Customer Reviews

The Chosen Child

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

 

 

This is one of the few books I've actually stayed up all night reading, which I haven't done in a while. I started in the late afternoon and the prologue got me hooked. I read until I normally fall asleep, but things just kept getting more and more interesting. By the scene about 3/4 of the way through where two major characters go into the depths of the sewer, getting lost, and start having to crawl through a pipe so tight that they have to push their way through it, I forgot about what time it was and just kept figuring 'one more chapter..." until I realized what the heck, I might as well just stay up till 5am and finish the whole thing. I knew I'd be a zombie at work the next day, but it was so suspenseful I didn't care.

Masterton has been one of my favorite authors since the early 80's. I've read them all, even the mainstream fiction ones (I've skipped the sex manuals though...the way he writes about horror, I don't think I want to go there). One of trademarks seems to be very unique plots, with something very shocking or engrossing happening in the opening pages. His other is that in each of his books, without fail, half a dozen or so really, really hideous, grotesque, murders or revolting scenes happen that are so uniquely gruesome and original that I can't believe he even thought them up, let alone wrote them down. At least one of those scenes *never* gets out of my head. I'll usually see one of his titles when I'm browsing and I'll remember some horrible image from the novel to connect it with (even if I last read it years ago) like, "Oh yeah, that's the one where the guy is possessed and takes a pair of shears and..." I can't even come up with one I could describe and still get this review posted. If you've read Masterton, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The "Chosen Child" is not Masterton's best, or even in the top 5, but it is one of his better ones. I put off reading it a little longer than usual because the cover gave me the impression the plot concerned an evil child. It *sort* of does, in a really twisted way, but there's much more to it than that. The cover is fairly misleading. The plot concerns a series of unusually nasty murders that are taking place on the site of a large hotel being built in Germany. The victims are disappearing in the sewer system, most of them lured down by what sounds like a child or small animal in pain. The construction workers flat out refuse to work anymore as they are convinced that the devil is responsible for the killings, and they are so terrified that even the threat of being fired doesn't make them budge. The executive in charge of supervising the project brings in an American detective to investigate, and there's a sub-plot about corruption and the German mob. It gets weirder and scarier and more interesting from there...

Part of what kept me hooked was that the things that happened got so bizarre that I knew Masterton would tie it all together with a great explanation. While the real story is never entirely revealed, you get enough information that you are satisfied as a reader and also, given a serious case of the creeps. There were characters I cared about that I really didn't want to be killed (especially since another of Masterton's specialties is getting the point across in such excruciating, graphic, painfully long detail that being killed really, REALLY hurts more than you could ever imagine). There's other characters you really hate and want them to get some pay-back, so that kept me reading, too. Also, if you've read Masterton before, you know that some of his books do NOT have a happy ending. Some of them do, but you know the whole time you're reading the book that there's a fair chance things could end up in the worst possible way (a few of his novels have such downbeat endings that not only do the heroes die, but the world actually literally comes to an end). That's another element that kept me reading this book until it started getting light out. I didn't know what was going to happen next, and when I guessed, I was usually wrong.

Masterton fans, this is worth picking up in hardcover. I still don't regret the hours of sleep I lost...though I admit that the little sleep I did get wasn't especially peaceful.

I started reading this thinking it would be a typical sewer monster story. It was a little more than that. An unknown creature is roaming the sewers of Warsaw, Poland. It's beheading all its victims in a brutal fashion. Sarah Leonard is in charge of getting a luxury hotel built in the city. When a few workers are killed, the other workers refuse to go back work until the murderer is caught (or the Devil as they call it). Detective Rej is in charge of the homicides and can't seem to find any connection between all the killings around the city. When a connection comes to light, it's to late, because he's been dropped from the case. Sarah decides to hire a detective from the states who's supposed to have great success in criminal investigations. Clayton Marsh is his name. It turns out that all the murders seem to be related to an event in the past.

Overall a captivating read. I found the character of Clayton Marsh, who supposedly had a brilliant mind, to be quite stupid. To search the sewers, knowing you'll meet the killer, without a weapon? Hello?

Fastpaced, with a little romance and a little money laundering, brought this gruesome and some time graphic novel together.

Recommended for older teens and lovers of horror.

Another excellent, in a long line of unusal, engrossing
horror pieces with a great setting (Warsaw) and top notch writing. This story
has to be read. It took a long time for me to find a writer
like Masterton that has such a long line of masterpieces.
Very few writers I could mention have been able to
continue to put out the goods like Graham. Just read the
first chapter of this one and see if it doesn't give you
a good scare. This guy is one of a kind and I believe will
finally get his recognition as a great writer. Scary and
gruesome at times WOW.

The Chosen Child is a Great work; however it is not typically Graham Masterton like the work THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. The CHOSEN CHILD is more an exploration of the mystical and surreal. It is chilling, and it is a good read, and as a Masterton Collector, I was happy to get a Hard Back Copy with the recent edition. It's a good read, but not as spooky as a standard Masterton work.

I've been a very big fan of Masterton for years now. He was the best horror author I ever read, beating King, Koontz and McCammon. Yet this book wasn't up to his usual standards at all.

Oh, his writing style is still the same - it's just not as scary as is his wont.

To me, King lost his ability to tell a good horror story, beginning with "Thinner". They all started reading more like regular fiction than horror. "The House that Jack Built" actually made me feel scared when I read it at late night, in bed. I'm very concerned that Masterton may be losing his touch as I've seen happen to good horror writers. I'm also pretty disappointed because I've been waiting for a sequel to "Night Warriors" (can't remember if that's the right title) so I can see what happened to that baby born of a Night warrior and a demon. It floated away at the very end...

I just discovered Masterton this week and started with The Chosen Child. This is a compulsive read, impossible to put down. I enjoyed it thoroughly! The Warsaw location is very different and quite absorbing. The characters were well developed and believable. Well, maybe not the Executioner. Sarah was just bitchy enough and Rej was very believable. Kudos to Mr. Masterton who has done his Polish homework very well. Marek turned out to be wonderful while I found Clayton a comic relief.

I hope his other novels are as enjoyable. Far-fetched or not, its good stuff. By the way I am of Polish heritage (2nd generation) and from Chicago! I now live in Warsaw IN.

... I will begin with a quote from the beginning of the book, Authors note, but not give it away. I will say it is a good read and worth your money.

"By 29 July 1944, the Red Army had reached Praga, on the eastern bank of Vistuala...radio messages were sent from Moscow to the Polish Home Army TO ARMS!..."

well they did just that and we all know what happened.

Cut to many years later when the ederly were those young rebels. Those rebels had children who are now being hunted by a vicious creature that seems to be a left over evil from the Invaders.

This book takes place in warsaw about a killer lopping off the heads of seemingly unrelated people. I wonder why Masterton can't keep it "normal". Apparently the killer is half-human half cockroach! And he (it) carried a sword and lives in sewers and damp places like a cockroach. Very nice imagination.

His endings too seem very sudden. As usual, his characters seem to be stupid. One of the characters was a "brilliant" detective. He gets killed because he did an extraordinarily stupid thing (something even a retard won't do).

How this creature is finally destroyed and what makes it kill these people is very exciting (not!). Please read it and enjoy a masterpiece.

Slow, not at all gripping and I gave up before the end. Not at all convincing. Paperback copy acquired 2 years ago.