Rating: 
Summary: No good deed goes unpunished...(mellion108 from Michigan)
Review: Dan, Megan, and Nikki Powell are returning home from holiday in a horrible blizzard when they spot a lone figure in the blinding snow. Dan stops to pick up the stranger in hopes of lending a helping hand. However, as soon as Brand--a name that becomes more symbolic as the novel progresses--enters the car, all three Powells feel his power in different ways, especially once Brand starts asking them for "a moment of your time." Dan soon stops the car and forces the man out.
Of course, this is the world of horror, so Brand doesn't simply go away. He begins to haunt each family member, preying on his or her darkest fears and self doubts. Megan begins to lose her mind. Dan sees Brand as symbolizing the very thing that threatens his abilities as family protector and as a man. Nikki? Well, teenage Nikki gets in touch with her inner nymph.
This was my first Lebbon novel, and I've already purchased a few more. His writing is wonderful, and he manages to present some very descriptive images. My major complaint with this mass market paperback is that Leisure did not take enough time to edit it well. There are numerous (stress on numerous) typographical and grammatical errors. While I can overlook the occasional error, the number of errors in this book was very distracting. I found myself being pulled right out of the story. I don't know if the hardcover edition is better. Regardless, this is a good story by a very promising writer.
Rating: 
Summary: When bad things happen to good people
Review: During a blinding snowstorm, a family of three stops to pick up a hitchhiker called Brand. Then he asks them for another favor, one which they can't deliver. Discomfited by his conversation, they eject him from the car. But they haven't seen the last of Brand, nor will he leave their minds. Each becomes obsessed with him in his or her own way. Dan becomes preoccupied with thoughts of protecting his family, haunted by an attack on his wife years ago, and is driven to acts of violence of which he never thought himself capable. Megan, a religious woman, thinks of Brand as a devil who watches her through the eyes of wild creatures. And daughter Nikki finds herself attracted to him even as he terrifies her. Lebbon's masterful handling of family dynamics and his understanding of the things which threaten them puts him in league with Steve and Melanie Tem, the premier writers of familial horror. The story relies more on psychological terror and suspense, and when it does escalate into violence, it isn't gratuitous - which isn't to say it's not intense. My one small disappointment came from the unanswered questions at the end, where we're only given hints of the larger picture. I think I would have liked to know just a little bit more. Still, better to err on the side of mystery.
Rating:
Summary: When bad things happen to good people
Review: During a blinding snowstorm, a family of three stops to pick up a hitchhiker called Brand. Then he asks them for another favor, one which they can't deliver. Discomfited by his conversation, they eject him from the car. But they haven't seen the last of Brand, nor will he leave their minds. Each becomes obsessed with him in his or her own way. Dan becomes preoccupied with thoughts of protecting his family, haunted by an attack on his wife years ago, and is driven to acts of violence of which he never thought himself capable. Megan, a religious woman, thinks of Brand as a devil who watches her through the eyes of wild creatures. And daughter Nikki finds herself attracted to him even as he terrifies her. Lebbon's masterful handling of family dynamics and his understanding of the things which threaten them puts him in league with Steve and Melanie Tem, the premier writers of familial horror. The story relies more on psychological terror and suspense, and when it does escalate into violence, it isn't gratuitous - which isn't to say it's not intense. My one small disappointment came from the unanswered questions at the end, where we're only given hints of the larger picture. I think I would have liked to know just a little bit more. Still, better to err on the side of mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT AS SCARY OR SUSPENSFUL AS IT COULD'VE BEEN!!!
Review: FACE is the first novel that I've read by Tim Lebbon, and I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed. This is the story of the Powell family, and it starts off with them (Dan, Megan and their teenage daughter, Nikki) driving home from vacation during a snowstorm. Within a few miles of their destination, they see a hitchhiker standing out alongside of the highway and decide to be good Samaritans by offering him a lift. In less than five minutes, the dark, handsome man, who calls himself Brand, manages to anger and scare both Dan and Megan by asking for a moment of their time and by making lewd suggestions to their daughter. They immediately stop the SUV and tell Brand to get out, not caring if he lives or dies, praying that they'll never see him again. No such luck! Brand will now haunt their minds (Nikki's thoughts are more sexual in nature) and begin to slowly chisel away at the family structure by attacking them at their weakest points. For Dan, it has to do with the guilt he feels over the attack of his wife, Megan, several years before in the city, and he being unable to prevent it. Megan, on the other hand, has turned to God with a religious fever, believing that He will protect her against any harm. Brand intends on demonstrating just how weak and vulnerable they actually are. As far as Nikki goes, he plans to fulfill her secret sexual desires, though she may find it to be more of a nightmare than a hot fantasy. Before the end of the novel is reached, Brand will have terrorized the family by killing off their few friends, pushing them to the brink of madness, and by making them wish they'd given him a brief moment of their time. FACE started off as an intriguing premise, but by the end of the third chapter I realized that I didn't like the Powell family, nor did I care about the things being done to them. In fact, I didn't like any of the characters in the book, except for maybe Brand. I thought Dan, Megan and Nikki did some really stupid things, almost as if they were brain dead. One example that stands out is when Dan beats our villain with a pool cue at the local Pub because he hears Brand's voice in his mind, making sexual comments about Nikki. The whole incident rang untrue for me. Another is when Dan goes into the woods surrounding their home at night with a baseball bat to hunt for the mysterious Brand. He doesn't even know if the guy is out there watching the house, or whether he can actually take this evil person in fair fight. And speaking of Brand, the reader is never sure if he's a human monster or a demonic being of some kind. Because of this, I found the novel's grand finale to be confusing with more questions being presented than answers. I hate it when that happens. FACE isn't the worse novel I've ever read, but it's also far from the best. If you want to read it, my suggestion is to wait for the paperback to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: Overwritten and Repetitive
Review: Having mildly enjoyed Lebbon's "The Nature of Balance", I decided to give "Face" a try. Well, the beginning is quite gripping and I loved the concept of a family picking up a strange hitchhiker in the middle of a snow storm. It seems that the author started writing with this idea and didn't know where to go with it. Spelling errors aside, Lebbon repeats many of the character's thoughts over and over. Yes, we get the point, you don't need to tell us again! Anyway, having no growth with the characters and a disappointing ending, I cannot recommend this book. Tim Lebbon also seems like he's holding back with scenes, taking the easy way out with his conservative scares and sexual themes. Richard Laymon, Bentley Little, and Tom Piccirilli do it much better.
Rating:
Summary: I may be a little too modern for this
Review: I may be spoiled by the writings of Lee, Laymon, Ketchum, Lansdale, Barker, McCammon, and King himself. These authors pull no punches. They keep me turning the pages, in awe of their fast paced story line. And even when they slow down, I am never bored by their writing. The book in question, Face, was a dull, tedious story with little action. Sure, their was the characterization, and I applaud that. But I need something more. Something to make me root for, or against. This book had an intriguing villian, per se, but as I turned the pages, rather slowly, I found myself not caring. It was a struggle to get into this book. And I find that disappointing because I have been a fan of Lebbon's short fiction. I didn't read 'nature of balance', so this was my first experience with a novel of his. It made me think of the writings of Poe or Lovecraft. And this may be my downfall. I cannot read these authors. Too drab. So I am putting down the guy by comparing him to some of the greatest. He has talent. This book, however, ceased to grab me by the throat and force me to read it from page one to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Lebbon ? Face
Review: I'm not a discriminating reader. I'll read anything and I rarely put anything down unfinished. This is one of the few exceptions in the last few years. Face is tedious at best. And I don't particularly mind tedious if there's some decent writing behind it. Sadly, Face wasn't compelling enough for me to finish. Its quite obvious that Lebbon has talent. He's got enough praise and awards to make me think he's definitely got some talent going for him. But sadly, Face doesn't display any of it. Sure, his characters are decent but I had a hard time liking or empathizing with any of them. Brand, our intrepid bad guy, is just a mystery. He's not well developed enough to hate or even to scare the reader. I've got a copy of The Nature of Balance by Lebbon on my "to read" shelf. Its been there awhile. Having attempted Face, it might just be there for a while longer.
Rating:
Summary: boring, tedious, with characters no one could relate to
Review: I'm not sure how this book got any good reviews. This is by far the worst book I have ever read. It's tedious (it's so mind numbingly boring that it took me 2 months to read), it's boring, and the characters are so strange and abnormal, you don't care what happens to them in the end. The book starts out with a snowstorm and a trip home from holiday...the mother and father, and their daughter. They stop for a man on the side of the road who 'wants a moment of their time,' he says...but he acts weird to the point that they kick him out of the car. He comes back and haunts them throughout the book. But, as I said, the characters are so weird that no one could relate to these people (dan, the wimp his entire life, megan who has turned into a religious fanatic, and their daughter who is obsessed with the thought of sex with the scary stranger they kicked out of their car.) The characters to things that no normal person would do, and the entire cast of sub-characters seems just as odd. The family keeps seeing Brand, and there's really very little horror whatsoever until the very end of the book...but, by that time, you can't stand this weird family anymore and I was actually praying someone would take them out to end the book. Brand's character...Lebbon keeps going on and on about this guys scars for some odd reason, and we never really find out who he is or WHAT he is or why on earth he does the things he does. Nothing his character does makes any sense either. This story is just pointless, and it feels like work actually reading it- I wanted to throw it down and never read another page, but I can't stop reading a book without finishing it. This book might make me change that policy! Lebbon, as an author, sort of scares me. He seems to be obsessed with talking about 17 year old Mikki in vulgar sexual terms...he mentions her "groin" at least 10 times in the final chapters alone. He uses vulgar terms for body parts and everytime he talks about Nikki, he seems to have to throw in some perverse, over-the-top statement, or put her in yet another sadistic sexual scene. I think he way overdid the sex thing with this character...and at points, I kept feeling sick that a grown man could even write so much sex about such a young girl- not only that he wrote about it, but the words and phrases he used and all. Face is a poorly written book that goes on WAY too long...the story is, in the end, very pointless and it's not one bit entertaining to me. After this, I will probably never read another book by Lebbon again. That's my opinion of the book, and I had to write a review for this one, because I thought it was SO bad...but others might not agree (of course.)
Rating:
Summary: Powerfully Chilling
Review: The plot is not really about the hitchhiker, the constant danger, or even the bloodshed. Those are all secondary. It's really about the family and the cracks that have developed within. Cutting a piece into this family's life, Lebbon takes us through the infestation of their lies, and makes us watch as the disease destroys them. The story, while not original, is innovative and powerfully chilling. The climax of this family's collision with the hitchhiker is explosive and the ending - enigmatic!
The pace in the story is slow, but with intention and will. Lebbon's pace proves that the best thrill is the one that's earned, and earn you shall. His style of writing is crisp, concise, and psychologically intense. Although it's clear from the first page that the author is British, it's easy to eventually disregard as you join him on his journey. The atmosphere is claustrophobic, sucking the air from your lungs word by word. Moving through each chapter this world seems to get a little tighter, a little smaller, and a lot more compact. Brilliant!
Now here is where Lebbon truly shines - his players. The characters are each affected individually and their reactions are both sound and unpredictable. Breathing life into each player, Lebbon keeps it real and allows each of them their own distinctive personality and depth. I even liked the antagonist, much to my dismay and shame.
My only problem with the book in its entirety is the editing. Thanks to Rageaholics I didn't pound my head against the wall screaming obscenities - but I wanted to. I'm sure the editor was just as excited about this book as I was, but next time let's give it a second look - please.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best, to say the least
Review: Tim Lebbon, Face (Leisure, 2001)
I rather enjoyed The Nature of Balance, the last Lebbon novel I picked up. However, I enjoyed it in a kind of "enjoyed-with-reservations" way; it always seemed like it was teetering on the brink of either completely coming apart or just falling into crashing boredom. Face, unfortunately, is not able to straddle that line.
The premise of the book is relatively simple; a family stops to pick up a hitchhiker on their way home from a vacation. The hitchhiker is a very odd duck, to say the least; from the very beginning of the novel, we're introduced to his ability to do things like throw his voice and unsettle Christians (Megan, the mother of the family, is of the zealous born-again variety, for reasons that become obvious later on). The hitchhiker, who calls himself Brand, disturbs the family to the point where Megan throws him out of the car in the middle of a snowstorm. Bad idea, as he begins stalking them. But this is no ordinary hitch-hiker. He likes manipulating people and situations for, it would seem, his own amusement, and right now, this family and their friends are his amusement.
The actual identity of Brand (never explicitly stated, but should be obvious to most readers by page fifty, if not by the description above) is rather obvious early enough on in the book to not offer any tension whatsoever, and a combination of Brand's acts simply sounding like high-school pranks and Lebbon's lack of editorial guidance in the opening chapters ("opening chapters" here equates to, roughly, "first two hundred pages") conspire to make the first two-thirds of this novel just this side of too-boring-to-keep-reading. It does pick up at the end, slightly, going from the snail setting on the blender to the sloth setting. But even that great leap in mastery of pace doesn't help, by that time.
If you're going to read Lebbon, I rather suggest starting with The Nature of Balance and leaving this on the shelf. But why bother, when you've got authors like Tom Piccirilli, Simon Clark, etc., writing in the same general vein of not-quite-psychological-but-not-gross-out horror who do it that much better? Piccirilli's The Night Class or Clark's Blood Crazy would be a far more satisfying, and compelling, read than this one. **
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