Radiant Dawn by Cody Goodfellow

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• Published November 2000 (Perilous Press paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on September 22, 2007
• This is one of those novels where it is extremely hard to summarize what it is about. I was reading it at a restaurant while on a business trip and had the waitress ask me exactly that. I summed it up for her as a military conspiracy novel with lots of hidden secrets. Theoretically I could have added that it is a war between humans and a new species which was created by mutating cancer growths in humans and that the story is told from three different points of views where it is not clear which side any of those three people are on. Being only a little less than 100 pages into it at the time though, it was hard to completely understand what was happening and why. Now that I've finished it, I understand better. Unfortunately the end of the book wasn't quite the end of the story; there is a sequel called RAVENOUS DUSK which will reveal the final fate of our three protagonists and the fate of the war. That was one of the things that disappointed me with the book: that it was not self-standing. It pretty much is book one of two and the story is left dangling at the end. Not a major deal since I have the sequel and will start reading it immediately but a minor point. Overall though, the characters are complex and fun to follow. The story is a bit out there but is equally fun and compelling. I'm looking forward to finishing the second book. By the way, I met Cody Goodfellow at the 2006 World Horror Convention and he is a super nice guy!

Rage by Steve Gerlach

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• Published January 2004 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on January 18, 2007
• While RAGE is a very enjoyable book, there was a sense of missing that I felt upon reading it. Ben is a shy, awkward college student who gets snubbed by women all the time. He finally finds someone that could be his love but she ends up getting scared by the rage boiling under his surface. The rage and story built to a climax that is totally believable and an entertaining read. The part that I had problems with was that Ben's rage seemed to grow at a rate that wasn't quite what I would expect. It was out of proportion to what triggered it. I understood it but it was hard to identify with Ben's character because I kept thinking "Dude, chill out. Calm down." I know that is part of the whole point, to believe in Ben's rage and the results, but it was also the only thing that detracted me from the proceedings. Overall though, an enjoyable book.

Rage by Richard Bachman (Stephen King's pseudonym)

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• Published February 1983 (New English Library paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 1, 1986
• unreviewed

Rain Dogs by Sean Doolittle

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• Published January 2006 (Dell Book paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 5, 2007
• Doolittle has written another wonderful novel. This one focuses on Tom Coleman, a reporter out of Chicago who only wants to escape to the quiet life in his home town after losing his child and his marriage. But the property he inherited from his grandfather isn't quite the place to go for quiet. Instead Coleman finds himself wrapped up with an exploding drug lab, his high school sweetheart, a cop with an attitude problem who doesn't want him around and more. The characters are all interesting and enjoyable to read about; when you start wanting them to make better decisions and stop screwing up their lives, you know you care about what happens next. Doolittle does seem to make the story more complex than what it really is. As events unfold, there are a few times were I was almost lost on why things were happening. I knew what was occurring but didn't understand the reasons underneath them. Once I got to the end of the book, I was able to look back and go "Oh, that's what was occurring." To me, that makes it that much more interesting as a suspense / mystery novel.

Rats by Robert Sullivan

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• Published April 2004 (Bloomsbury hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on February 8, 2007
• I should point out that the full title of this book is RATS: OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTORY AND HABITAT OF THE CITY'S MOST UNWANTED INHABITANTS. Like the rest of the book, the title is way too long for the point that Sullivan is getting across. Overall I would have to say that I'm disappointed with the book. I was hoping for a history and understanding of rats but instead the author focused on New York City and the research that he did and a bunch of other stuff. It seemed like the majority of the book was focused around the rat instead of on the rat. Plus there were points that Sullivan went on and on and seemed to have no point other than showing how much effort he put into researching the subject of rats. He always seemed to be on the verge of saying something interesting but never quite getting there. I kept hoping for that extra something to be said and was afraid that if I skipped five or ten pages, I would miss it. I should have skipped the whole thing completely.

The Rats by James Herbert

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• Published May 1975 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 1, 1980
• unreviewed

Ravenous by Ray Garton

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• Published April 2008 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 28, 2012
• Ray Garton is one of those authors that snuck his way onto my favorite authors list. Some authors I end up actively searching out their works: Tom Piccirilli, Brian Keene, Jack Ketchum. Garton is one that I've picked up because I always remember liking his stuff and it looks interesting. And fortunately I remember right and have never been displeased with one of his books. RAVENOUS is his chance to enter the werewolf mythos and provide his vision of it. Farrell Hurley is sheriff of a small, sleepy California town of Big Rock. Unfortunately his secretary is the latest victim of a serial rapist. While she ends up killing her attacker, the dead body gets up and walks out of the morgue. Coming to save the day, Daniel Fargo is the Van Helsing of the tale and has the answers. The rapist is a werewolf who is actually spreading the lycanthropy via sexual contact, a perverted from of a STD. Sheriff Hurley naturally is skeptical until he realizes that the evidence is too much and then must deal with the problem head-on. While the story and plot is a new take on an old theme, the characters are maybe a tad shallow. You feel for some of them but at the same time, you know from the start that others are not going to make it. That doesn't stop you from enjoying the novel though. The story is still engaging and keeps you involved. There is more than enough of anything you might be looking for: scares, violence and sex. All in the traditional Ray Garton style. But be careful. You might one day realize that your bookshelf has more books by Ray Garton than you realized and he is a favorite author of you too.

Ravenous Dusk by Cody Goodfellow

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• Published June 2002 (Perilous Press paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on October 10, 2007
• Now that I've finished with both parts of this total story, I have to say that I'm not quite as excited about the story as I was after part one. Part of it is a bias I have against H.P. Lovecraft; maybe not so much a bias as me not being a huge fan of him. What does Lovecraft have to do with Goodfellow's story? It turns out that both RADIANT DAWN and RAVENOUS DUSK strongly tie into the Cthulhu mythos. I won't spoil things if you haven't read the book but it does provide a better explanation for a lot of things that were happening, especially a lot of the human transforming and alien species types of events. As I was saying before though, I've never been a big fan of Lovecraft and having this story tie into the Cthulhu mythos took away from the story / world that was being built. The story was still solid and a good continuation from the first part. There was the continuation of the great characters and even more depth given to them. Unfortunately a predictable cliché was thrown in during the last third that detracted from the story. Plus that cliché was then used as part of the final solution; something that again detracted from the story. Overall I would have to say that I found many things to like and enjoy about the story but at the same time there were a few items that took away from the overall strength.

Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories by John Shirley

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• Published 1999 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on December 29, 2001
• As suggested by the title, this collection of short stories by Shirley was definitely weird in spots. The collection is broken down in to four sections, depending on the degree of "really" that you want in your weird stories. It gets progressively weirder as you approach the end. While each story has its own unique twist, there were many stories that I found not that strange. As for the others, they are out there. Now aside from all the weirdness that was floating around, the stories were also very well done. A much higher quotient of good stories to OK stories. And other than a couple of stories near the end that were just too strange for my tastes, I would say that every one was quite satisfying. One of the better collections that I've read. I'm including my favorites below with the usual short description. If the description sounds good, then go out and buy the book; you'll thank me later. If the description sounds too weird or strange, then Shirley might not be a good author for you to try.

  "'I Want To Get Married,' says the World's Smallest Man" - And he does too

  "Don't Be Afraid" - Anarchists get the society they advocate but not the society they want

  "The Sweet Caress of Mother Nature" - Mother Nature decides that humans should no longer be the dominant species

  "Quill Tripstickler, Out The Window" - A galactic travel agent changes his life via a suicide bar

  "Screens" - What starts as a bitter love story ends as a study of human conditioning

  "Triggering" - A specialist in reincarnation finds his place

  "Just Like Suzie" - A man having marital problems makes them worse by visiting Suzie

  "Ten Things To Be Grateful For" - And I am very thankful that none of those are true for me

Reborn by F. Paul Wilson

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• Published June 1990 (Jove Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 1, 1993
• unreviewed

Red by Jack Ketchum

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• Published August 2002 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 27, 2004
• Wow! Two extremely powerful stories in one book that I could barely put down. I burned through the entire book in one day. First, the title story: RED. In the first few pages, Ludlow loses his dog Red to some mean kids who shotgun it for no real reason. The rest of the story is about Avery Ludlow and his search for justice. Not a "revenge above all us" type of justice but a true "put right what was wrong" type of justice. And what really carries the whole story forward and makes it work so well is Ludlow's character. Not just the character in the book but the personality and characteristics that make up this persona. He is incredibly real. The story just unfolds naturally with heart and truth. And that is what made me unable to put it down. And then as a bonus, there is another story: THE PASSENGER. This one wasn't quite as rich as the first but it did grip you as you follow horror after horror befalling Janet Morris. Her bad day at work starts getting worse as her car breaks down on the way home and she quickly finds herself in one bad event after another. At times it reminded me of Joe Lansdale's short story "Steppin' Out, Summer, '68". If you liked that one (or probably any Lansdale), then you will like these stories. As for me, I'm hunting down more Ketchum novels because if all his stuff is like this, then he is going to quickly become one of my favorite authors.

Red Light by Graham Masterton)

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• Published June 2014 (Head of Zeus ebook edition)
• Finished reading it on September 15, 2023
• unreviewed

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

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• Published August 1987 (Berkley Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on November 30, 1989
• unreviewed

The Regulators by Richard Bachman (Stephen King's pseudonym)

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• Published September 1997 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 30, 1999
• This started off as a confusing book; not directly because of the writing. Both King's novel DESPERATION and his pseudonym's novel THE REGULATORS are about the same group of people fighting the same entity. It is like two different realities: each novel takes place in one of them. However, the characters aren't quite the same and the situation is not quite the same. Some characters are children in REGULATORS; some are fatter. Most of their personalities are the same though. And while DESPERATION takes place in Nevada, REGULATORS occurs in Ohio. Aside from that confusion, REGULATORS is an excellent story. It is extremely hard hitting and much more vicious than DESPERATION even though the opening scene in DESPERATION is enough to give you the heebie-jeebies. This novel though pulls together an old western combined with a futuristic cartoon and comes up with mayhem that destroys a neighborhood.

Relics by Tim Lebbon

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• Published January 2019 (Blackstone Audio audiobook edition)
• Finished reading it on March 23, 2022
• unreviewed

Reprisal by F. Paul Wilson

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• Published March 1992 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on July 13, 1996
• Finished reading it again on May 21, 2016
• F. Paul Wilson continues doing an awesome job telling a wonderful story. REPRISAL is a gripping story that grabs the reader and does not let go. The characters are all flushed out and very easy to picture. And the plot nudges you along, bringing up new mysteries and strange events which promise to be answered. I had actually made the mistake of reading NIGHTWORLD before I read REPRISAL. However it did not deter from the story; instead it gave me additional background on characters that I already knew. In case you didn't know, Wilson has wove a common thread and consistent plot through several of his novels and short stories and called it the Adversary Cycle. The same characters appear again and again to battle the evil they encounter. I don't know if he originally planned to tie them all together but it definitely appears that he did so. Each chapter/novel can be read by itself and in any order, but for full impact I've listed them in time sequence here: THE KEEP, THE TOMB, THE TOUCH, the short story "A Day In The Life", REBORN, REPRISAL, and NIGHTWORLD.
  Additional comments after reading the book again in 2016:

Requiem by Graham Joyce

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• Published February 1998 (Tor Book paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 09, 2006
• While I enjoy Joyce's writing and he usually does a good job, I wasn't too pleased with this novel. Overall the writing was fine and the story was OK and the characters didn't suck, but at the same time there was nothing that pulled me into the story. I was very much an impartial observer who watched as a whiny Tom Webster visits his friend Sharon in Jerusalem. Once there he starts hallucinating and losing his mind. Did I care? Not really. I was more interested in the story behind the Dead Sea Scrolls that were left in his possession. That was a much more engaging plot than dealing with the manifestations of Tom's guilt. Unfortunately we don't get more than a little of the Dead Sea Scrolls; they mostly are there to help personify Tom's hallucinations. This book is not one of Joyce's better works.

The Resort by Bentley Little

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• Published September 2004 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on August 16, 2005
• Little continues to do a great job with his "one word title" novels. And as an extra incentive for this book, Penguin Books (Signet's owner) gave the book a Great Read Guaranteed. Basically if you aren't happy with the book for whatever reason, send it back to Penguin and they'll refund your money. No questions asked. I have no idea how many people returned it but I know I didn't. It was a great read. We get to follow the Thurmans as they go on vacation at this resort in the middle of nowhere. Almost from the start, little things start happening to make them uneasy and worried. And then the little things become big weird things that are very disturbing. In order to avoid the "why don't they just leave?" question from appearing to the readers, Little preempts it with a fog that overcomes the guests of the resorts. It actually addresses the guests leaving issue and is given a source of the resort needing to keep people there reason. Very deftly handled. About the only thing that I wasn't too pleased with was the final confrontation and how the emotional depth wasn't handled as well as it should have been. By that point, I had a lot of involvement with the characters and the actions unfolding and things were tied up a little too quick for the emotion to hit. You'll know what I mean when you read it. And you should read it as soon as you get a chance. I too will guarantee your enjoyment!

Restore From Backup by J.F. Gonzalez and Mike Oliveri

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• Published 2007 (Bad Moon Books paperback signed, numbered and limited to 300 copies edition)
• Finished reading it on March 22, 2018
• This book was a fun and entertaining read. There were a few moments where I doubted the story and being in the tech industry, there were flaws in some of the technical aspects but nothing terminal or that distracting. And enough of those elements were told accurately enough that I thought "Well, maybe." After being laid off, Lyle has been out of work so long that his bills have started piling up significantly. His wife's income couldn't cover them plus the medical bills for their sick infant son. Luckily, Lyle hits up an old friend Carl who recommends him for a job at his current company and Lyle gets hired. The pay is great. The benefits are great. Lyle is super happy, until Carl calls him up and tells Lyle to quit the job right now, just walk away and quit. That's when Lyle gets suspicious and starts to uncover the secrets behind his new job. The story and especially the reasoning behind the secrets is a good idea; you can tell where Gonzalez steps in with his knowledge and research of the occult, conspiracies, and mysticism. The research Gonzalez put in to this book, and all of his books, really showed. The events in the last third of the book seemed to happen really fast, but then again that might have simply been me. I was fully engrossed at that point and couldn't read the pages fast enough. With the book recently back in print, finding a copy should no longer be a problem. Buy it and read it!

Resurrection Dreams by Richard Laymon

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• Published March 2005 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on January 25, 2007
• Laymon fluctuates with the plot of many of his books. There's the normal crazed killer stalks young coeds or teens for reasons that don't always make sense but then it's a crazed killer so it doesn't have to be that logical. There's the dual focus books where two incredible coincidences happen to the same person/group; for example, while running away from a mummy that is stalking her, our heroine escapes into a warehouse where a serial rapist is capturing and keeping his victims alive in metal cages. These books you kind of wish were separated into two books instead of combined into one. And the finally category is something supernatural happens to someone and has rippling effects upon others. RESURRECTION DREAMS falls into the last category barely missing the dual focus category. Melvin Dobbs is the social outcast of his high school. And he only makes it worse when he uses a car battery to try to bring back a recently killed classmate. It's now years later. Dobbs is out of the mental institution, supposedly healed. And Vicki, the only girl who never picked on him and thus Dobb's biggest crush, is back in town. Dobbs is still trying to revive dead bodies and finally reaches success. Now he has big plans for Vicki. While I wouldn't say that this was my favorite Laymon novel nor was it even near the top, it is still an enjoyable read. I've heard folks say it is violent but thinking back on it, I don't remember it being any more violent or sexual than some of his others. I would consider it a good read. Nothing overly amazing but still better than lots of other crap out there.

The Resurrectionist by Thomas F. Monteleone

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• Published January 1997 (Warner Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 7, 2011
• unreviewed

Retro Pulp Tales edited by Joe R. Lansdale

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• 12 short stories by such authors as Chet Williamson, Stephen Gallagher and Gary Phillips
• Published June 2006 (Subterranean Press hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on November 23, 2007
• Just as the title suggests, this collection of short stories is about those old pulp tales told in a retro fashion. Stories such as the air force pilot during World War I who must fight vampires. Or the super-heroes who have one of their own committing murder. If you are even just a little fan of pulp tales, then you should not miss out on this book. Almost every story was really good. Considering that there were only twelve stories and I'm recommending six of them, that should give you an idea of the quality. If the stories seem a bit weird or out there, then obviously you're not ready to stretch the imagination and remember your youth when crazy things were possible.

  "Devil Wings Over France: A Dead-Stick Malloy Story" by James Reasoner - The previously mentioned WWI pilot and vampire story.

  "Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong" by F. Paul Wilson - A detective in 1938 discovers a sex ring in Chinatown.

  "The Body Lies" by Tim Lebbon - A man discovers a giant inside his basement.

  "Summer" by Al Sarrantonio - A tale reminiscient of Ray Bradbury in which some boys enjoy their long summer.

  "Clubland Heroes" by Kim Newman - A woman must investigate a murder with a club house of super-heroes as her prime suspects.

  "Carrion" by Norman Partridge - A man discovers the house to Hell and the buzzards which protect it.

The Return by Bentley Little

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• Published September 2002 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 20, 2004
• Little has turned out another really good scary read. He has quickly staked out the Arizona and New Mexico region and shown that they too possess the small towns where evil grows, just like can be found in New England. The story follows Glen Ridgeway as he strikes out on a new life after the recent death of his mother. A life that leads him away from his software job and finds him assisting in an archaeological dig. Unfortunately for him, his discovery of a skull at the dig leads to mysterious happenings across the Southwest as Native American artifacts come to life and people literally start vanishing. The book has all the makings of a good fright fest and there were a few points where I was spooked, yet not as much as I thought I would be. For some reason I didn't connect with all the characters as much as I should have. They were real and not flat but I didn't feel for them and the danger they were in. It was more like a spooky story told around a campfire where you remember the events more than you remember the people that it happened to.

The Revelation by Bentley Little

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• Published October 1999 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 17, 2001
• This is like one of those traditional horror novels: a small town where weird things suddenly start to happen. Just the type that I like. The town this time is Randall, Arizona and like you would expect people start dying, animals are butchered, weird things happen. And the only people who really suspect something is going on is a small group of folks. These folks go on to find out the truth via an insane preacher who seems just a little too convenient as a plot device. This is just about the biggest problem that I had with the book. Well, that and the characters weren't as likable as I would have hoped. Overall though, the novel is still good and suggested reading.

Revelations edited by Douglas E. Winter

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• 12 short stories by such authors as Clive Barker, Joe Lansdale and Ramsey Campbell
• Published January 1998 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on January 29, 2000
• The purpose of this compilation of stories was to show the impending apocalypse. There are ten stories, one for each decade of the 1900s, that each focus on a significant event which basically shows how the world is already headed towards its impending doom. And then there are two stories set as wrappers around the ten. And while it started off great and I really like the first couple stories, the rest just left me hanging. I couldn't really get involved in them. I couldn't identify with the characters. I wasn't interested; my attention kept wandering and I kept looking forward to finally being finished with the book. I even skimmed through a couple of the stories because after twenty pages I still didn't care about it at all. So while I can recommend the following two stories which are made even scarier because the events around them really did happen, I can't recommend the rest.

  "The Big Blow" by Joe Lansdale - Two boxers who want nothing more than a big fight get a lot more.

  "If I Should Die Before I Wake" by David Morrell - A doctor tries to fight a disease that is really much larger than originally thought.

Revolver by Duane Swierczynski

• Purchase it here
• Published July 2016 (Mulholland Books ebook edition)
• Finished reading it on July 31, 2021
• unreviewed

The Rhinemann Exchange by Robert Ludlum

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• Published January 1974 (Dell paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 31, 1982
• unreviewed

Right To Life and Two Stories by Jack Ketchum

• Purchase it here
• Published March 2002 (Gauntlet Press paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on March 23, 2006
• I'm not sure that I should have read this Ketchum book after reading his THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. He's almost becoming the king of imprisoning women and torturing them. Fortunately this story was nowhere near as intense or horrifying as THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. Unfortunately though I didn't find myself pulled into the story quite as much. This had more to do with the length of the story instead of the intensity. RIGHT TO LIFE is just shy of 140 pages. It's still entertaining but like the kidnapper in the story, it lacked a driving force. In the story he more or less took her to satisfy his boredom even though it was under the guise of an anti-abortion act. And like the kidnapper, we were basically having a good time until the end finally comes. The two stories that flush out the book are "Brave Girl" and "Returns". Both are good but only "Returns" was memorable to me. It's probably because I'm a sucker for a good pet story but this is one ghost story that I'll remember.

The Rising by Brian Keene

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• Published January 2004 (Leisure Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 05, 2005
• I'm not exactly sure when zombies came back into vogue but I'm glad for it. Or at least I'm glad that all the zombie books that I've been picking up have been well written. And THE RISING falls into that same category. The zombies appear because souls or beings from another dimension are making it through a hole or a dimensional weakening created by a scientist. And in a nice tie up, this becomes an issue near the end of the novel. While being zombies and still wanting to kill the living (mostly so that their brethren can come through and take over the body), these zombies are intelligent and can shoot guns and strategize. Their main limitation is the usual zombie slowness. The bulk of the story though is about Jim Thurmond who is trying to travel across states to get to his ex-wife's house and rescue his son. And in a nice pacing, the book does have sub-stories involving other characters that play an indirect part in Jim's journey. The climax puts everyone at the same place at the same time but not necessarily interacting with each other. The book itself is very involving and enjoyable. I found that I didn't care positively for them as much as I should have but I did care negatively for everyone who delayed Jim's travels. In the end, I think those work out to be the same thing. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next novel by Keene.

Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt

• Purchase it here
• Published October 2015 (Grindhouse Press ebook edition)
• Finished reading it on January 8, 20202
• The main character of this book is an ass! Sorry, I had to get that off my chest before saying anything else. Now, onto the book itself, it is intense. If you are easily offended, then definitely look elsewhere. However, if you are a fan of extreme horror, then you're going to like this book. The story is about Nick Graves and his wife Eve. Nick is frustrated with his marriage and is just about to tell his wife he wants a divorce when Eve announces she is pregnant. Nick never wanted kids and is pissed that she got pregnant. At the same time, he doesn't want to be known as the one that left his pregnant wife, so he decides to stay in the relationship instead. A choice on his side that makes both of their lives miserable. And that's just the first chapter or two! I never like giving any spoilers and I won't here but expect the rest of the book to be along those lines. What keeps me engaged with any book is the characters; I need to feel for them and associate myself with their lives. The problem here is that the main character, the one that we see the entire story from his point of view, is a total ass. He cares about how others see him. He cares about getting what he wants. And he cares about not getting infected by germs, to an extremely obsessive and compulsive level. That's about it. It's hard for me to empathize with someone like that: someone who enjoys making his spouse's lives miserable so long as he looks good to his non-existent friends. I found myself yelling at Eve to "just leave him already!" because it was obvious that he wasn't going to change and things weren't going to get better. But then I couldn't stop. I was too engrossed. I had to see the story through to the end. Because at that halfway point when the story pivoted, I knew things were going to be different. The first half was the background and setup for the second half. I thought I had a general idea of what was going to happen. I was so incredibly wrong! Nothing could have prepped me for that climatic scene. The whole book is great and very memorable. The atmosphere throughout the story is filled with dread and paranoia and fear. While I still hated Nick at the end of the book, I have to admit that he triggered a lot of emotions in me. If someone can be pulled that much into the characters' lives, then the author did a good job.

Rituals by Ed Gorman

• Purchase it here
• Published February 2002 (DAW Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on June 24, 2005
• While I enjoyed this book, I wasn't quite as into it as I thought I would be. The premise is simple: witches exist and so do witch hunters. Witches have powers to heal, move things, and start fires; the witch hunters track down witches and kill them. Very much like the Salem Witch Trials but based on some aspect of reality rather than a hoax to get revenge on neighbors. The book was extremely solid with the story revealed in a straight forward but touching manner. It was almost sensitive, very different from THE POKER CLUB and much of his writing. The part that I had problem on though was the actions driving the story. Most of them are based on a fragile lie, especially for the witch hunters, and that lie had no real reason to stay held. Plus the witches all seem to exhibit great power once captured by the hunters but then in day-to-day life, they show nothing at all. And finally the ending seemed rushed and yet slow to arrive. None of these were enough to destroy the pleasure of the read but it is sort of like the book was edited down in size a wee bit too much.

The Road to Gandolfo by Robert Ludlum

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• Published 1975 (Bantam Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on February 28, 1983
• unreviewed

The Road to Omaha by Robert Ludlum

• Purchase it here
• Published January 1993 (Bantam Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on March 1, 1996
• unreviewed

Roadwork by Richard Bachman (Stephen King's pseudonym)

• Purchase it here
• Published March 1981 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 31, 1984
• unreviewed

Robert Bloch's Psychos edited by Robert Bloch

• Purchase it here
• 22 short stories by such authors as Stephen King, Richard Christian Matheson, Charles Grant, Esther Friesner, and Jane Yolen
• Published January 1998 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on September 29, 1999
• This started out with a few really good stories and quickly got me looking forward to the rest of the stories. Unfortunately the quality dwindled a bunch in the middle; none of those really did anything for me. The ones near the end were better but still not as good as the first ones. But then as I look over the stories and pick my favorites, I realize that that is a harder choice than I thought. I don't remember all these good stories. It must have been the couple of overly slow ones which dragged the collection down. Let me change my original thinking and give this a thumbs up. My hard to pick favorites are below.

  "Autopsy Room Four" by Stephen King - An autopsy is described from a first person point of view.

  "Out There In The Darkness" by Ed Gorman - A poker game leads to revenge which leads to revenge.

  "The Lesser of Two Evils" by Denise M. Bruchman - A reincarnated Jack the Ripper duels with an old gypsy.

  "Point of Intersection" by Dominick Cancilla - A killer gets the ultimate revenge, again and again and again ...

  "Grandpa's Head" by Lawrence Watt-Evans - Secrets are revealed about Grandpa's head.

  "Safe" by Gary A. Braunbeck - A mass murder leads to some good.

Rose Madder by Stephen King

• Purchase it here
• Published June 1996 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on May 8, 1998
• For some reason, this novel reminded me a lot of Stephen King's earlier works. I'm not sure why I was exactly comparing it, but I was. The good thing is that it holds up to it quite well. There is the same immediate grasp as you are pulled into the story and learn about the characters. The same realness and three dimensions that comes across as in THE SHINING or DEAD ZONE. Plus there is not too much supernatural that occurs until about half-way through. And then it is enough to spook and scare. Unlike INSOMNIA the ending here is a little more predictable, but like most comic books and TV series the excitement is more about what might happen to the supporting staff rather than the main characters.

Rot by Gary Brandner

• Purchase it here
• Published 1999 (Cemetery Dance Publications hardcover signed and limited to 1,000 copies edition)
• Finished reading it on April 29, 2002
• As a fan of Brandner's work from the 1980's (HOWLING, CAT PEOPLE, WALKERS), it's good to see another novel by him even though it is a relatively short one. Amazon does have some listings for some recent books but I haven't seen them listed anywhere else. Anyway as is typical for his stuff, the novel is a quick and enjoyable read. Kyle Brubaker has to spend his summer helping his Uncle Bob who is recovering from a stroke. Basically it is just the set-up though for the troubles which are to befall Brubaker. While I did enjoy the novel, there were a few issues which needed ignoring in order to do so. Things like Brubaker being needed to help out on the farm but he doesn't need to do anything while there or the gypsy that happens along just as Brubaker needs him or the person that travels from Wisconsin to California in order to get help traveling to Chicago. Depending on your point of view, they could be major plot flaws that take away from the story or just minor issues which can be glossed over. Since I enjoy Brandner's work, I chose the latter.

The Ruin Season by Kristopher Triana

• Purchase it here
• Published June 2016 (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing ebook edition)
• Finished reading it on August 28, 2021
• Before I get started on this one, a couple shout-outs to Charles Kahlenberg. I listened to THE RUIN SEASON as an Audiobook narrated by Charles Kahlenberg. His voice fit the story perfectly. I am so pleased that I heard it this way because the style, the mood, the emotions all rolled from his voice perfectly! Now, onto the story itself. As I was listening to it, the story reminded me a lot of Joe R. Lansdale's stories. Or maybe a Lansdale world. I could very easily picture the events from this book as occurring in the same world as Hap & Leonard or countless other of his books. Something where I start reading for the story but realize quickly that the characters are so much more engrossing that the already good story. In this case, despite the protagonist's desire for a simple life, he has a lot happening. Jake Leonard is close to forty. He's divorced due to his bipolar disorder. He's dating the sheriff's 19-year-old daughter. And drugs, alcohol, and death (all happening to others) are going to make Jake's life hard. The story description will tell you more but I'm not. That was enough to get me engaged and as I mentioned, it took me nothing to become engrossed with the events happening. Unfortunately I could tell about halfway through that the ending was not going to be happy. The impending doom kept stalking forward and I hoped that somehow it wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Suspense was only part of it; I knew that the emotional impact of this good guy hitting some sort of bottom was going to hurt. And that is when you know that you are reading a really good book!

The Ruins by Scott Smith

• Purchase it here
• Published August 2007 (Vintage Books paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on December 1, 2008
• Smith might not be as prolific as other authors by turning out even one book a year but what he does produce is damn good. I'm glad that he has "the king of horror" Stephen King providing blurbs to entice people to read Smith's book. The story follows two couples on vacation in Cancun as they take an outing into the jungle. The point of the outing is to help another tourists they met to find his brother who followed a female archaeologist to some ruins. On their trip there, they get trapped by some Mayans who force them to stay on top of a hill. I'm trying not to give too much away because it is much better to have events unfold for you. Sure, you'll figure things out before the characters but that thrill, and chill, of discover is so sweet. If you are anything like me, you'll probably forget about other things and keep reading and reading without wanting to stop. There aren't true chapters either so you'll end up more inclined to keep going. Go with that feeling; you'll find the book well worth it.

Rumble Tumble by Joe R. Lansdale

• Purchase it here
• Published October 1999 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on March 18, 2001
• I don't know what else new can be said for the Hap and Leonard books. If you haven't read any of them, do so. If you have, then you understand how two well meaning guys from East Texas can end up in more trouble than any three average people put together. And this time is no exception. While attempting to help the woman that he loves, Hap gets Leonard involved with rescuing her trick turning daughter, a redheaded midget who causes a shit load of problems, an army of bikers turned killers and a viscous crime ring. In their usual fashion Hap and Leonard muddle their way through these situations while doing their best to be honorful. That's one of the things that I like best about the novels by Lansdale. He takes a tale that is completely weird and off-base with characters that you'll hopefully never run in to in your life and he weaves a moral sense throughout the whole thing. Hap and Leonard are doing the best that they can while staying true to themselves. And unfortunately for them but fortunately for us, they are constantly tested in new ways on their morals. The trick becomes for us the readers to learn from how they act and try to do the same in our lives. And it's much harder because we generally have to deal with the smaller things instead of getting double crossed by gun yielding redheaded midgets.

Run by Douglas E. Winter

• Purchase it here
• Published February 2001 (paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 24, 2002
• This is an amazing and breathtaking book! Absolutely wonderful! It quickly hits you with an intensity that just forces you to not flinch and to continue reading. Burdon Lane is a gun runner; he smuggles the weapons to those who can't legally get them. And while on a run that is too good and too easy to be true, his life turns to shit. The nice thing for us readers though is that the shit turns into a complicated plan with twists and double twists to match. And like John Woo's "Hard Boiled" where the final battle takes about a fourth of the film, the final fourth of the book is the big payoff that we wanted. I don't know what else to say except that if you like intense, hardcore violence, read this book!

Run by Blake Crouch

• Purchase it here
• Published July 2012 (Brilliance Audio audiobook edition)
• Finished reading it on July 24, 2021
• This isn't Crouch's fault at all but I think I accidentally overdosed on his book. It was my third book in a row where there was an apocalypse or pandemic and then one group of people are now trying to survive in a world that is out to kill or eat them. And to make it worse on myself, I started the year with three zombie novels. Again, not Crouch's fault because I really did like his spin on the end of the world. Jack has a home with his wife and two kids in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's not the best of situations as he has been sleeping in the guest room for a while. Life for Jack, and everyone in the United States, goes under a drastic change. Unexpected violence is occurring all over with innocent people being unexpectedly slaughtered. Then the Emergency Broadcast System comes on and reads Jack's name as a target for people to go kill. Jack and his family go on the run to find safety and escape the madness. One of the things that I liked about the story was that an explanation for the madness was provided. And it had enough of a bend to it that it made sense. People were the villains, not zombies. It could also substitute in for any perceived madness in today's world: religion, politics, lifestyles. Anything where one group of people so violently disagree with another group that death seems almost reasonable. Definitely something with which today's pandemic and political world can associate. One thing that I did not like about the book was there were a few too many last minute saves. People looking for food or shelter and about to give up and die when suddenly over that last hill, there's salvation. And maybe this is due to my overdose of apocalypses but I did get tired of it. I liked most of the characters but for whatever reason, the son bugged me. He had his useful moments but he was someone that I disliked almost from the point that we met him. Overall, the book was good and had a clever twist on the end of the world story. I suggest a genre switch of a ghost story or psycho killer story before starting this one.

The Runaway Jury by John Grisham

• Purchase it here
• Published June 1996 (hardcover edition)
• Finished reading it on July 28, 1996
• Grisham is not normally an author that I would choose for myself but my ex-girlfriend (who later went psycho on me) insisted that I read it. Well, I still would not buy one of his books for myself. The story was good and I did enjoy the plot but there were a couple of things which did annoy me. The story dragged tremendously; it needed to be moving much faster. Plus it was pack full of propaganda against smoking. Grisham went into way too many details on the dangers of smoking. They did not fit with the story and only dragged it down. He did the same exact thing with THE CHAMBER except that time it was against the gas chamber as a method of execution. Personally I don't enjoy someone else thrusting their opinions down my throat, even if I might agree with him. If I do agree, then he's just preaching to the convicted. If I don't agree, then the entire novel just antagonizes me. I'm going to try much harder to avoid Grisham in the future.

The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Stephen King's pseudonym)

• Purchase it here
• Published May 1982 (Signet paperback edition)
• Finished reading it on April 30, 1985
• unreviewed

Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath

• Purchase it here
• Published February 2013 (J.A. Konrath ebook edition)
• Finished reading it on Octoer 18, 2024
• Book 3 of Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels series
  unreviewed

Send comments or your opinions on these books to mike@kazba.com.

Last modified on October 3, 2021