Customer Reviews

The Chosen

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

 

 

This horror story about a mysterious resort hotel with a sinister secret is a great tale from Lee and one of his faster paced efforts. The idea is handled with humor and originality, the characters are quirky and well crafted, and the story line itself is interesting.
There are some great scenes in this one, especially when the protagonist goes into the cellar and gets a glimpse at what she's become involved with. The cook, a parody of Lee no doubt, is hilarious as the foul mouthed comic relief.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to escape for a while with a good horror story. I also recommend Brian A. Hopkins, Richard Laymon, Heywood Steele, and Philip K. Dick.

Vera Abbot's new position as the boss of Wroxton Hall seems like every restaurant manager's dream. A high salary, an unlimited budget, and an exclusive clientele. The perfect escape from her dead-end job in town and a cheating drug-addict fiancé. But pretty soon too many things at the bizarre country inn don't add up. Footsteps and voices when the inn is empty, strange mute servants, and nightmares of demented sex with a faceless stranger. In the meantime, wise-cracking psychopaths Zyra and Lemi scour the countryside for attractive victims to serve some diabolical purpose. Scenes of blistering sex and mind-boggling horror at first seem totally disconnected with Vera's macabre discoveries at Wroxton Hall, but soon we learn that both Vera's engima and the perverted exploits of Zyra and Lemi both serve the same end.

In THE CHOSEN, Edward Lee takes the traditional bits and pieces of a standard haunted house story and purposely assaults the reader's expectations by

turning all those bits and pieces at opposite angles. The result is a thoroughly entertaining modern horror novel that succeeds in every way. Great writing and great characters skillfully blended into a plot that never lets go. Soon the reader is thrust into an inescapable maze of violence, torture, demonic sex, and loose ends tied up into an explosive climax. As far as erotic horror goes, nobody does it better than Lee, and THE CHOSEN is just one more example.

Five Stars, Highly Recommended.

Some people may take offense to the bizarre sex and violence within but those who like their horror sprinkled with such things, this book is a solid and entertaining read.

It isn't as brutal as Edward Lee's later work (like GOON or THE BIGHEAD) but its a fast read with characters that the reader grows attached to.

Just think of this as a typical horror newstand paperback but with some extreme sex/violence touches. I also think it would make a pretty cool movie.

You gotta love Edward Lee. I have said it before, and I will say it again: this guy writes the most sadistic horror/gore stories you will likely come across. Sure, there are other writers who can get down and dirty just as well as Lee can, like Poppy Z. Brite or Brett Easton Ellis, but Ed does it with a brazenness all his own. I have been a fan since reading "The Bighead," arguably his most disturbing book. Throw in his excellent collection of mind melting short stories, entitled "The Ushers," and you will learn quickly that Ed Lee knows how to shock and disgust. I have an ironclad stomach and his stuff still makes me groan with regularity. With that in mind, I read one of Lee's early 1990's efforts, "The Chosen." It is surprising this book is still in print since it first came out in 1993, but for Ed Lee fans that is a good deal. His stuff is usually quite difficult to find, and you will pay through the nose if you do find one of his books in the secondary market. Knowing the opinions of other knowledgeable horror fans, I went into "The Chosen" with low expectations. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I actually enjoyed this gruesome story about a restaurant manager who accepts the job of a lifetime only to discover that her new employer is not what he seems.

Vera Abbot has a great life. She manages a wildly successful restaurant called "The Emerald Room," a success for which she is largely responsible. She works with a stellar crew that includes Donna, a former alcoholic who successfully reformed herself and now manages the waitressing and bar duties; Dan B., a chef capable of whipping up the most scrumptious dishes in town; and Lee, a gruff, obese dishwasher whose loyalty to Vera knows no bounds. On top of a great job she loves with a passion, Vera has the ideal fiancé in Paul, a freelance journalist widely respected by the local newspapers and magazines. With a stable life like this, Vera doesn't expect things to get much better when Mr. Feldspar walks into her life. Feldspar is looking for a new manager to run the restaurant at a posh resort called Wroxton Hall some miles north of where Vera lives. This very wealthy guy offers Vera a hundred grand to take the job, and even lets her take the staff from the Emerald Room. Vera cannot believe her good fortune, but decides not to accept the job because it might affect Paul's career. Well, an extremely seedy incident concerning Paul results in Vera's sudden acceptance of the job offer, and she is off to bigger and better things.

Within a matter of days, things start to sour at Wroxton Hall. Vera discovers she plays second fiddle to Paul, the manager of the room service kitchen at the resort. She also finds out that Paul is a royal jerk who likes to brag about what a big shot he is at the hotel. Then Vera starts to suffer from highly erotic dreams, dreams that take a toll on her as the days turn into weeks. Eventually, the rest of her co-workers experience their own personal traumas at the new resort. When some of Vera's guests complain about strange noises at night, she begins to ask serious questions about her new situation. It definitely does not help matters when Vera discovers that Wroxton Hall was once the site of a mental institution where inhuman crimes of sickening depravity took place. As Vera puts the various pieces of the puzzle together, she discovers that Wroxton hides a new horror beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.

While I like "The Chosen," I did have several problems with the story. Why everyone referred to the chef as "Dan B." drove me to fits of distraction. Does a Dan A. or a Dan C. lurk somewhere near the deep fat fryers? Why not just call him "Dan" and be done with it? And why is it of such paramount importance to take a dishwasher to a resort? I can understand taking a chef along for the ride, but some guy who cleans dishes? C'mon, that is totally unbelievable. Moreover, Dan B. and Lee are uninteresting and uninspired characters who converse in pedestrian insults of the type commonly found on a grade school playground. While it is not difficult to imagine a couple of guys trading verbal jabs about the reputation of one's female family members, this is all these two men do and it grates quickly. "The Chosen" also contains a host of continuity errors too numerous to mention. It is sufficient to say that this is not one of Ed Lee's best books, but it is not entirely hopeless, either.

The best thing going for "The Chosen" is how Lee keeps the reader in the dark about what is really going on at the rebuilt Wroxton Hall. One thing is for certain: you will never guess how this book concludes until you get there. That you must wade through endless descriptions of sexually charged scenes in the process is a bit of a bummer, but I thought the payoff made up for some of the redundancy of the previous sections of the book. "The Chosen" contains many truly sickening scenes, which is exactly what I expect from an Ed Lee novel. I was often struck by the similarities between this book and his latest novel "Monstrosity," with the insecure lead character and the sleazy eroticism. I liked "Monstrosity," and I generally liked this book as well. For a great Ed Lee experience, I recommend "The Ushers," but "The Chosen" should eventually follow at some point.

What an awful cover!

I can't imagine who Pinnacle thought the market was for Edward Lee's The Chosen to have picked such a lurid picture and tagline -- certainly not discerning horror aficionados. Lucky for me (and, in turn, for you), several other things were working against that first impression to get me to actually buy it. First, I had heard of Edward Lee through his novels -- City Infernal, its sequel Infernal Angel, and the recent Messenger -- and I knew of his reputation. More importantly, however, this book was on the clearance table for $3.99 (of course, the blurb on the back from Cemetery Dance didn't hurt, either).

One or the other would not have done it, but the combination of the two found me leaving the bookstore with it while wondering to myself if I would ever have the nerve to read it in public (I did, as it turns out, just carefully hiding the cover from passers-by). Lurid covers on crime novels often, surprisingly, designate high quality (see, for example, the Hard Case Crime series), but on a horror novel, it usually represents the worst in the genre. (The same publisher did much better by Bentley Little's The Summoning.) Fortunately, there is a truly solid scarefest in these accompanying pages; one that doesn't skimp on character or carnage.

Reputed restaurant manager Vera Abbot -- through a series of unexpected events -- takes a job managing the restaurant side of the newly opened The Inn. It is all she ever dreamed of: triple her former salary, carte blanche on spending for staff and supplies, and free room and board at the suite of her choice. Oh, sure, The Inn used to be Wroxton Hall, an asylum where noted atrocities took place, but this doesn't bother Vera.

At least not until the dreams start, and other questions need answering: Why does the room service kitchen always outperform the restaurant, and why does the owner not seem to care? What are the strange noises coming from the supposedly-empty second-floor suites? And what's up with the surly, mute housekeeping staff? Meanwhile, a pair of fetishistic hedonists named Zyra and Lemi spend their time picking up swinging couples and having their way with them. Sex and violence are inextricably intertwined, as unsuspecting victims are pleasured (usually without their consent) and killed (always without their consent) with unflinching frequency.

Edward Lee is a master of extreme erotic horror. The Chosen pulls no punches and is not likely to be appropriate for reading at mealtimes. Luckily, character is at least as important to the author as blood flow. Sure he could have written a novel full of little more than carnage, but that wouldn't be nearly as interesting as getting to know the character before they're snuffed (and that includes nearly everyone). In particular, Vera's kitchen staff -- waitress Donna, chef Dan B., and dishwasher Lee -- are given a lot of page time. The usually coarse Lee is even given an especially tender storyline, complete with "love interest."

Of course, nothing is ever as it seems and, in fact, one of the best choices the author made in The Chosen is that we know something is going on at The Inn, but that we don't have a clue what is going on until the final fifty pages. Having two of the characters turn out to be the same person was a special touch of genius. This isn't necessarily the kind of stuff I like to read all the time, but when you've got a taste for it, you can't do much better.

I had a jaw-dropping good time with this book by hardcore horror author Edward Lee. True, he is not a very literary writer, but try as I might, I couldn't put the book down. I've been reading horror for almost 20 years and it's rare for me to be shocked by what I'm reading. However, with THE CHOSEN, I was aghast many times during the graphic gore and sex that is plentiful throughout the book. Edward Lee isn't afraid of anything when he writes and I appreciate his no-holds-barred approach. This book is definitely not for the weak of heart. You were warned.

I really enjoyed this novel. I actually think it is one of the better Edward Lee books I have read. Sure, he goes off a little bit on descriptions of the kitchen equipment (since spent a few years in the restraunt business I didn't mind) but I felt this was a strong story with good characters. Of all his mainstream press stuff this is my favorite. It has the structure of a typical Lee novel and in some cases it feels like he took more time to write it than some of his other books. I don't know about the cover though. Kind of cheesy. Oh well who cares. I recommend if you are a fan of Lee's or a fan of quick horror novels.

Vera Abbot is the best restaurant manager in town and very happy with her fiancé, with whom she lives. A mysterious stranger arrives in town and inquires who the best restaurant manager is. When Vera's name is the most common answer, the stranger (Feldspar) offers her a job at a new resort of sorts. The offered salary is much greater than her current salary, but she decides not to take the job because of her allegiance to her fiancé. However, when she finds him in their apartment engaged in a ménage à trois with a prostitute and an hermaphrodite, her decision is much easier, and she flees to The Inn to begin her new job.

The Inn, built on the site of an infamous sanitarium where patients were tortured, proves to be the source of strange events. From Feldspar's complete apathy over the restaurant's success to the strangely mute hotel staff, things seem askew from the beginning. Then, Vera begins having strangely erotic dreams that begin to be the highlight of her days. Her staff, friends recruited from her former place of employment, begins to act strangely, as well. Running throughout this narrative is the rampage of a pair of killers who pair off with couples and, after sexual escapades, kill the man and abduct the woman.

"The Chosen" is not a particularly frightening read, as there is just something lacking and preventing true chills. There is a great deal of sex in the book, and some of it seems rather silly, while other parts are rather well done. In the end, though, there really is not much to draw the reader to the main characters. Vera seems too ambivalent, which is understandable under the circumstances (a woman who has caught her fiancé cheating) but still problematic for engaging the reader. There is, therefore, a certain distance between the reader and the characters that makes the high body count and graphic sex rather ineffective. "The Chosen" is competently written, but it is little more than that.

I really wanted to like this book, but Lee couldn't write his way out of wet paper bag. The characters are horribly written, the viewpoint is juvenile, and the style is even worse. One might even think the author lived in his parents' basement for all the insight he manages to deliver on adult subjects.

Vera, restaurant manager at a successfully established facility, finds herself with many of the aspects a person expects from the perfect picture of what life should bring. She has a job she likes, people working under her that entertain her and that make her laugh, and she feels as if life is going somewhere for her. That, in and of itself, is more than most people can ever bargain for. More than that, however, she has something else going for her, that of the perfect love. Then, out of the blue, a chain of events happens, one that begins with an offer of a job that pays more money than she's ever dreamed and ends with her walking in on her lover with another woman and a -yeah, leaving her with all her dreams smashed and with prospects of the future lying open. In those, she finds herself accepting a position in an ex-sanitarium/now extravagant vacationing spot that local tales say is haunted and that is teeming with odd occurrences. Along for the ride are three of her friends/ co-workers as well, ones that she decides to staff this new position with, and before she knows it, they all find themselves in for more than the typical management position bargains for.

Within Edward Lee's books, there seems to be an underlying current telling one to always look a gift horse in the mouth - especially when dealing with jobs that seem too good to be true. This is because there's always a catch, always some sharpened instrument waiting in the dark to sing a lullaby to an unsuspecting audience, and it always seems to be fashioned from the same threads. There, the unfortunate woes of the rurally-challenged reigns supreme, always greeting the unfortunate in some sexually explicit way they never seem to want, and there are always lurid dreams and doom lurking in the shadows. Many times, this is a good combination, too, and it makes something that is well worth checking into. Unfortunately in the instance we call The Chosen, all this book has to offer on an otherwise interesting theme that this author has been developing is a seed, a little seed, and the cohesion of the book's multiple themes, well, they never pan out. Sure, there are violence tones, many of them, with people and blades greeting one another and the people oftentimes regretting it (the blades, well, they never seem to offer their opinions), but the way this is presented is mostly useless. The blood spilled seems to be nothing more than filler, plodding the story along on a course that, to me, ends in the dullest of manners. Sure, there are shadows and things going bump in them, but the explanation comes late in the book and the reasoning, it is a lifeless thing that only evokes more blood and the death of other people. And the build, based on dreams of hands that grope and do some rather livid things, really begins to wear on the patience after a time.

Basically, this book is nothing more than an erotic dream manifesting itself in a creepy place full of events that, for some odd reason, seem to be a fright train destined for a little town we call Disappointment. As an Edward Lee reader, it basically made me have to take a break from his works, almost keeping me away from some of his newer ideas on what a monster should be. Within all of my objections, the word "demonic pimp" can be attached, showing the questioner why they might want to rethink looking into the idea. . Yes, with phrases like this, the mood built in the beginning is defeated soundly.