the price of loyalty, and the difficulty of facing overwhelming personal and cultural upheaval. Gripping due to the constant potential for sudden violence (this is a Ketchum novel, after all), The Lost thrills as much for its psychological and emotional richness as it does for its pervasive violence and suspense. The tale begins in 1965 with an act of sudden, unexpected carnage when sociopath Ray Pye, who shoots two female campers in cold blood after one of the pair rejects his pitiful romantic advances. The vicious attack, witnessed by Pye's stunned companions, Tim Bess and Jennifer Fitch, leaves one woman dead, the other in a coma. It is the death of the second camper in 1969 that signals the true beginning of Ketchum's story. We discover that Sparta, New Jersey Police Detective Charlie Shilling has spent the past four years searching for evidence linking Pye to the crime. Bess and Fitch have kept their silence, perhaps from a sense of misguided loyalty, perhaps out of love. Pye, practically daring Shilling to arrest him, has also kept his cool, sticking to a story the detective can't contradict. Frustrated by his failure, Shilling intentionally provokes Pye, finally pushing the mentally unstable killer over the edge. Using the same weapons he carried that fateful night four years earlier, Pye takes gruesome revenge on his real and imagined enemies. In tone The Lost recalls Red, but, unlike that book, has a much broader scope. Ketchum purposefully adopts a slower pace, so as to more completely explore the complexities of his numerous characters' personalities and relationships. The small vacation town of Sparta acts as a microcosm of the country, as the characters deal with the unpleasant reality of random violence as part of everyday American life -- suddenly, it's not something that only happens in the big city (the Tate-LaBianca killings perpetrated by the Manson family are prominently mentioned, inspiring Ray Pye to further mayhem). As such, it also holds a mirror up to today's world as well, where children practice drills to prepare them for the eventuality of their peers shooting up the school. It takes courage to look into that mirror, but Ketchum's never been one to flinch from unpleasant tasks. He exposes the lies we tell ourselves so we can rest easy at night in the knowledge that it couldn't possibly happen here.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good.
Review: Stephen King has called Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door one of the best books ever written. Previous to that, Ketchum was the horror world's best-kept secret, the Einsturzende Neubauten of scary stories: influential to just about everyone working in the field, unknown outside it. Now, thanks to one offhand sentence in one very widely read treatise on how to write, Jack Ketchum has become collectible overnight. Don't try to find a copy of The Girl Next Door unless you're willing to pay [a lot] for a dogeared reading copy. But Ketchum has released a brand-spanking-new one recently, and until you come up with the scratch for the out-of-print monsters, this'll do just fine, thankyouverymuch. The Lost tells the story of Ray Pye, sociopath extraordinaire, who kills a camper and puts another one on life support in 1965, then waltzes off scot free because no one can put him at the scene, find the murder weapon, or any other useful little prosecutorial trick for actually convicting someone. Most of the book's four hundred pages take place four years later, in the weeks following the death of the second camper after spending the intervening time in a coma and hooked to a life support system. (...) The question almost everyone who picks this book up is going to be asking himself is "is this guy really as good as Steve King says he is?" Yup. He's that good. The question I ended up asking myself is "why is this guy considered a horror writer?" The Lost is your basic detective story where you know who the killer is from page one and the tension rests on the cops trying to pin the murders on the killer. It's no more horror than the stuff Joe Lansdale's been writing since Savage Season; it sits nestled firmly in the crook of the arm between mystery and thriller. (...) But there's more to it than that. Ketchum has a sense of delicacy one doesn't find much in either horror novels or mysteries, and he knows how to use conscious symbolism-- almost unheard of in genre fiction of any sort. Granted, it gets spread a little thick at times, but it's amazing to see it at all. Add it all up and note that Ketchum never pulls a single punch throughout and you've got yourself one serious bang-up ride waiting to happen. I suggest taking it as soon as you can.
Rating:
Summary: I was hooked from the first page!
Review: The Lost isn't really a horror novel which seems to upset a few people I've talked to that's read the book. Having said that, I found it so interesting and absorbing I couldn't stop reading until the last page. Its one of those stories that immerses you on so many levels. You find yourself becoming so into the characters that it leaves you sad that it's over at the end. Ray Pye is one of those characters you despise yet pity also. I had read that the character was loosely based on The Pied Piper of Tuscon. This book takes you beyond that into a fictional world of obsession and murder. Its so well-written that it just flows along perfectly as you turn the pages. I found it hard to put down the night I started it and finished it the next morning. If you have an open mind, you can enjoy this book. I found it frightening that there are people exactly like Ray out there in the world right now. There is also some humour involved as well. Though Ray kills many people in this book, he does get his in the end. Literally. You will have to read it to understand exactly what I mean. I also found there was also some social commentary to the book namely the way Jack Ketchum tied in many events that had seemed to break down the moral fabric of our society. Some say he didn't do that well but I disagree. I think Mr. Ketchum showed this perfectly. All in all, its a great book full of mayhem!
Rating:
Summary: The Ray not Associated with Light
Review: The reality of the world is stark and cold, and especially so when witnessed as Ray Pye sees it. In fact, according to him, its doing what one wants to do, what one likes to do, that is part of the rollercoaster ride to power. Sometimes power was the fact that he could have anything he wanted and do anything he wanted to do, that he was able to command respect, that he could frighten and harm, and that he could kill. Yes, in 1965 Ray proves that to himself, that the two girls at the campsite were a little less than human and worthy of his contempt, and that their deaths would provide something stimulating for him. Furthering that with the fact that he manages to beat the system and share the sensation with his squeamish friends Ray and Jennifer at the same time, Ray finds himself feeling that he really has a hold on something. Now, four years later, things begin to happen within his life and waves erupt around someone that had proven that he, above all people, isn't one to anger. Still, what will the reaction be of one that is capable of the acts he has already proven himself capable of? The tone of the book is one that starts out totally dark and remains cast in shadows despite any changes that are drafted and the characters that are put into place. Its gaze focuses on a pool of people that begin associating themselves with a murder and it plays through their lives and the lives around them, giving you tastes of all their thoughts and the things they prize most in life. Even the victims are shown in a light that makes one feel sorrowful for them because they are introduced as real people with real lives and that they think and feel. In my opinion, it is this ability to draft settings and place characters into them that makes Ketchum's work stand out, taking the time to explain each of the two pieces as an extension of the other. This meshes well with his ability to take perspectives and, from chapter to chapter, show you the viewpoints of all the characters involved in the tale until the end when, well, all bets are off on what will or won't take place. Its interesting how well it is orchestrated, from the gruesomeness of the killing to the viewpoints of those involved in the process, not to mention how, years later, these ripples could still affect the world around them and show portions of the mindsets at play. In fact, in pace and purpose, I actually found no faults in the approach at all and thought it was done rather creatively. For people looking for something to hold their interest in the realities of the horrific, then the approach to madness in this book is something notable. It does delve deeply into the mind that carried out such a horrific past and, like a stick of complacent dynamite, might decide to change its mind and go off again. It isn't really graphic after all the way through, but it does involve a few "adult themes" that also help one see the world through the eyes of the characters, and the graphic moments are drawn out well and do involve a variety of descriptions. So, if you want to get your feet wet feeling sorrow because of humanity's monsters and wonder exactly how things are going to end in the process, it a worthy purchase that will make even non-Ketchum fans come back for more.
Rating:
Summary: Five Stars
Review: There's a reason why this guy is Stephen King's favorite author. HE ROCKS!
Rating:
Summary: It wasn't trully horror, but it was a nice book.
Review: This book is about a young male named Ray, who basically has friends name Tim and Jennifer (who he is sleeping with)who are afraid of him because of the murders that he did in the woods. A cop who wants to nail him for the murder won't let Ray alone. Ray has to have what he wants and because he doesn't, he basically sets it off. I love the ending because you think you know what is gonna happen or atleast think the author would make you feel good in the end but he doesn't. Well in a way he does, that part you will have to laugh about. But I trully thought this book would be like Stephen King horror, but in the end it was reality horror. Something that could actually happen. Real life drama. It's nice.
|
