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Summary: Scary and fun at the same time!
Review: I really liked this book. It reminds me very much of Dean Koontz. I finished this book in about three days. It is a page turner and the graphic details kick [rear]!
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Summary: ONE RAINY NIGHT
Review: Part horror novel & part B horror movie. Laymon gets away from the mad slasher type book and writes another great horror story.
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Summary: So bad I couldn't even finish it!
Review: This book was bad. Plain and simple. I've only read two of Laymon's other books, The Traveling Vampire Show and Among the Missing, and this book pales in comparison with those two. I got about 1/3 of the way through the book, and I totally lost interest and stopped reading. Even if you are a Laymon fan do yourself a favor and skip this one.
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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.
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Summary: one rainy night
Review: I thought that one rainy night was ok, but not one of his better works, when I read his book bite, I couldn't put it down, with this one , it just didin't keep my interest as well. It was still a pretty good book all the same.
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Summary: DISAPPOINTED!
Review: This book really did nothing for me. It was the first of Laymon's books I read and probably the last. I don't mind far-fetched story ideas, in fact I love Stephen King, but this was borderline ridiculous! Halfway through the book I couldn't wait for it to end, not because I really wanted to know what was going to happen, but because I felt I was wasting valuable time living! After reading it, I thought Laymon might be a new author still trying to find his style, but then I caught a glimpse of his picture and bio on the inside back cover and - oh my! If you're looking for some classic horror, I'd suggest Stephen King's PET SEMATARY, Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND, or some newer authors like J.G. Passarella's WITHER and Ronald Damien Malfi's THE SPACE BETWEEN (more sci-fi, still a good book). Whatever you choose, I would not recommend this book!
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Summary: ANOTHER CLASSIC FROM THE NEGLECTED MASTER
Review: Basic premise: chemical rain turns people into homicidal maniacs.It sounds like a bad novel that someone like Guy N Smith would write. But this is Richard Laymon, one of best...writers in horror today. All the good things you expect are here: realistc characters, gruesome horror, gallows & adolescent humor. A brilliant chilling rollercoaster of a book. If you haven't read him before, then where the heck have you been?
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Summary: Powerful Rain
Review: One Rainy Night starts with a simple premise that quickly involves you in a story that raises troubling moral questions. In a small town a black student is brutally murdered. Revenge is arranged in the form of an unrelenting rain composed of a black viscous fluid. As soon as it makes contact with someone's skin they are filled with homicidal feelings. Some attack people at random while others set out with specific victims in mind. The best scenes involve a group of people trapped in a restaurant desperately trying to stop countless homicidal maniacs from killing them. The restaurant patrons are forced to resort to escalating levels of violence and because the methods they use, while graphic, are never over-the-top it is easy to relate to the feelings of those in the restaurant. How far would you go and what would you be willing to do in order to survive? And would you attempt to save yourself by running into the rain and becoming one of the killers? Laymon's book is fast, entertaining and ultimately thought-provoking.
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Summary: Night of the Living Dead Lite
Review: An intriguing premise--Romero's NOTLD and "The Crazies" combined with black magic--yields little of major interest. Characters are two-dimensional cutouts from B-Movie cloth, and, despite the previous reviewer's comments, tend to stick to assigned hero/villain roles in the narrative. Plot rules appear to change at a whim, with some psychotic characters conveniently able to "hold it together" when plot momentum requires them to do so. Furthermore, some possibly interesting themes, such as heroism versus safety, and anonymity versus altruism are never developed. Like old horror films, this ends in cliche fashion. The heroes and heroines embrace after the rather weak climax, while suffering no consequences--psychological or otherwise, for the actions taken in order to survive. For a simple, fun read, one could certainly do worse, but this was somewhat of a disappointing introduction to the author.
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Summary: For Entertainment Purposes Only
Review: If you like horror and enjoy reading for pleasure and entertainment only, you should take a look at Laymon. This is not Faulkner; you are not going to learn anything from this book. This is the second Laymon novel I have read, and I must say I enjoyed this much more than I did Bite. The characters were a little more real this time, and a couple of them were even likeable. I still can't really figure Laymon out; the whole time I am reading him, I have a gnawing feeling that the guy is just a hack, yet he does a good job of keeping my interest and entertaining me. He's just here to tell a good story, and it may be unfair of me to expect something more from him--Laymon certainly seems comfortable in his style, and I admire him for that. That in itself is the sign of a good, confident writer. And he does tell a good story. Action is the name of the game here; the writing style is very direct. Basically, all of the important characters wind up wet at some point, so we must judge them by how they act under abnormal and normal conditions in order to "understand" them. Good and bad exists in all of us, and Laymon certainly seems to recognize this fact. One thing sticks out in my mind--I am bemused by the fact that Laymon's characters are always hungry. They can survive an assault by a bunch of wet, black, terrifying people and then immediately sit down to eat: restaurant employees (those still alive) start serving dinner before dead rioters can even be stowed away. Denise and Kara, a teenager and young girl (the true heroes in my mind), eat popcorn in between acts of defending their very lives. When I think of some of the actions and events in this book now, they almost seem laughable. While you are reading it, though, these things don't matter. Laymon makes it all work somehow. Those disgusted by gore should not even be reading this review, yet Laymon's gore is not as bad as it is made out to be; the gore in this book belongs here, really, and it does not seem to be employed purely for shock value. All in all, Laymon is an intriguing writer, and I can't really understand why this American author, while popular in Britain, has never made much of a splash here in the States--he is certainly a better writer than John Saul, for example. Laymon is unique; some will like him and some will not, but you can't know how you will react to him until you actually try him out.
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