Customer Reviews

The Count of Eleven

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I could not help comparing this book with Donald Westlake's "The Ax." In both books we have a man ready to do anything, even commit murder, to defend his life and his family. But, whereas Westlake's rational and focused Burke Devore would be lucky if he got off with just temporary insanity, Jack Orchard could comfortably use the all-out insanity defense. Jack, who in the beginning is seen as only slightly batty, is later revealed to have a split personality: besides his usual self, he is also Jack Awkward, a goofier version of Jack Orchard, and the Count of Eleven, a cold-blooded killer who really enjoys his murderous activities. To follow this evolution is interesting, like watching a chrysalis unfolding to reveal a hideous butterfly, and to describe it Mr. Campbell uses his usual intrincate and attractive prose. However, the story never jells completely; I think the rather disconcerting introduction of slapstick at the most awkward moments is partly to blame. Also, the succession of killings becomes eventually repetitive. At one point Jack feels he is repeating the same lines with different actors, and so do we. The overall result is readable enough, but far less compelling than Westlake's novel or other books by Ramsey Campbell.

Jack Orchard lives in New Brighton, England, with his wife (Julia) and 12-year-old daughter (Laura). He's a fairly successful video store owner (Fine Films), but considers himself foremost a loving and attentive husband and father. He would do anything to protect them and make them happy--and does just about everything.

At the beginning of "The Count of Eleven", Jack's luck starts to run out when a series of misfortunes occur one after the other: his uninsured store burns down, his credit card is stolen and charged to its limit, and now he's losing his house. Nothing could be worse. So when he receives a chain letter promising him good luck if he sends out thirteen duplicated letters, Jack's superstitious nature overtakes him and he immediately follows through with it. All the while, he follows an obsessive routine of counting numbers. Anything that equals eleven he considers lucky.

However, when his luck doesn't turn around, Jack can only conclude that it's not himself who's to blame, but the recipients. They must not have continued the cycle by sending out their thirteen letters. So, Jack visits every person he had sent letters to. Those who admittedly refuse to continue the foolish chain are killed with a blowtorch, Jack's weapon of choice. Or rather, I should say, the Count's weapon of choice since Jack's alter ego is the guy in charge most of the time.

On and on these visits go, until the pursuits became predictable and tedious, taking up a good third of the book which would have been better if they had been omitted or at least shortened.

"The Count of Eleven" wasn't too terrible, but it wasn't what I expected either. It's not scary or a full-fledged horror novel. I thought the front cover was a little misleading with the blood coming out of an envelope since there was no real bloodshed, just a couple attacks with a blowtorch that were more humorous than anything else. But the ending at least was decent enough, so I figured it deserved three stars instead of a two.

I would only recommend this book to Ramsey Campbell fans and people who like soft English horror that is more character-oriented than violent.

i love Ramsey Campbell as an author and this book did not disappoint although i found comparisons to 'American Psycho' and 'Silence of the Lambs' totally bewildering since none of the novels really bear any resembelance to each other. Campbell really gets inside the head (so to speak) of his protagonists and towards the end of the novel you feel almost sorry for the total mess the lead character gets himself into. However i agree with the previous reviewer that some of the aspects of comedy in this novel are ill at ease with the rest of the content. But anyway this is an excellent and original thriller which typically of its author is very well written. PS excuse my spelling....

This is my first book by this author and I liked his twist. It took me a while to catch on the the wierd mindset of his protagonist but his justification for his actions seemed to make sense. Anyway to his mentally disturbed mind. I liked it, and read it only as a preface to a new book by the same author. I like to read books written in chronological order to get a feel for the author. I'd read additional books by this author. This one seemed plausible; that a man's mind could really work this way, which is not the case in some horror books. Hard to put it down.