Rating: 
Summary: Straub wastes some parts of the animal
Review: "Ghost Story" ranks as one of the most terrfying novels I have ever read and I picked up "Koko" with expectations for a sequel in intensity, prose and effectiveness. Although it has its moments, "Koko" is two stars down from my favorite Straub novel. It is way too long to endure for the 100+ pages of brilliant writing. I understand that the writer takes his time on detail and background to introduce real and complex characters involved in the story. But still, I think it was way over-written and yet the ending seemed as a result of pages running out instead of what was being told... Still, Straub makes up for some of the time you spent with him in the last chapter. He, too, is relieved that the book is over and lets his talents out. You might try to read this one from page 500 to the end.
Rating:
Summary: Straub wastes some parts of the animal
Review: "Ghost Story" ranks as one of the most terrfying novels I have ever read and I picked up "Koko" with expectations for a sequel in intensity, prose and effectiveness. Although it has its moments, "Koko" is two stars down from my favorite Straub novel. It is way too long to endure for the 100+ pages of brilliant writing. I understand that the writer takes his time on detail and background to introduce real and complex characters involved in the story. But still, I think it was way over-written and yet the ending seemed as a result of pages running out instead of what was being told... Still, Straub makes up for some of the time you spent with him in the last chapter. He, too, is relieved that the book is over and lets his talents out. You might try to read this one from page 500 to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Literary horror at its best
Review: A compelling read from start to finish. Peter Straub truly has a gift for bringing the grotesque and the literary together. I always enjoy this man's work. Koko refers to a ruthless killer who was once a Vietnam vet and who experienced great horrors during his time there. He was part of a group and all the members of that group sustained great psychological scars from their tour of duty. Koko however could not live with his scars and so sets out to right wrongs that happened nearly twenty years ago. The blood soon starts to flow and the remaining members of that group try to find out who exactly koko is and stop him. From thialand to New york Straub serves a suspense filled thriller full of murder and decadence. A great horror novel and I was glad to see Harry Beavers from "Houses without Doors" finally get waht he was due.
Rating:
Summary: The journey is more than half the fun
Review: A group of Vietnam veterans search for a former member of their old unit, who they believe has become a serial killer called Koko. The identity and nature of Koko is inextricably bound up a horrible experience that they all share-the massacre of children in a Vietnamese village. This is a long novel. Straub paints fully realized characters with complicated and believable motivations. At times, the horror aspects of the novel take a back seat to the more straightforward human drama in his characters' lives, but I, for one, did not mind this because the drama was so compelling. In fact, I was a bit let down by the novel's resolution, having enjoyed the details of the search and the interplay between characters so much. I had come to care more about what was going to happen to Michael Poole, Connor Linklater, Tim Underhill, Maggie Lah, and even the pathetic Harry Beavers than about the identity and fate of Koko. Nevertheless, this well-written thriller remains a rewarding and enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: The journey is more than half the fun
Review: A group of Vietnam veterans search for a former member of their old unit, who they believe has become a serial killer called Koko. The identity and nature of Koko is inextricably bound up a horrible experience that they all share-the massacre of children in a Vietnamese village. This is a long novel. Straub paints fully realized characters with complicated and believable motivations. At times, the horror aspects of the novel take a back seat to the more straightforward human drama in his characters' lives, but I, for one, did not mind this because the drama was so compelling. In fact, I was a bit let down by the novel's resolution, having enjoyed the details of the search and the interplay between characters so much. I had come to care more about what was going to happen to Michael Poole, Connor Linklater, Tim Underhill, Maggie Lah, and even the pathetic Harry Beavers than about the identity and fate of Koko. Nevertheless, this well-written thriller remains a rewarding and enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Living Ghosts
Review: Actually the star rating should be 4 1/2, not 4, but Amazon won't let you give half stars. Quibbling aside, Koko is a brilliant novel by a brilliant author, a masterwork of horror, a terrific ghost story in which all the best ghosts are still alive. Straub fooled a lot of people with this novel, most if not all of whom (myself included) were expecting a novel of the supernatural a la Ghost Story or Floating Dragon -- not, certainly, a long mystery about Vietnam Vets whose resolution is ambiguous at best. However, although there is little of the supernatural in Koko, there is a lot of haunting going on here, which is just as it should be, considering the subject matter. One of the big themes in Straub's work, from Julia on down, is that of the revenant, the ghost of the past which haunts the present. Those revenants can be paraphysical beings, such as Julia and Maxim's departed daughter in that novel, Anna/Alma/Eva/etc. in Ghost Story, the Collector in Shadowland, and the Dragon in Floating Dragon -- or, as in the case of more recent novels like Koko, Mystery, and The Throat, the revenants can be actual, living people. Of course the revenants are also metaphors for guilt in nearly every case, and never has that concept been as crisply delineated (or arrived at in as serpentine a manner) as it is in Koko. The Me Lai-type massacre which is one of the novel's central events is where most (if not all) of the characters' guilt springs from, and the past as well as the present Koko murders accounts for the rest of it. The four Vietnam vets, Michael Poole in particular, understand that all of them together created Koko, that they are responsible for his existence, and it is the guilt they feel (apart from Beans Beevers, who wouldn't know from guilt even if he had a Jewish mother) which is their primary motive for tracking him down and stopping him. Koko is also a novel about memory's persistence, about how it colors our perceptions whether we want it to or not. Straub's use of the elephant as a metaphor for this -- both as a physical presence and on the backs of the regimental playng cards or "death cards" Koko uses to mark his kills -- is a sure sign of what he's doing. After all, what animal is more associated with persistence of memory than the elephant? The fact that an elephant leads Poole to Tim Underhill is hardly surprising -- it is where the past (memory) and the present (perception) meet, and the moment vibrates with a curious otherworldly feel that even Straub has rarely achieved, and which is one of my favorite moments in the novel. As regards the mystery of who Koko really is -- well, I have to concede that yes, it is fairly easy to figure out Koko's identity, especially once Underhill is revealed as the red herring you figure him for all along. I don't really think Straub was out to create all that much mystery about Koko; having read the novel a number of times now, I've come to the conclusion that this really was not the point. The point was instead to illustrate the twin theses above: how guilt and the persistence of memory can color, and most times ruin, one's life. This, Straub seems to be arguing, is what ghosts do, whether one is talking about the pale specters of the dead or the pale specters of one's memories. They haunt us, not because they hate us, but because we so often hate ourselves for the things we have done. And Koko is a novel full of ghosts, both living and otherwise -- Poole's dead child is parallelled by the dying little girl he visits at the hospital; Conor Linklater loses a job to a man who strongly resembles Victor Spitalny; Tim Underhill haunts the first half of the narrative very strongly, and is himself haunted by the ghosts of his own past; Beevers, though he would never admit it to himself, is haunted by the ghosts of his own inadequacies as the Lieutenant of their Vietnam combat unit; Agent Orange haunts all of them, for it may well be responsible for so much of the evil which has befallen them (cancers, madness, and death). Then there is Koko...the ghost of the killers all of them, even the best of them, once were, the ghost none of them can ever escape -- and which some of them don't even want to escape. That the novel ends so ambiguously should hardly be a surprise -- most of us never escape the ghosts of our pasts, and one gets the feeling that the survivors of this story will be haunted by Koko for a long time to come. Koko is a rich novel, as full of symbolism and literary allusions as most of Straub's work. It is also a long novel, which does tend to wander from time to time. However, if you are patient and willing to follow Straub on this long journey into the heart of darkness, the rewards will be ample indeed. Just don't expect The Collector to come popping out of the mirrors -- because the best ghosts in this ghost story live in the heart and mind, not in the mirror.
Rating:
Summary: I¿m conflicted
Review: After countless psychotherapy sessions, an endless prescription of Prozac, and some Disney movies, I'm conflicted - wanting to either kiss Mr. Straub or sue him for emotional distress. Here was a book that danced on the line between reality and fiction so discreetly, I found myself looking over my shoulder in fear.
Now, on to the dissection of it, shall we? The plot was inceptive, shocking, and comprehensive. With a thick history, the story unravels into a terrifying journey, keeping the reader awake wanting to know what happens next. The pace in the book is slow at first but picks up speed. With each word, sentence, and chapter, it propels you on with anticipation.
The atmosphere in KoKo was rich with anguish, pain, and a suffering so powerful it manages to underline your every thought through out. The author's style of writing is precise, simplistic, and thorough. Reading his work, you not only get a familiarity of the writer, but also begin to note a sense of humility.
The characters were individualistic, comprehensive, and real. What many authors miss, and Straub masterfully carried out, was to convey through these characters a sense of pity and purity at an even blend. The world may have forgotten about Vietnam, but in Straub's realm of hell memory is eternal.
My rate? I give it a 4 . Here is a must have for your collection! Buy it, read it and get the professional help required to recover. -Bloodymary
Rating:
Summary: Straub one of the few with the guts necessary to do Nam
Review: Although certainly not his best book, it scared me, which is decidedly harder to do as years go by. His writing style is very good, which excuses some of the not so engrossing plot developments. The characters were very real, no superheros here, and although that can be somewhat disappointing, it made for strong empathy and people I could relate to. Which is why I got scared. Just the right amount of supernatural to add the necessary chill. More Peter! More!
Rating: 
Summary: I've read this book many times
Review: Although the story is not overly original, I nonetheless find this book compelling. The book touches on themes of Vietnam and childhood abuse in ways that continue to haunt me. I also very much enjoy Peter Straub's writing style--he writes in a beautiful, lyrical manner and with humor as well. This book was not, in my mind, a conventional horror novel with demons, vampires, and so on. But there is a type of psychological horror in it that is very intense. It reminded me of some of Henry James' short stories and the stories of Shirley Jackson. It would be interesting to see what a producer like Chris Carter (of the X-Files) could do with this as a film.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, man... is this book a bore or what??
Review: Characters that read like those from the Movie-Of-The-Week ilk thrown into a most unlikely plot that drags and drags and drags. I stopped reading (and, in fact, threw the book in the garbage) before the testosterone-laden cardboard cutout cliches ever even got back to Vietnam to find the mysterious killer who shares his name with a very famous cuddly-looking panda. How lame! This was the first time I've dipped my toe into Peter Straub. Think I'll look for other swimmin' holes.
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