Customer Reviews

All The Pretty Dead Girls

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book was NOT at all what I expected. I was thinking it would be a run-of-the-mill thriller - the type with a plot that I can write in my sleep. I assumed it would feature the usual: torture, rape, and a sicko psycho predator stalking coeds because of some hideous compulsion that would be detailed in the novel. Be warned - there is murder, but the story itself is not about a psychopath attacking and murdering young girls at this private college in the Northeast - it's about the Book of Revelations and the Antichrist and satanic worship. So if you're looking for a typical suspense thriller, this book isn't what you're wanting. If, however, you want a fast paced story with a heroine you're not sure you like - this is your book. You'll find a fast paced read that might keep you up far too late at night. Enjoy!

All the Pretty Dead Girls is more of a horror story and I do not like horror stories. I was in a situation that I had alot of free time so, of course, I took that book as my new serial killer book. Imagine the shock when I realized I had a different kind of book. If I had not been trapped with only one book I would have thrown it away. I had the choice of reading it or counting tiles on the floor. Relucently I started it. After the second chapter I was hooked. I have just finished it, enjoyed it, and am looking for another by him. What a surprise and I have learned a lesson.

John Manning is new to the thriller fiction genre, at least to me. A quick check fails to reveal titles other than the newly published ALL THE PRETTY DEAD GIRLS written under that name. Yet his mastery of plot, characterization and pacing demonstrates a level of storytelling beyond that of a debut novelist. I have my own guesses as to who the John Manning behind the book might be; regardless of whether I am right or wrong, this is a thriller worthy of the name from beginning to end.

ALL THE PRETTY DEAD GIRLS centers on Sue Barlow, an incoming freshman at Wilbourne College in upstate New York. Wilbourne is an exclusive private college that has a small student body, primarily made up of women, and has existed for two centuries just outside the quiet town of Lebanon. Barlow, raised by her extremely wealthy grandparents in Manhattan, has had a somewhat cloistered upbringing, despite her cosmopolitan residence. While she initially welcomes the opportunity to be on her own, something about Wilbourne makes her uneasy. There is an oppressiveness that permeates the college, one that is made manifest by its strict curfew rules. Barlow also believes that she repeatedly sees the face of a young woman, screaming, in one of the dormitory windows.

Barlow's uneasiness gives way to outright panic when another student vanishes and is feared to have been murdered. Miles Holland, the sheriff investigating the disappearance, soon discovers that Wilbourne has been the site of similar incidents involving young women that have occurred every 20 years or so, yet all of the townspeople seem to forget. Worse, the town in general and the school dean in particular appear to be generally unconcerned about its sordid history. It is all the more ironic that Perry Holland, Miles's son and a deputy sheriff, is the first person to meet Barlow when she arrives in Lebanon, for it is Barlow who unwittingly holds the key to what has been happening in the town. Further, her arrival will begin a chain reaction of events that will fulfill prophecy and potentially unleash chaos not only upon the small town in upstate New York, but also upon the entire world.

The key to stopping these events lies with an unlikely girl: Bernadette de Salis, who, on the cusp of adolescence, has experienced the stigmata --- the physical manifestation of the wounds of the crucified Christ --- contemporaneous with a visitation from the Blessed Mother. Bernadette, a professor from the college who has studied such appearances, and an enigmatic priest from the Vatican are aligned against the forces of darkness. Yet the key to the defeat of the power about to be unleashed ultimately lies within the very source of it: Sue Barlow herself.

While ALL THE PRETTY DEAD GIRLS is a somewhat long novel, one cannot help but fly through it. Manning's narrative talents are such that the pages seem to turn by themselves. He has a cinematic vision that causes the action to leap off of the pages, so that it reads almost like a movie for the mind. And while he runs the risk of alienating readers with his political characterizations, those seeking nothing more than a good story well told will look past that to the solid bedrock of his plot and the mystery that underlies it.

Wonder if deep within the vault of the Vatican there were the original texts of the Bible, handwritten by the actual authors. Wonder if the Vatican had kept these truths hidden, along with the original Book of Revelations that tells in detail of the rise of the Antichrist. Now suppose a copy of that leaked out over a hundred years ago to a zealous group who was determined to make the prophecy come true sooner than what was predicted...

John Manning has taken all of these what ifs and composed one of the best thrillers of 2009. ALL THE PRETTY DEAD GIRLS is a mix of ROSEMARY'S BABY meets ANGELS & DEMONS. To say this book is your typical thriller would be a serious understatement. It's definitely not your fluffy weekend read.

This book started out interesting but about 2/3 into it, it lost its intrigue. It started with good characters, interesting twists, and captured your attention. I thought the subject matter sounded interesting and then it turned into a somewhat silly horror story.

Those looking for the thriller the cover art and copy promise should look elsewhere. This book is an apocalyptic horror story which reimagines the end times with a demure college student in the role of antichrist. Borrowing from THE OMEN and ROSEMARY'S BABY, it's an enjoyable summer beach read with engaging characters and a page-turning, if a bit on the preposterous side, plot.

Going off to college for the first time is always an adventure, but for Sue Barlow, it promises to be so much more. She will finally be on her own, away from the stifling grasp of the grandparents who raised her after the death of her mother. Sue hopes that Wilbourne College, her mother's alma mater in upstate New York, will give her both the freedom that she has never enjoyed and information about the parents she never knew. What she finds there is far more terrifying than she could have ever imagined.

All the Pretty Dead Girls by John Manning reminds me of a Dean Koontz novel or something by Clive Barker, without being quite as tightly written. The plot moves along nicely, for the most part, except for the back and forth between the past and the present, which I found a little disconcerting at times. This is definitely a "page-turner" in the most positive way and the twists of the plot surprised me more than a few times. It is not predictable or boring. I found the characters believable and pretty well fully-formed and although their dialogue sometimes falls a little flat the characters are not. I found myself conjuring them up in my mind... seeing what they would look and sound like.

I enjoyed All the Pretty Dead Girls even though it runs a little more toward horror than I normally go these days. I was drawn in from the first page and read it straight through to the last. If you are a fan of Dean Koontz or Clive Barker, or even Peter Straub, I think you will enjoy All the Pretty Dead Girls.

I loved this book. It iS a page turner. If you like religous killing books, this is totally one for you. I loved the suspense of trying to figure out what was going to happen and what was the issue behind the killings!! I think I liked this book more than the killing room because it took me a little bit longer to figure out what was happening. But i can say John Manning is one of my new favorite authors. Cant wait til the next book!

She lived under her grandparents' thumbs as long as she can remember; her grandfather especially was a martinet as he very successfully controlled her thoughts and her activities. They are her guardians as they explained to her that her mother is dead. Sue Barlow is ecstatic when she obtains an iota of freedom by going to the mostly female Wilbourne College in Upstate New York.

Her first impression of the school is a serene tranquil place where nothing bad could occur. Her first inkling that the school was not as peaceful as she thought is when a student vanishes by the college gate with blood engulfing her bike. Soon afterward Sue sees the face of a screaming young woman in Room 323 in Bentley Hall. She learns two decades ago a student was raped in that room and the perpetrator was never caught. People all over the globe are seeing visions of the Virgin who has a message for them; one they can only share with their priest. Two more students disappear and whatever Sue wishes happens. All of these seemingly unconnected events tie together to a twenty-year cycle in which students vanish, but this time the Evil One forces the dark plan of Revelation upon an unsuspecting world; Sue must choose which side she joins as the foci who will determine the fate of humanity.

John Manning's tense tale starts off as a seemingly simplistic abduction thriller, but turns into a horror saga similar in tone to the early works of Stephen King. Sue is a fascinating lead character as she ponders what her grandparents mean to her after isolating her for so long. She struggles with relationships especially caring friendships. Her childhood of segregation from her peers let alone adults add to the audience sense of dread as we wonder which side she will select when she takes her "Stand". Readers will enjoy Mr. Manning's taut horror thriller due to secluded Sue.

Harriet Klausner

Unless you enjoy reading crap.
It's not about a serial killer; it's
about a young blonde girl becoming the
ANTICHRIST... and that's the whole book!
Don't buy this book. It a waste of money.*