Messenger

Rating:
Summary: Repeats Old Work
Review: Ed Lee's "Messenger" is a repeat of old work. He hints at many aspects of his Infernal novels, but never really gets things going. True, there's the usual sex and gore, but nothing seems fresh or inventive. This is the same old demon/possession novel we've all read before. I like a lot of Lee's work, but this is definitely my least favorite.

Rating:
Summary: BIG HORROR BOOK FAN-FIRST LEE BOOK
Review: I am a huge fan of horror, reading about 20-25 books a year. I don't know what the hell took me so long to discover edward lee.
From beginning to end i could not put the book down, it had all the elements a great horror book should have. GRAPHIC GORE, GRAPHIC SEX (ALBEIT SOMETIMES TWISTED SEX)INTERESTING AND BELIEVEABLE CHARACTERS, AND DREAD LURKING AROUND ALMOST EVERY CORNER. I went to my local border's and odered 4 more of his books and I know they wont dissapoint. Edward Lee now joins my other favs-BARKER,CLEGG,KOONTZ&KING.GREAT COMPANY INDEED.

Rating:
Summary: Horror that's painful to read
Review: I am very surprised with the 5 start ratings for this book. I am a true fan of horror, and there's no denying that Ed Lee has written some pretty gruesome stuff. But this book is painfully boring and uninteresting. There is absolutely no character developement or depth. The dialogue is usually ridiculous and I completely agree with the other reviewer about the many storyline blunders. I thought Monstrosity was a good read but this is awful.

Rating:
Summary: I burned this book
Review: I usually like the usual horror, gore, and even sometimes sex in a book, but this book was easily the worst book I've ever read. I bought this book thinking it would be like Anne Rice, written well, good plot, and maybe some gore thrown in; I was terribly mistaken. I only got about 140 pages into the book when I decided it wasn't getting any better. The plot was a little intriguing, the characters were decent, but the plot and characters got lost along the way when he started putting in sexual references, rather than sex, and disturbing images. Also, he didn't explain what was happening really well, and didn't focus much on the plot after a while, it just became more blurred. In conclusion, if you're not into the terribly written, half plotted, sex outweighing the gore novels...Do NOT get this book.

Rating:
Summary: Another great Lee Novel
Review: I will start by saying that Edward Lee is without a doubt one of the most hard-core horror writers out there. His novels are as graphic as they come. People with weak stomachs shouldn't read any of his novels right after eating, but with that being said if you want a horror novel that will keep your attention from beginning to end grab a copy of The Messenger.

Lee has a way of developing characters and plot at a really fast pace. You will find yourself tearing through the pages wondering what's going to happen next.

The Messenger also has some of City infernal, and Infernal Angel aspects to it also, so if you liked those two books The Messenger will not disappoint.

I highly recommend The Messenger to anyone who likes hard-core horror.


Rating:
Summary: Powerful But Fails in Some Details
Review: It is a pleasure to Edward Lee's books coming out frequently. Unfortunately this one, while a fascinating subject, makes many blunders that destroy the overall work.

In this book we get glimpses of a traditional Hell, as opposed to those in the Infernal books. A small town is hit by a wave of violence as various postal employees go on individual rampages. The postmaster is worried and central to the story as is her new romantic interest, the chief of police.

What we have is that various people fall under the control of the Devil's messenger (the evil counterpart to Gabriel). Each victim commits atrocities at the physical and psychical direction of the Messenger.

Sex and violence play a big part in this story and the reader is gripped with a need to know what happens next right up to the last page. A very clever story from a true master of horror.

But what of the blunders? Well here are a few. A couple has sex after the woman's kids retire for the night. They go at it again a few nights later in the living room and spend the night there naked. No mention of kids this time. The setting is a small town that is described as very quiet and almost totally crime free (the worst being an occasion T-Ping of a tree) but later we learn that the town has an abundance of strip clubs and local prostitutes (huh?). Anyway, these problems and others will get to some readers but be ignored by others. The atmosphere of the book is so thick as to help obscure many of the flaws (like no Federal involvement).

If you are a fan of Mr. Lee, you will definitely want to check this one out as it pulls no punches.


Rating:
Summary: Lee goes postal
Review: The town of Dannelton is an idealic Florida community. Great weather, friendly people, an overall peaceful and quaint little burg. All of this changes when a female mailman named Marlene opens fire on the employees and patrons of the local post office, massacring 26 people. Marlene was well liked around town , not at all the type of person to commit such a horrible crime. But Marlene was under the orders of "The Messenger", an evil spirit that enters the minds of others and makes them commit unspeakable crimes. Soon, many of the town's postal workers and other once-upstanding citizens will fall under the spell of "The Messenger" and help him paint the town crimson red...

Ed Lee's Leisure efforts are always a bit tamer in the mayhem department than his other works but "The Messenger" definitely has its share of gruesome scenes. Most of the murders in this book do not occur individually but rather on larger scales with several massacres of 20+ people. As expected, Lee spares no details when describing these scenes.

This novel is a page-turner that reads easily and the pages flow smoothly. It's just not necessarily a great page turner. I had so many problems with this book I don't even know where to start. "The Messenger" never actually makes a physical appearance, he is just an invisible presence that can enter the minds of others. In my opinion this absence of a central villain kind of hurt the story and robbed it of an exciting ending. Also, the motive of The Messenger is unclear, aside from "wanting to deliver a message". What is he gaining by slaughtering all these innocent people? Why in Dannelton? After the first two massacres, why isn't anyone considering high-tailing it out of town? How come nobody (except the police chief) remembers the initial massacre 20 years ago? The list of inconsistencies goes on.

Character development was extremely thin and the lack of supporting characters was bothersome. The way this story is presented you'd think Dannelton only had a population of about 50 people or so. Still, as an Edward Lee fan I couldn't help but enjoying the novel anyway and I'm sure the bulk of his loyal fans will too because it is graphic and it is gruesome. It just doesn't make much sense nor is it memorable. I know that Lee can do much better than this. "City Infernal" is a book that comes to mind in the sense I'll never forget it and it had a truly original concept that made it stand out from the rest of the mass-market horror pile. Sadly, this is not the case with The Messenger.


Rating:
Summary: Dull, dull, and more dullness
Review: This is one book I'll probably throw in my giveaway pile. The plot, such as it is, treats the tired old theme of demons taking over human beings to wreak bloody murder. The title is a sort of pun, since the demon in this novel utilizes postal employees as its "messengers." The title is about the best part of the book. The old Heaven and Hell stuff doesn't get my engines revving, especially when the action isn't particularly interesting. Sure, there's lots of gruesome slayings, but nothing I could sink my teeth into as far as plot and character development. Lee's writing is pretty standard: modern, utilitarian, to the point. Not exceptionally winning. If you want a lazy-day read you can plow through and throw out the next day, sure, go for it. Otherwise, take a pass on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Novel idea, could have been better
Review: This was my first Ed Lee book. It had a lot of nice gorey scenes in it. And the idea of mailmen as messengers of the Devil was very tongue in cheek. The story and plot were nothing special, but it did keep me entertained. Most of the characters were intriguing as well. As a fast, fun read, I sort of liked this.

However, I was dissapointed in knowing the end about half way through the book. This was seomthing i noticed with Lee, he doesn't trust his audience to be smart enough to know what's going on. There is a scene where a repairman comes to a woman's house. She is clearly possesed by the Messenger. We know she is going to kill this guy, but Lee drags it out for something like 12 pages. I was like, okay, I get it, kill the guy already, you're not fooling anyone. Stuff like that occurs throughout the book. It's frustrating.

My other problem was that none of these characters acted like humans. I'm not talking about the ones possesed by the Messenger, but rather the unaffected ones. The protagonist's employees butcher half the town and kill themselves in the course of three days, and she just goes through life all ho-hum. Doesn't take a day off work, doesn't seek counseling, doesn't spend hours on the phone with friends. There was a serial killer in my neighborhood growing up. When the police caught him, we were numb for months, the local schools offerred counselors (he was a student), and the parents formed a watch group. News reporters were on every corner. I didn't read about one reporter pestering the protagonist in this book. At one point one of the possessed employees commits suicide in a horrific (kudos to Lee on this scene) way, in front of the protagonist, and the protagonist just goes home and shrugs it off. I don't know about you, but I'd be in a state of shock. I mean come on, a dose of reality please.

Anyway, barring that, it was indeed a fun, mindless, book. If you like gore and interesting interpretations of hell, it's worth a read. I will certainly read more of his stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Messenger
Review: This was the first novel of this author that I have had the priviledge to read. I usually never finish a book in one sitting but this book was an exception...it was riveting and I intend to read more books by this author.