Rating: Summary: Not The Beast Within, but it still rocks. Review: ...P>Edward Levy was actually a seventies horror author rather than an eighties horror author, but Came a Spider was one of the first books to chart the course that more recent horror novels would take, scaling down the supermonsters of fifties and sixties "atomic cinema" and switching the focus from Robert Oppenheimer to Rachel Carson. (That Rachel Carson doctored her data does not in any way invalidate the sheer creepiness of a good deal of ecohorror.) Came a Spider was his first novel, of only two I could ever find that he wrote, and while it's the lesser of the two, it's still a barnburner of a read. Levy hits you early on; in the opening scene, a large, nasty-looking spider bites a teenager, who gets progressively sicker over the next week, then dies, his purpose fulfilled-a cocoon for the spiders' eggs. From there, the babies of this mutant beast do what comes naturally to mutant monsters in horror novels. They launch a campaign to take over Los Angeles. Came a Spider, for all the genre-writing silliness, was an insanely influential novel. Very little of what has come since has remained uninfluenced by it (the climactic hunt for the spiders' nest in the sewers of Los Angeles, especially, should be very familiar to fans of eighties mutant monster movies, starting with 1980's Alligator). It helps that Levy has a wonderfully readable style, causing the reader to want to forgive some of the deadwood in the dialogue (e.g., one of the scientists on the team trying to kill the spiders off has a tendency to use the term "personally," as in "I personally know..." and the like, way, way too much). The pages certainly keep turning quickly enough, so that if you've got an afternoon free you can probably plow through the whole book. Levy's work has been re-released, and can now be discovered by a new generation of fans. Allilujah. ****
Rating: Summary: Best Spider Story Ever Review: I read this book for the first time in 1982 and I've not found any spider story since that can equal it. It has spiders, mutations, mass hysteria, a good mystery. It starts innocently and ends with a nice touch of drama. I'd love to see this as a movie!
Rating: Summary: Best spider story ever Review: I read this book in 1980 and loved it. When I described it to friends, they were unanimously repulsed. It has a high "creep" value, and enough of a scientific approach that you want to believe it, no matter how unlikely it is that such a creature could exist. If you think the bite of a brown recluse spider is scary, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
Rating: Summary: action packed and frightening, a must for spider haters!!!!! Review: I read this book many years ago, and recently again. It was just as captivating as the first time I read it. I want it in hard cover, and since it is out of print, I am unable to locate it, and that is making me crazy!
Rating: Summary: Good writing! Review: I usually don't read science fiction or scary stuff, but this was recommended to me and I'm so glad I read it. The writing is terrific with a flow that really holds interest. I am less fond of spiders than ever before, but anxious to read more of his books.
Rating: Summary: Good writing! Review: I usually don't read science fiction or scary stuff, but this was recommended to me and I'm so glad I read it. The writing is terrific with a flow that really holds interest. I am less fond of spiders than ever before, but anxious to read more of his books.
Rating: Summary: Good book to pass a rainy day Review: If you are stuck inside for a day and are just looking for a book to pass the time, this book is not a bad selection. Not by any means the best book I ever read, it was still quite enjoyable. One of the best things about the book was the description of the spider attacks. Basically hope that nothing crawls across your arm or falls on you while you are reading the book. Of course that is just my opnion, I could be wrong.
Rating: Summary: Good book to pass a rainy day Review: If you are stuck inside for a day and are just looking for a book to pass the time, this book is not a bad selection. Not by any means the best book I ever read, it was still quite enjoyable. One of the best things about the book was the description of the spider attacks. Basically hope that nothing crawls across your arm or falls on you while you are reading the book. Of course that is just my opnion, I could be wrong.
Rating: Summary: Came a Spider Review: The novel Came A Spider by Edward Levy was a very good book. It was full of suspense . It was almost like a horror movie. I think this book was very well written there was a lot of detail. The first chapter kept you interested. In the first chapter there is already a mystery to be solved and in order to figure it out you have to keep reading. The plot was very strong it was built at a good pace. One of the things that I really liked about the book was the characters. The characters were very realistic. It was very easy to relate to them because you got to look into their personal lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and mystery. Came A Spider is a very well written book that I'm sure you will enjoy.
Rating: Summary: Came a Spider Review: The novel Came A Spider by Edward Levy was a very good book. It was full of suspense . It was almost like a horror movie. I think this book was very well written there was a lot of detail. The first chapter kept you interested. In the first chapter there is already a mystery to be solved and in order to figure it out you have to keep reading. The plot was very strong it was built at a good pace. One of the things that I really liked about the book was the characters. The characters were very realistic. It was very easy to relate to them because you got to look into their personal lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and mystery. Came A Spider is a very well written book that I'm sure you will enjoy.
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