Cold Whisper

Rating:
Summary: Strictly for horror fans who don't know any better.
Review: I've read several books by Rick Hautala, all of them from "Moondeath" up through the "Intensity" ripoff, "Impulse," and every time I finish one of them I put it aside and ask myself why I have wasted my time reading a book by a man who writes as well as Richard Nixon sings. This is another suspenseless piece of fodder that features excruciatingly annoying characters (a Hautala staple). This one was so bad it ended my string of reading his books, so for that I must be grateful. My fave scene is the one where the girl is trying to escape from the bed where her captor is sleeping and she stops in the middle to have an out-loud conversation with her "protector." Hautala should return to remedial writing class...where...he'd learn...that ellipses...and exclamation points...shouldn't be used in...every...sentence!

Rating:
Summary: Strictly for horror fans who don't know any better.
Review: I've read several books by Rick Hautala, all of them from "Moondeath" up through the "Intensity" ripoff, "Impulse," and every time I finish one of them I put it aside and ask myself why I have wasted my time reading a book by a man who writes as well as Richard Nixon sings. This is another suspenseless piece of fodder that features excruciatingly annoying characters (a Hautala staple). This one was so bad it ended my string of reading his books, so for that I must be grateful. My fave scene is the one where the girl is trying to escape from the bed where her captor is sleeping and she stops in the middle to have an out-loud conversation with her "protector." Hautala should return to remedial writing class...where...he'd learn...that ellipses...and exclamation points...shouldn't be used in...every...sentence!

Rating:
Summary: Hautala brings fear home to Maine again...
Review: In "Cold Whisper", Hautala (the OTHER Maine horror genius)demonstrates again what it is he does so well--and what it is that brings us back again and again to his terror-tainted fearscapes--delivering relentless suspense until the very last page. The story of Sarah, a college student tortured by the memories of horrific brutality, "Cold Whisper" takes us to the point where imagination and reality meet, then leaps across the divide. Has her haunted childhood returned with a vengeance? Realistic Maine backdrops, intense psychological and supernatural thrills, and characters whose fevered minds you can really crawl inside of all combine to make "Cold Whisper" a novel that will invade your dreams and quicken the pulse.

Rating:
Summary: Hautala brings fear home to Maine again...
Review: In "Cold Whisper", Hautala (the OTHER Maine horror genius) demonstrates again what it is he does so well--and what it is that brings us back again and again to his terror-tainted fearscapes--delivering relentless suspense until the very last page. The story of Sarah, a college student tortured by the memories of horrific brutality, "Cold Whisper" takes us to the point where imagination and reality meet, then leaps across the divide. Has her haunted childhood returned with a vengeance? Realistic Maine backdrops, intense psychological and supernatural thrills, and characters whose fevered minds you can really crawl inside of all combine to make "Cold Whisper" a novel that will invade your dreams and quicken the pulse.

Rating:
Summary: Not Hautala's best by a long shot...
Review: This is your average horror novel that has a decent premise but you just get bogged by the slow-developing plot. However, Hautala is a solid writer who may have been experiencing a tight deadline or "writers block."

However, I am sympathetic because anyone who has tried writing a novel knows how difficult it is. The story is still worth reading; pick it up in a used book store, garage sale. You could even buy it used here on Borders.com, but I wouldn't pay full price.

The story revolves around Sarah, who witnessed a crime. The attacker comes after her and she and her protector fight him off. Moves slowly, some of the characters aren't fully developed, but still a decent read.