Rating: 
Summary: Vengence driven black rain drives a small town insane.
Review: Laymon was one heck of storyteller, I have to say that. His tales move so fast that it is almost too easy to skip over the important plot details, which I guess happened to a few of the negative reviewers here. All the plot holes seemed to be filled to me. The reason for the rain is made abundantly clear and the overcoming of the psychosis (which simply entails washing the black fluid off of the victim) happens to more than just one character in the book and certain character's awareness of, and ability to fight off, the rain's seduction to violence seems to depend more on the character rather than the situation.All in all One Rainy Night is a brisk, blood curdling b-movie of a read, the literary mirror of George Romero's The Crazies (aka Code Name: Trixie). This was the first Richard Laymon novel I have read and will certainly will not be the last. I have become a fan for life.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced but unfulfilling.
Review: The plot of ONE RAINY NIGHT can be summed up easily: black rain falls, turns people into killers, and the unaffected few must try to stay alive. That's it.
Granted this is my first Laymon novel, and I already have BITE so I will give that a chance, but if this lowest-common-denominator material is the sort of horror people are raving about, I feel sad for the future of the genre. This is b-movie stuff, and fit only for a short story or novella, if that. Like Bentley Little's UNIVERSITY, the author simply uses a device (in this case, the rain) as a vehicle for sex and violence, but there's even less to this particular story.
ONE RAINY NIGHT is easy to breeze through, and if you're looking for something to read on the train or on the beach it may be perfect. I thought it was a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many loose ends
Review: I'm not really a big fan of gore. I'd rather read a psychological thriller or a good old fashioned ghost story. However it's not the gore the reason I give the book a low rating. Seen from a distance the plot is SO simple. You have this rain that makes people insane, some key characters manage to stay dry and live through the night in "Night of the Living Dead" style -locking up themselves, fighting with makeshift weapons. One of these characters has a theory of why the whole thing is happening and, as it turns out, it really WAS the reason. What I really disliked about this book was a number of far fetched situations and some terribly loose ends. You have this rain that makes people stark raving mad, which is pretty well stated in the first quarter of the novel when the killings start out of the blue. But then these insane people start displaying intelligence, plotting against their intended victims. You have scenes where "crazies" run naked in the street holding knives above their heads, mixed with "crazies" that think "it would be better to drive to this other house so the people in the house I intend to brake into have no idea"... Another loose end -probably the worst in the book- is the character of Sandy, who suddenly appears in the final third of the book, and near the end is the only one who inexplicably can control the effect of the rain on herself, up to the point where she leads the group that will eventually come face to face with what is causing the black rain. Another one? You have Tom, Lynn and Casey in the restaurant, outnumbered, pinned to the floor, ready to be slain and all of a sudden their attackers are gunned down. Who gunned them down? Who knows. Other really hard to believe scenes, like a mother telling the babysitter "it's ok to ask your boyfriend to come while we are gone" (yeah, right) helped in me not really liking this book, and, again, it had nothing to do with the gore. A two and a half star actually.
Rating:
Summary: We've Been Down This Rain-Soaked Road Before...
Review: Richard Laymon's novel, "One Rainy Night" is about a mysterious black rain that falls over a town, turning its residents into bloodthirsty lunatics. As the night continues, those who haven't been infected by "the black rain" try to seek shelter and protect themselves from their former friends and neighbors, now turned homicidal maniacs. Of course, this isn't the first time horror fans have seen this type of story. George Romero's film, "The Crazies" comes time mind first. The novel also reminded me, to an extent, of David Cronenberg's "Shivers" and is very reminiscent of Jack Ketchum's novel "Ladies Night". Like those works, "One Rainy Night" doesn't waste any time getting into the action. Almost immediately, the ground-rules are set and the novel zips along at a fast pace. The book itself follows three different plot threads, causing the narrative to skip back and forth between the chapters. Richard Laymon's writing style is simple and easy, making for a quick read. I couldn't put this book down. The characters were so well handled that I didn't want to stop reading, just to find out what happened next. In more than one instance, I actually found myself rooting for the some of the characters. That's how you know you've found yourself a great book... the author gets you so involved in the characters that you lose yourself in the story. The book is full of memorable scenes and engaging plot twists that I never saw coming. Richard Laymon's aforementioned "B-Movie" influences are apparent throughout the story. Shades of "Night of the Living Dead" can be seen during a siege on a restaurant, and one attack on a house reminded me of a particularly disturbing scene in "The Return of Count Yorga". I guess it goes without saying that a book of this nature is bound to be violent, but Laymon really outdoes himself here. The gore scenes range from slightly queasy to Lucio-Fulci overkill. There were many times when I couldn't believe how far Laymon took the violence. "One Rainy Night" is a great book. It's far from being a complex and intelligent horror novel, but then again it never tries to be. "One Rainy Night" is the equivalent of a splatter film... unashamed, fast-paced, violent, and anything but subtle. Recommended to genre fans.
Rating:
Summary: Night of the Living Dead meets The Blob meets True Believers
Review: If you are easily grossed out, this one isn't for you. Laymon takes readers on a campy ride through one fatal night in Bixby. A horrible racially-motivated murder leads to voodoo revenge plot. Hmmmm....
ONE RAINY NIGHT depicts graphic violence and sex underscoring the dark side that supposedly lurks beneath us all. Once the mysterious thick black rain starts to fall, townsfolk begin to run amuck. This is an easy read; I finished it in one sitting. You won't find any award-winning dialogue, characters or plot. Many things go unanswered here: what about the suffering of the murdered boy's family? how do a couple of people quickly figure out the rain's secret and accept it without question? why does 9-year-old Kara sound like my loveable elderly aunt? Laymon's typical ability to raise the hair on the back of your neck shines through however. If you are looking for deep-meaning horror with subtle twists: this isn't it! RAINY does what it intends: it gives you a few chills, has you racing toward the finish, but all in all leaves you with the feeling that you just spent an afternoon watching that low-budget horror film you've always loved. I enjoyed reading it; I love Laymon's writing in general. But don't pick this one up expecting to have to figure out the plot. It's simple: an eye for an eye, be careful what you wish for, and humans are just animals underneath the fancy clothes. Sometimes you want steak, sometimes you secretly pig out on cheeseburgers. This one is a fun, greasy cheeseburger: easily consumed, quickly forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: A Thrilling Ride
Review: Having read this novel last year as an import, I was thrilled to see it on bookshelves here in the US. This book is an excellent example of the writing abilities of this author. "One Rainy Night" opens with the murder of a black student by a bunch of rednecks. Shortly thereafter the small town is plagued by black rain that continues to fall without end. The townspeople who are exposed to the black rain find themselves becoming increasingly violent towards each other. Within a couple of chapters the whole town has become insane. Killings are rampant as decent people turn into maniacs. At every junction where people meet there are attacks. The violence is extremely brutal and raw. What makes it even more disturbing is that all the acts are completely realistic. Laymon has a way of exposing mankind's ugly side that would make even the most hardened reader cringe. This is not gratuitous gore like you find in a lot of hack horror novels but a glimpse at what happens when good people give in to their animal nature. Another distinction in Laymon's writing is that he takes the conventional roles of hero, victim, villain and completely turns them around. It is not uncommon for the hero to become a victim, for the victim to become a villain and so on. In Laymon's books heroes sometimes die and villains get away. The battle between good and evil rages on, often within one character. The character's in this book are real people forced into the most extreme of situations with shocking outcomes. Without giving away too much of the storyline, I must add that the ending was a big surprise. The twists and turns that occurred within the story kept me guessing through the end. The book was a fast, action packed read that pulled no punches. I highly recommend it but be warned it is not for the faint of heart.
Rating: 
Summary: A FUN B-MOVIE IN A BOOK
Review: Don't read Laymon looking for the kind of rich character development that you find in Stephen King's work. But he does go for a balls-out approach to horror that really works. On one particular night in the town of Bixby, a mysterious black rain begins to fall, turning anyone it touches -- man, woman or child -- into a savage killer. The story tracks multiple characters who try to survive the night without either being killed or turned into marauding monsters themselves. One Rainy Night is an enthralling read that will have you burning through the pages to get to the end. Laymon cheats on his premise a couple of times, (as in when one character decides to "rein in" her bloodlust) but you forgive the occasional lapse because the story is so damned entertaining. Get this book, curl up with it on a dark night and prepare to be gripped.
Rating:
Summary: A Thrill Ride of the Highest Caliber
Review: I wasn't really enthused about this book after reading the first chapter. I actually put it down for a couple of days which is unusual for me. But boy oh boy when I picked it up again, it grabbed me and wouldn't let go. A black rain is turning ordinary people into homicidal cannibalistic maniacs (think Living Dead). Only those who get wet are affected so the folks who were inside when the rain started have to do whatever it takes to survive the night. And the ending is a real original. Don't miss out on the thrills of this one!
Rating:
Summary: The night the rain fell
Review: The rain was black, pleasantly warm and it fell heavily in the small, unremarkable town of Bixby. After the death of Maxwell Chidi, in a possible racial attack, it began to fall with the coming of the night and it did very "strange" things to all those caught in the rain. This book is classic Laymon and it tears along at a rip-roaring pace with little time to catch your breath between what have almost become his violent "set pieces". The premise is slightly odd but what else have we come to expect from what must be one of the modern masters of horror writing. One Rainy Night will grab you from the first paragraph and you will feel slightly cheated when it comes to an end; not because of the ending itself but because it has ended.
Rating:
Summary: Great book...
Review: Fast paced, interesting plot, and great suspense! I'd recommend it for a "mature audience", but I highly recommend it.
| 
