The Fury

Rating:
Summary: One of the first and still one of the best of this genre
Review: This 1976 novel by John Farris was not only the basis for the Brian de Palma film but is also quite clearly the main inspiration for Stephen King's novel "Firestarter." I mention this because it was King's choice words of high praise that caught my eye and made me pick this book up off the shelf at the library, which makes an implicit comparison between the two works pretty much impossible. The important thing is that Farris' novel holds up twenty-five years later. Of course the entire idea of a secret government organization with vast man power and resources, answerable only to the egomaniac in charge--in this case the Multiphasic Operations Research Group (MORG) run by the one-armed Childermass--has been done to death over the years, but they are a necessary evil to tell this particular tale. The main players in "The Fury" are Gillian Bellaver, daughter of a very rich family, and Robin Sandza, being raised by a religious couple while is father is away in the Navy. What we quickly learn is that Gillian and Robin are psychic twins, physically separated right before birth because of chance mishap. While Robin has been enjoying his newfound powers, Gillian is only becoming aware of how much harm she can do to other people. The other twist of fate is that Robin's father, Peter, is in fact a skilled assassin who wants to get his son away from MORG. The chief success of this novel is that with everything that everybody is trying to do you end up having no idea how this will all play out in the end, which is a roundabout way of saying Farris manages to sustain a high level of suspense right up until the end of the novel, which is certainly no mean feat in this genre. Farris mixes his science with mythology to provide a reasonable rationale for why these kids are able to do the things they do, certainly enough to constitute the willing suspension of disbelief without getting into a debate on practical realities. You also have to admire his sense of realism regarding bodily fluids and such, which add unsettling touches of authenticity to the tale. I hear tell this book was reissued because a sequel is forthcoming; I am not waiting 25 years to read the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This book blew me away, I haven't read a good book in a while but this griped me. I was sad to finish it