Rating: 
Summary: Not THAT scary
Review: I, too, was swayed by the rave reviews from the likes of Stephen King and others. Hey, if he thought it was scary, maybe there was something to it.Yea, a couple parts were kind of eerie and shivery, but for the most part -- I had NO idea what was going on. It's like some weird Alice in Wonderland-type story -- and the ending is a surprise. For really scary stuff, stick to King.
Rating: 
Summary: Bleh
Review: If you only have a first grade reading ability, and can be excited about a jar of pickles, then this is the book for you. Limitted to small words, random acts of illogic, and a poor excuse for dialogue text, I found it hard to pick the book back up after laying it down. Needless to say, I finally got the book read, and realized that I had wasted my time. I experienced no personal fear, and could have walked down a dark alley at midnight, while reading this book, and experience no qualms. Usually, I take books I don't care for, to the thrift shop. This one, I tore into little pieces, dumped in the trash, and then sat there upset with myself that I actually WASTED my time on the book. I would suggest that the reader seek entertainment in other more enlightening forms, like plucking their nose hairs, trying to stare down their cats, and clipping their toenails.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick Reading Horror Novel
Review: If you're in the mood for a easy/fast reading and scary novel, then "Fear" is the book for you. "Fear" is by far the scariest book I have ever read and probably the best too. Once I started to read it, I couldn't put it down and read every time I had the chance, and in a day or two, I finished it. The novel is about a college professor named Jim Lowry who strongly disbelieves in demons and devils. He believes that they were created by witch doctors in order to control people by telling them that they exist in order to sacre them so the people would obey them. Lowry finds himself in a world of madness after he writes an article about his beliefs, loses his teaching job, and then abruptly loses four hours of his life. What happened to him during these four hours is what he searches for and slowly drives himself mad doing so. Lowry suffers an ironic fate during his quest to find his "missing" hours, and a twisted end waits at the end for the reader of this book. I urge anyone, other than the weak minded, to read this book if they are looking for a very short, yet thrilling novel.
Rating:
Summary: Quick Reading Horror Novel
Review: If you're in the mood for a easy/fast reading and scary novel, then "Fear" is the book for you. "Fear" is by far the scariest book I have ever read and probably the best too. Once I started to read it, I couldn't put it down and read every time I had the chance, and in a day or two, I finished it. The novel is about a college professor named Jim Lowry who strongly disbelieves in demons and devils. He believes that they were created by witch doctors in order to control people by telling them that they exist in order to sacre them so the people would obey them. Lowry finds himself in a world of madness after he writes an article about his beliefs, loses his teaching job, and then abruptly loses four hours of his life. What happened to him during these four hours is what he searches for and slowly drives himself mad doing so. Lowry suffers an ironic fate during his quest to find his "missing" hours, and a twisted end waits at the end for the reader of this book. I urge anyone, other than the weak minded, to read this book if they are looking for a very short, yet thrilling novel.
Rating:
Summary: Have no fear!
Review: James Lowry, Atworthy's Professor of Ethnology, is paying dearly for having written a scathing article about witchcraft. First of all, he is dishonorably discharged from the college for writing such demagoguery. Then he loses four hours - with no recollections whatever. Worst of all, the entire realm of the supernatural is out to prove him wrong... Fear is devastatingly boring. It introduces its hero, catch, and premise in the first twenty pages or so, then hems and haws for about a hundred with no plot development whatever while the unfortunate Prof. Lowry has episodic run-ins with the supernatural, finally gets a bit interesting in its final thirty pages by introducing some fairly original concepts, and then ends as abruptly as possible by putting everything on its head and cutting it down with a big rusty axe. Its Final Twist feels contrived, if crudely ironic. "Fear" is terribly dated and its characters are cardboard-flat. Its protagonist is a perfectly upright fellow, logical, caring, with an academic background to boot: in other words - hard to identify with. "Fear" doesn't even have a defined antagonist. The story consists of a single catch which is revealed in its entirety on the very last page - for the remainder of the book Lowry jumps at shadows, shivers in the dark, sees strange things, and slowly goes mad (though, being so shallow in the first place, he doesn't have much of a personality to warp). Supposedly, he is out to find the four missing hours, but he has neither clues nor leads, nor any faint, sinister memories - he literally goes out at night and "looks" for his loss. The narrative lacks sophistication, and uses lots of exclamation marks and eye-grabbing sentences ("It was an inch deep in blood!"). Hardly worth the while to read.
Rating:
Summary: Where did this come from?
Review: Just to let you know, I am not a Scientologist, EX-Scientologist, or an Anti-Scientologist "Hubbard-Hater." I have read Dianetics twice (and loved it both times). I have read various Scientology books, and found most of them excellent! I was immediately attracted to FEAR by the author's non-fiction works, and also by a rumor that L. Ron wrote the book in a single weekend. However, I found FEAR to be the biggest piece of garbage I have ever read. The book is about a man who lost four hours of his life, and embarks on a journey to discover what happened during that time. How ironic! I wish that I had MY four hours back, too. What a waste of time....
Rating:
Summary: Lost Time
Review: My objective, to read the 100 greatest classics, I absolutely hated this book "Fear", not in the least bit scary or interesting. The classic novels voted by literary experts, on the other hand, each spoke something immensely valuable to me. I am currently reading "Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James, in just the first twenty or so pages, I already have something of meaning or value. Like James, I have an educational background in Psychology. I think throughout this book "Fear", Hubbard was alluding to principles set forth in his Dianetics concepts, is my guess. Dianetics was another huge disappointment, I gave it a second chance and couldn't get past page 100 or so, the contradiction, that he violated his own promise: no fancy words that the reader couldn't understand. It was thick with difficult to understand lingo and I could see where it was going, you will need help [auditor], where I think it should be completely mechanically self-help if it is valid. I get far more help and relaxation from simple meditation and living in the present. Anthony Robbins material has some good premises, at least. I lost four hours, at least, reading this book though, a waste of my time. I got nothing of value here. Steps that disappear from your front door, no big deal, that happened all the time when I was a repair technician at customers' homes. Something dark following behind. No big deal either for any of us who have to deal with the IRS. That's about the extent of things, leaving here with some light humor, and some lost time. I don't recommend this book for anybody, and I consider that I have good taste in things, in general.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: This book is awesome. I am not a huge fan of the "horror/suspense" genre but this book was great. The entire book cranks you up and then pounds you with an awesome ending. Hubbard does an excellent job with keeping the outcome unpredictable. After I finished the first time I had to go back and read it again to look for subtle clues that might direct me to the end, and was quite impressed with the way the entire book was written. I believe that the scary part of this novel is that it truly could happen to anyone. This novel is a look at one reason Hubbard was respected for his writing before he was ever thought of as anything but one.
Rating: 
Summary: What is going on here?
Review: This book is like being a child again and fearing the unknown. It's excellent...it gets you thinking and sort of reminds me of (not to give anything away) but the family that inspired the Fuguitive movie and tv show. It has an ending that I cannot say. But if you do read it you will never forget it. In addition there is a small story that is nice at the end
Rating:
Summary: Watch out for the ending!
Review: This books was a great book. I decided I had to stop reading it last night because it was 11:45, quiet, and dark in my house. Even I was a little spooked. I just finished it this morning, and I was more than surprised at the ending. I've read, I think, just about all of L. Ron Hubbard's fiction, and this isn't the top of the line, but it was enjoyable. However, it read something like he sat down one day and just started typing. Nothing really in mind. And he pulled it off. If you have 2-3 hours to kill, pick this one up.
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