Rating: 
Summary: I wish I'd known
Review: ... how lousy this book was. I wish I'd thought to log in to Amazon and read the other reviews before being sucked in by the Matheson name in an airport bookstore. I wanted to throw the book down the air-flusher. It was like a bad dream I couldn't wake from. I kept waiting for the REAL Richard Matheson to appear -- the one from I, Legend, Hell House, Stir of Echoes. But know, some James Dickey wannabe has obviously taken over his mind. I found the plot to be tired, and the sex/violent scenes to be gratutious. Now, mind you, I'm not one to shrink from erotic horror and I've even published vampire stories, (including a short-short I dedicated to Mr. Matheson), but this was simply hack work. Next time, I'll buy a classic from the airport bookstore, and wait to log on and read the reviews at Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, Please....
Review: Absolutely, without question, the worst book I've ever managed to finish. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. Predictable, uneven, and....stupid. By halfway in, I found myself hoping that the "bad guy" would be successful in his quest to off the whining, moaning, holier-than-thou "hero". My God, this was a terrible book. The absolute capper for me was the episode with the trapped mountain lion. How lame can you get? This appears to me to have been a "Outer Limits" screenplay gone terribly wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: New Age vs. Darwinism. The horror! The horror!
Review: After being favorably impressed with Matheson's short story, "Being," I picked up this book at my local library. The first half of the book is fast and gripping. 200 pages in one sitting! Matheson studied personality profiles, he got a hold of true life tape-recordings of people in conflict,--really I don't know how he did it, but the dialogue creates an incredible tension. Pages flipping by . . . it's 2 am . . . So what's the problem? Matheson put so much depth into Doug's (the antagonist's) character and yet Ben, the "hero," reads like a one note spineless wonder. He babbles endlessly about his lofty spirituality, the strength of his "metaphysical muscles," when his only beliefs seems to be the most basic conception of karma and reincarnation. Consequently, the first half ranks as great, because it develops Doug's character and his evolving insanity. The second half . . . ranks among the worst I've ever read, because then the hunt begins, and the reader is left alone with Ben and his inane thoughts. He meets way too many wild animal predators. Not believable! The story also includes far too many cliche horror twists. For instance, Doug has fallen. Ben assumes he's out for good. Then--my goodness! He's back up again! As usual for cliche horror, Ben never thinks to tie up the bad guy when he's unconscious, or take his big machete away, or do anything that could even be mistaken for common sense. A lot of reviewers commented on the rape scene. It only lasts about 2 pages, and I didn't think Matheson wrote it graphically just for the sake of being graphic. While I sense that Matheson can be a master at economizing language, he certainly does not show off that facility in this book. There is so much repetition, and not in a good Steinbeck way. I swear there are whole paragraphs Ben repeats, summing up the dangers for us, summing up his injuries, summing up his New Age 101 beliefs, summing up the danger again. How many times can a character say, "Christ!" "Jesus Christ!" "Oh my God!" More times than I thought, apparently. Avoid this book. I'm going to try out another one of Matheson's, but this time I'll stick to his "classics." Here's some "horror" authors I enjoy: Thomas Ligotti, Tom Picirilli, Clive Barker, and, if you're not squeamish, Poppy Z. Brite.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolute terror that will have you squirming!
Review: As some of the reviewers have pointed out, this book borrows a little for Most Dangerous Game and Deliverance. Bob, a novelist, decides he wants to write a book on backpacking. An acquaintance of his named Doug, who happens to be a "serious" backpacker, suggests that the only way to write a convincing novel is to try backpacking yourself. Doug offers to take Bob on a backpacking excursion. Bob accepts the offer. The idea is to hike through total "wilderness" for about 4 days in order to reach a cabin in the woods where Bob's wife will wait for them. Bob, knowing absolutely nothing about backpacking, and very little about Doug for that matter, lets his wife Marion drive them to a deserted spot where they can set off and meet Marion 4 days later at the cabin. Almost from the start Doug seems to be quite bad with Bob, treating him with a superior attitude and constantly belittling his lack of knowledge for survival in the wilderness. Almost immediately Bob starts to realize that there is something deeply wrong with Doug but he is now totally dependent on Bob to survive the 4 days and make it back to civilization. Therefore, Bob has to constantly button his lip and just take whatever abuse that Doug lays on him from losing him in the woods and verbally abusing him. The longer they go on Bob realizes that Doug has some serious psychological issues where he hates the world and seems to blame Bob for all his troubles in life. It won't be long before Doug goes over the edge and Bob will be involved in a "life and death" struggle with Doug. Because of the reality of this book, it scarred me beyond reason! Anyone of us could be thrust in a similar situation. No matter what our convictions are we may find ourselves pushed to a point where we will go beyond our normal morals to survive. It is frightening to think this could ever happen to us and we can only pray that it doesn't. While reading the book at the beginning I was wondering why someone would undertake to go on a 4-day hike with no experience and with someone you know very little about. Especially, without first getting into shape (Bob appears to be a couch potato). I would maybe go for a day at most, if I had been Bob. Matheson outdoes himself with this book that is really impossible to put down and you also start to wonder how Matheson could have conceived of the situation without a real point of reference. Also, the depth of information on backpacking is so well researched it is worth reading the book just for that.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute terror that will have you squirming!
Review: As some of the reviewers have pointed out, this book borrows a little for Most Dangerous Game and Deliverance. Bob, a novelist, decides he wants to write a book on backpacking. An acquaintance of his named Doug, who happens to be a "serious" backpacker, suggests that the only way to write a convincing novel is to try backpacking yourself. Doug offers to take Bob on a backpacking excursion. Bob accepts the offer. The idea is to hike through total "wilderness" for about 4 days in order to reach a cabin in the woods where Bob's wife will wait for them. Bob, knowing absolutely nothing about backpacking, and very little about Doug for that matter, lets his wife Marion drive them to a deserted spot where they can set off and meet Marion 4 days later at the cabin. Almost from the start Doug seems to be quite bad with Bob, treating him with a superior attitude and constantly belittling his lack of knowledge for survival in the wilderness. Almost immediately Bob starts to realize that there is something deeply wrong with Doug but he is now totally dependent on Bob to survive the 4 days and make it back to civilization. Therefore, Bob has to constantly button his lip and just take whatever abuse that Doug lays on him from losing him in the woods and verbally abusing him. The longer they go on Bob realizes that Doug has some serious psychological issues where he hates the world and seems to blame Bob for all his troubles in life. It won't be long before Doug goes over the edge and Bob will be involved in a "life and death" struggle with Doug. Because of the reality of this book, it scarred me beyond reason! Anyone of us could be thrust in a similar situation. No matter what our convictions are we may find ourselves pushed to a point where we will go beyond our normal morals to survive. It is frightening to think this could ever happen to us and we can only pray that it doesn't. While reading the book at the beginning I was wondering why someone would undertake to go on a 4-day hike with no experience and with someone you know very little about. Especially, without first getting into shape (Bob appears to be a couch potato). I would maybe go for a day at most, if I had been Bob. Matheson outdoes himself with this book that is really impossible to put down and you also start to wonder how Matheson could have conceived of the situation without a real point of reference. Also, the depth of information on backpacking is so well researched it is worth reading the book just for that.
Rating:
Summary: Written past reason ... and then some!
Review: Based on the many positive blurbs from other well-known writers that appeared on the cover, I picked this one up thinking it might be a grand introduction to a great writer I had somehow overlooked all these years. Having read it now, I feel that neither the introduction or the oversight was all that grand. Matheson takes a classic thriller idea -- one man hunts another in the wilderness -- and loses it in a wild, untamed land of unlikable, unbelievable characters and less-than-possible plot twists. Despite being well-written when it comes to style, HUNTED PAST REASON is not written well enough that one suspends all reason or disbelief to get thoroughly lost in the story. If you're hunting for a good thriller, you're on the wrong trail with this one.
Rating:
Summary: This book was VERY predictable!
Review: Honestly I hate to say bad things, I would rather say nothing at all, but this book s9tunk]and was supposedly written by a master writer - I felt [misled]. It starts out okay and then there is a part where the writer must have said "Oh [...] I have to finish this thing!" and started cranking out the flat downhill ending. I gave this book a low rating because it was written by a supposed master writer. Was this a first novel I might have given it three stars. I was really hoping for a surprise plot twist or clever ending, but man it was dead on predictable; crazy vet, soft liberal, bad guy dies as many as three times only to return again, and the damned repeated talking the animals down, what was that all about - maybe once but three times? I have also backpacked a lot and sighting bears that many times in so few days seems too much. I was so disappointed because this book gets you into in the first half and drags you along to the bitter and disappointing end.
Rating: 
Summary: A distant echo in the forest of Matheson's genius
Review: Hunted Past Reason is not on a level with Matheson's earlier work, nor is it very original, but it is a fast, generally enjoyable read. The plot is basically a mutated version of The Most Dangerous Game, only the big hunt here is a product of much more than mere sadistic sport. Middle-aged writer Bob Hansen is planning a novel with a backpacking theme, and his outdoorsman friend Doug Crowley offers to take him on a real backpacking trip so that he can get a true taste for his subject. It seems like a great idea - at first, despite Bob's wife's natural concern about her husband going out into the wilderness for several days. Doug knows what he is doing, however, a point he continually makes clear from the very start of the trek. He rides Bob pretty hard about his equipment and preparation even before the two men leave the highway for the forest, quickly grating on the nerves of both Bob and the reader with his overcritical behavior. As the hike begins, his comments take on a more personal aspect, and his behavior becomes more and more moody and difficult to explain. Bob represents everything Doug is not, a successful man with a wife and family, while the formerly successful Doug blames everyone but himself for his trouble finding any decent acting jobs lately, his son's suicide, his wife's abandonment of him, etc. The simmering sea of emotional rage eventually reaches a boiling point, turning Bob's educational little hike into a blood sport of frightening dimensions wherein not only Bob's life but that of his wife hang in the balance.
One of the problems with this book is redundancy. Bob's inner dialogue seems forced at times, and his time alone struggling to survive from the dangers of nature as well as the dangers of an insane madman on his tail involve the same thoughts and self-dialogues repeated ad nauseum. Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of the novel is Bob's unusual communication with deadly animals, especially his last encounter with a mountain lion. Then there is his whole philosophy about life and death, a subject which drives Doug the short distance required to push him over the deep end; it doesn't seem very well thought-out, and Bob's refusal to pray for his survival strikes me as strange; what could it hurt? The transformation of Doug from helpful if overcritical friend to certified monster is rather well done, but Bob's early reactions to his mood swings come across as silly. Even after Doug's hateful, misogynist, prejudiced world view comes through loud and clear, one innocuous comment can have Bob thinking that the next few days could actually be interesting and worthwhile rather than torturous if not horror-laden. Basically, this is an average horror novel, which would not be such a bad thing if the author were not Richard Matheson. Hunted Past Reason falls far short of what I have come to expect from this author, and for that reason this novel will be judged more harshly than perhaps it deserves. Still, it is an interesting and, for the most part, enjoyable read, yet this trek through a seemingly virginal forest ends up feeling like a journey on well-traveled and thus far from pristine ground.
Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: I must admit that I've always wondered why Matheson's books are considered classics in the horror genre. For the most part they're readable, some even stay with you for a while, but classics? No. So all I expected from this one was a moderately enjoyable read. I didn't get even that. While the writing was competent, it was extremely repetitive. Either Matheson was afraid the reader would forget what he'd said ten, or even five pages back, or he kept forgetting that he'd already told us something. There's enough half-baked philosophy in here to fill a dozen self- help books, the situations which arise are improbable, to say the least, and the ending is like something out of a B slasher movie. Just when you thought the villain was dead ... guess what?
Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: I must admit that I've always wondered why Matheson's books are considered classics in the horror genre. For the most part they're readable, some even stay with you for a while, but classics? No. So all I expected from this one was a moderately enjoyable read. I didn't get even that. While the writing was competent, it was extremely repetitive. Either Matheson was afraid the reader would forget what he'd said ten, or even five pages back, or he kept forgetting that he'd already told us something. There's enough half-baked philosophy in here to fill a dozen self- help books, the situations which arise are improbable, to say the least, and the ending is like something out of a B slasher movie. Just when you thought the villain was dead ... guess what?
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