Bite

Rating:
Summary: I didn't want to read it alone in the dark!!!!!
Review: The characters were very likeable, but the leading lady was a little too goofy to be believable for my tastes.

Rating:
Summary: BITE (much as I was hoping otherwise) pretty much bites
Review: I was really looking forward to reading BITE after hearing about other Richard Laymon books that are mostly out of print (or simply unavailable) in the US. The writing is rather sophomoric, and the plot is red-herring-ridden. OK, I'll admit I was surprised a couple of times, but only because of what I'd heard about Laymon's other books. I was only expecting surprises that turned out not to be there. Based on what I've heard from friends, I'll probably read other Laymon titles as they become available, but I can't recommend BITE, especially to a first-time Laymon reader. Like me. I know this genre well, and this novel could be used as an argument that the genre is simply, well, weak. And it's not. It's just that BITE *is*!

Rating:
Summary: Not at all what I expected
Review: Although the book kept me reading it was only because I wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. The horror and terror in the book are minimal, and the chracters are simple and rather one-dimensional. Some of the twists and turns are interesting, but if you are looking for a good vampire thriller, or chilling horror story look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: stick with koontz and king
Review: this book was flat and hollow i tried for days to drag myself through the first 2 chapters and well it wasn't worth it by the end of the book i was completely annoyed by the characters and plot it is a waste of time and money please if you are a true horror fan this one is not for you the only thing horrorific about this book is that someone actually agreed to publish it!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Laymon proves once again why he is the TRUE master of horror
Review: Richard Laymon has done it again!!!! Kudos to Don D'Auria and Leisure Books for bringing one of this country's greatest horror writers back to our shores! BITE is Laymon at his horrific best! A superbly written, fast paced, edge of your seat thrill ride that will keep you howling, cringing, and guessing until the final page. Think you know where the plot is going? Turn the page and think again! High octane reading!!!

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've ever read
Review: I wasn't exactly sure what to expect of Bite, despite the fact that RIchard Laymon is one of the most popular horror authors, I'd never read any of his books before. I had read one of his short stories, The Tub. Anyway so I was expecting a normal vampire story, with lots of vampires. I was wrong, but in a good way. Right from page 1 I was hooked, and as the story went on, I felt closer and closer to Sam and Cat. Anyway, I highly recommend that you get this book, you'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: "Bite" blows!
Review: This book merits my "toss" award --- meaning that upon finishing it, I tossed it across the room. Hackneyed characters, meandering plot, virtually NO horror... If you're looking for a good, original vampire story, keep looking, because "Bite" ain't it.

Rating:
Summary: Fluffy summer read.
Review: I found this book to be a funny and different read than I had expected. The writting style sucks you into the action right from the first page and leaves you hanging right up to the end. It is not a serious vampire novel in any sense but it was a fun summer read. The characters are not very likeable but you couldn't help turning that next page to see how the whole thing would end. I thought the ending was poorly constructed, it seemed the author decided to end it and just rolled the plot up and stuck on a period.Not Laymons best by a long shot.

Rating:
Summary: WELCOME HOME, LAYMON!
Review: BITE is the first Mass-Market US release by Richard Laymon in a LONG time. And it's been TOO long. WAY too long. I picked this up--and I cannot believe it--at a grocery store. Laymon. At a Grocery store! GO, Don D'Auria and Leisure!

I started reading on the chekout line, made the cashier WAIT until I'd finished a paragraph before I would let them scan it. I was maybe 3 pages into it, and already hooked. Laymon's quick-witted dialogue and sharp, punchy, narrative had already worked a number on me. I nearly got ran over by a redneck in a pickup while walking through the parking lot--didn't see that big ol' F-250 coming. I was THAT into it.

(NB: Do not read Laymon while walking in The South. Dangerous to your health. Especially at 11:30 at night.)

BITE is addictive. Don't make any plans; grab a Snickers. You're going to be there a while.

My one (minor) complaint about this novel is that it seems to read like a British edition, with use of single quotes marking dialogue. This may throw readers off at first. Of course, BITE was released as a British edition previous to this, and I suspect Leisure of keeping the cost down by not reformatting the text, which is FINE, considering I picked this WONDERFUL novel up while on a mission for frozen pizzas and Duct Tape. What they did not do in the text is forgiveable by the push they are giving this long-overlooked author. It's about time.

Welcome home, Mr. Laymon.

Rating:
Summary: Richard Laymon: the Hemingway of Horror (really)
Review: BITE is another one of Richard Laymon's great "Hey, what if" tales: What if an old girlfriend showed up at your door and asked you to get rid of the vampire who's been bothering her? I can't think of another horror writer whose approach to storytelling is so practical and matter-of-fact, not only in the details, but in the thought processes which motivate characters to do the things they do. Laymon's characters are flawed human (or in-human) beings, full of contradictions, sometimes selfish but just as often selfless; brave, cowardly, strong-willed, reticent - in other words, ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. They aren't super heroes who have the right response to every situation - and more often than not, they'll even make the wrong choice, which spurs the storyline into a completely unexpected (but logical) direction.

It's a shame Laymon isn't better known here in his native US. He writes the kind of horror that Dean Koontz and Stephen King used to write, only better. Maybe he was just too far ahead of his time. He practically pioneered the so-called splatterpunk genre with his visceral first novel, THE CELLAR, published by Warner in 1980. But Laymon's style is too much his own to compare him with other writers. Frankly, the closest thing that comes to mind is, What if Hemingway had written about vampires and ouija boards instead of bullfights and big-game hunting? Sound off the mark? Laymon's style is direct and immediate, honest and unpretentious. I can't think of another writer who makes better economical use of his sentences. No, Laymon isn't out to chronicle the neuvo Lost Generation; but like Hemingway, he can make you feel the dry, dusty wind on your face, taste the blood from a split lip, and feel the ache in your back from hours on the road with no sleep and a staked vampire rattling around in your trunk. (Okay, so maybe Hemingway never mentioned in A MOVEABLE FEAST the nasty vampire that he and Gertrude Stein had to get rid of one long weekend in Paris; but when that lost vampire novel shows up, it'll read like BITE.) I imagine that Laymon writes the kind of stories that he himself would like to read, and I can't think of a better motivation for some great storytelling - which is all that Richard Laymon is about.

Of the few titles still available in the US, I highly recommend THE STAKE, SAVAGE, FLESH, FUNLAND, THE CELLAR, THE BEAST HOUSE, and THE MIDNIGHT TOUR. And for the budding or frustrated writer, I can't praise highly enough Laymon's terrific autobiography, A WRITER'S TALE (Deadline Press 1998).