Rating: 
Summary: This one,s worth a double-take
Review: SPOILER ALERT-To defend this pretty-good sequel, I'm having to give away the ending. Don't read this post until you have read the book--and have done your part to noodle out its puzzling conclusion. Then tell me if you think I'm right!
Why so many bad reviews? First off, let's be real. Most horror books are nothing but brain candy. When you come to one that requires reflection, it's disconcerting. We were all expecting a typical horror story so that we could be entertained, close the cover and move on to the next read. But this Hershey's Kiss turns out to be more of a Slo-Poke (I betray my age), and we are asked to chew on it awhile to get our nickel's worth.
Were you annoyed by that last page--discovering that ROAST MULES was not to be revealed, and realizing that the book's entire point hinged on it? I enjoy subtlety, but am averse to working anagrams so that I can THEN assemble an author's meaning. The ending would have spun out much more smoothly had the anagram been solved at some point, and I don't think the story would have lost a gram of subtlety.
Nevertheless, the novel is successful and here's why. First, this was no "It was only a dream ... or was it?" cornball kid-book ending--unless, in the manner of Elias Howe, Rosemary was able to invent roller blades and the Palm Pilot as she dozed. The conversation with Hutch assures us (doggedly) that the dream was a vision. Of course, that's not enough to keep the book out of the bush-leagues, but there's more.
To save you a couple of aspirin, the solution to the anagram is somersault. Some have interpreted this as cyclical imagery, suggesting that Rosemary is damned to repeat her ordeal for eternity. However, a somersault is not a cycle. While one does alight in the same posture/position as before, he finds himself a few steps advanced. That's what's happening here. At St. Pat's, Rosemary prays for a sign, and for guidance. The unexpected response turns out to be a full replay--but this time, with the benefit of experience. The last words of the book are, "She looked ahead." That's a lot different from her starting point in Rosemary's Baby. Rosemary never had a chance in the first go-round. Anyone, no matter how good or how clever, would have been pulled in and defeated. But this next time, her mettle and faith can play a role, and depending on how she performs, she'll either save the world or find herself once again on that stuffy elevator. Though the somersault gives her a fighting chance, this won't be a cake walk. `We're about to be thrown out, it's a free year at the Dakota, look, it was only a dream,' and etc. She'll doubtless go on to the Dakota, and there she'll find out how much she learned in the practice round.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Book, Decent Sequel
Review: This book seems to have received a lot of mixed reviews, more negative than otherwise. That, and the fact that it's fairly obscure (I didn't know ROSEMARY'S BABY had a sequel until I stumbled across it in a used book store a few months back) might make you think that it's a weak follow-up; but I didn't think so. I thought it was a lot of fun. It's the same type of horror-comedy as the first book; not as original in concept but still pretty entertaining. Brisk story, and Rosemary remains a likeable character even after having been in a coma for 20 years. The ending has a twist that many apparently disliked, but I wouldn't take it too seriously: the book's about the son of Satan, for pete's sake!
Rating: 
Summary: If you're wondering why you never knew there was a sequel...
Review: There's a reason for that. Rosemary's Baby is one of my favorite scary movies, so I was up for reading it even though my expectations were low. Halfway through it I realized the magnitude of this book's worthlessness, but I just kept hoping it was going to get at least a little bit scary. I shouldn't have bothered trying to muddle through the awkward dialogue, the lack of action, and the extremely one-dimensional characters. I realized upon closing it that it was the worst book I can remember ever reading, and I want my time back! It's almost like someone assigned a junior high kid to continue the story of Rosemary's Baby, and you're reading one of the worst ones turned in. I am not familiar with any of Levin's other work, but I feel positive that no matter what its quality, just about anyone could have come up with a more interesting, scarier, and better written sequel. The only reason I'm even writing this review when there are already so many negative ones is that I need to vent about what a waste of paper it is!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother With This One
Review: The one thing I like about Ira Levin's books are the indepth descriptions. Rosemary's Baby was written 1967 and you really felt as if you were there. Son of Rosemary was set in 1999 and Levin doesn't seem to do as well with modern day atmosphere.
In the sequel, we learn that Rosemary Reilly divorced her loathsome husband Guy, who had sold her body to the building's coven for insemination by Satan. The coven put her into a coma when the resulting child was six years old and she was secretly planning to flee with him. Rosemary comes out of the coma 27 years later, just as the last member of the coven, a retired dentist, is run over by a taxi. She then goes about discovering what her little demon-eyed tike has been up to in the interim.By 1999, Andy is 33 years old, the same as Jesus at the time of the crucifixion. The difference is that, unlike Jesus at that age, he is the most popular man in the world. For whatever reason, most of the people in the world wear lapel buttons that say "I Love Andy". Soon they start wearing "I Love Rosemary" buttons, too. He does not ask much of his admirers. All that he requests is that everyone in the world light a candle at midnight, Greenwich Mean Time, on New Year's Eve, 1999. Exactly at 12:00 a.m. A harmless gesture. Surely. Even more remarkable than the Antichrist's friends are his enemies, who seem to consist mostly of the followers of Ayn Rand. Known generically as "P.A."s (Paranoid Atheists), they are the only people in the world who do not buy Andy's piety. The main problem they pose, however, is not that they threaten his personality cult, but that they might not light their candles with everyone else.
The little details are lovingly recalled in the new book. The tannis root. The scrabble. And then, of course, there is the wicked anagram, ROAST MULES. One word.
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