Rating: Summary: boring Review: Once upon a time, there were very few writers in horror and they were the best. King,Straub,blatty to name a few. They made horror very populer. This is not a good book, no horror. If you want scare, go outside your home at night and stay, you will get more scare then this, I dont know why he can not write straight instead of confusing? I can not finish any of his book.
Rating: Summary: Dark literary horrific crime tale Review: Seldom have I read a novel that packed so much into such a relatively short amount of space. This book is horror, crime, noir, and full-out literature in the finest sense of the word. Thrills and chills spill out of Piccirilli's pen to enwrap you in a tale bizarre and yet so familiar. What college student hasn't felt like a complete outsider at one point or another? Who hasn't felt haunted during the gloom of deepest winter? Piccirilli offers us this solid mystery of a man hunting a killer and yet provides so much more: touches of the supernatural, satirical commentary on the nature of higher education, and an absolutely heartbreaking finale. Take this night class and prepare to learn!
Rating: Summary: Never Color Outside The Lines Review: The Night Class starts out fairly mildly, with almost a 'Catcher In The Rye' style that the story never quite loses. But as the intricacies of Tom Piccirilli's tale of the misadventures of Caleb Prentiss unfold we discover that underlying the lives of Cal and his fellow university students something dark and sardonic lurks.
Cal returns from a near disastrous spring break only to discover that a murder has been committed in his dorm room. Compulsive, Cal seeks out the details of the crime and the truth about the victim, Sylvia Campbell. In the end he ensconces himself in a tomblike basement room to contemplate her artifacts. His obsession with the murder mirrors his inability to escape the shadows of his sister's suicide, his feelings for Sylvia becoming, in a way, a more real relationship than what he has with his current girlfriend, Jodi.
Of course, it doesn't help that every time someone close to Cal dies, his palms start to bleed. For our stigmatic hero, careening from classroom to dorm, to a strip joint and a party at the dean's house, everything opens up to reveal an inner bleakness that parodies university life in a way that 'The Paper Chase' never managed to. There is more dark humor than horror to this book, where most of the crimes occur just off stage, heralded by Cal's bleeding palms, and put to bed only uneasily.
One can't help but like Cal, more of a misfit than a rebel, who seems to march to a different drummer. He starts out in a class on ethics from which he must retreat if he is to maintain his own ethical sense. This is the core struggle of the book as Cal comes face to face with the supernatural side of academic perfidy. On his way he consults oracles and struggles with Circe and her creatures made flesh. From it beginning to its equivocal end, The Night Class retains its compelling story line, continually challenging the reader with a horror that relies on irony as well as blood and gore.
Rating: Summary: Unique cross-genre novel Review: There have been many mystery/crime thrillers that have crossed over into horror territory through use of graphic violence and viscera. But few have approached that gray area between genres with such subtle supernatural currents as in Piccirrilli's Night Class. This is a story told in the course of a single day and night as a young man, weeks away from graduating from his university, finally discovers what kind of evil forces are at work on campus. From his own darkest heart he journeys through betrayal, fear, and other revelations that will draw the reader in until he's on the edge of his seat. I read this one in two long sittings because I loathed to put it down. I bet you feel the same way.
Rating: Summary: This book reads like a draft Review: This book has potential but failed to develop. There was precious little information or character development that made me care about if they lived or died. Too many things are unexplained. One final thing, is the book supposed to be scary or confusing? It is confusing enough in spots that I had to go back and reread sections. I did not loose sleep due to this book.
Rating: Summary: Highly atmospheric and scary! Review: This is a highly atmospheric novel that puts to use some really scary and chilling moments! A snow-covered campus, a man whose hands bleed while a murderer stalks his prey, and a bunch of creepy teachers on the lookout for trouble! Ghosts abound but not just spookes--here there are ghosts of the mind as well. This book is unsettling and really grabbed me by the hackles and wouldn't let go!
Rating: Summary: A unique dark thriller Review: This is a terrific, heavily atmospheric-laden dark mystery with a handful of supernatural elements tossed into the mix. Gripping, chilling, terrifying story here, and it caught me up immediately with one of the most authentic and witty openings I've ever read, in a horror novel or otherwise. Tom Piccirilli has been a favorite of mine for years and he continues to write daring and original material. Highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: confuzing Review: This is confusing book, The horror writing need not be confusing. I know lots of horror writers who can give you scare by writing straight and to the point. When I saw 'Blair witch project' I was not scared but did get head ache from moving camera. But it was confusing, not scary.
Rating: Summary: First Classic of Horror/Dark-Lit in the New Century Review: This is, honestly, the most important work of Horror Literature to emerge in perhaps the last decade. Piccirilli's novel pulls together a variety of Dark Fiction threads that have been hovering around for years and braids them into a coherent whole. I'm not normally one to trumpet about "new paradigms," but TNC is so obviously pointing out the path that 21st Century Horror should and will take. This is a brooding invention, peopled by characters that are so real that it's difficult to refer to them as "characters," and the author's strong whip-hand never allows the outre, outrageous, decadently gorgeous plot to leave the roadway. I've just heard that THE NIGHT CLASS has been nominated for a Stoker and, if there is any justice in this world, it will win by a landslide. All in all, this is a jaw-dropping classic, and Piccirilli makes it look much easier than it undoubtedly was.
Rating: Summary: An achievement! Review: This may be the worst book ever written; hopeless writing, pretentious, non-linear narrative, and no horror.I'm not picky about writing. I read lots of dreck. I'll muddle through awkward metaphors for the sake of a good plot, or a good scare. I'll also ignore sloppy plotting if the writing is good. I slogged all the way through this silly, silly book to discover that *it doesn't have an ending* it just sort of leaves things hanging like an art film. Horrifying, really.
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