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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant & Creepy,
By Jim Lay (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Darklings (Paperback)
Ray Garton is best known for his cult classic, LIVE GIRLS. But as a long time fan of his work, DARKLINGS has always been my favorite novel. It's the story of a parasite that slithers from a serial killer's body and wreaks havoc in a hospital and small town. The parasite unleashes monstrous behavior in it's victims, making for some of the most ghoulish scenes in horror history. The tension builds and builds as the protagonists track down the creatures horrific origin and the climax is one of the creepiest I've ever read... In a less talented author's hands, this storyline could have failed and seemed hokey, but Garton handles it with expert skill and wild enthusiasm. (Also, keep in mind, this was written before-- and quite possibly was the inspiration for-- movies such as THE HIDDEN, that came along later.) DARKLINGS was also written during the golden years of horror, back when authors worked hard to scare readers and had fun with their work. There was none of today's pretentious crap, where content and story take a backseat to "style" and the same old themes are beaten like a dead horse. Back then horror novels were designed first and foremost to entertain and scare the hell out of readers. DARKLINGS is a perfect example of that. Do yourself a favor and find this book. If you're a horror fan, your collection has a big gaping hole in it until you own a copy of this book! (And by the way, please disregard the previous reviewer. Garton's DARKLINGS has never been made into a movie nor does it go on "too long". The reviewer has obviously confused Garton's book with something else...)
4.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific book, sloppy conclusion.,
By Acid-Raina (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Darklings (Paperback)
The following review contains many spoilers.
I'm a fairly new fan of Garton, I picked up `Live Girls' a few months or so ago and was hooked. He is unforgivably underrated, to the point that many of his novels are long out of print. This is the fifth book I have read by Garton, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. It was, as most of his novels tend to be disturbing but without a lack of depth, and grotesque without being ostentatious. Though I enjoyed the book I have to say it is my least favorite so far. Garton really had me up until the last twenty or so pages. The conclusion was to me a bit predictable, and it seemed as if the main characters lost a few IQ points during the final chapters. Why would Julie and Dr. Hunt go to that service while Tom and the specimen were missing? Even if you overlook that you have to ask why Hunt would insist on going inside in the first place, but especially after seeing the infected boy handing out flyers. It seems Garton was trying too hard to get his main protagonists into a deadly situation and sacrificing their intelligence to do so. The other protagonist, Tom, who helped piece this whole thing together with the other two, seemed to make quite a few uncharacteristically stupid mistakes at the end as well. If I were going to dig up what he was going to dig up, I would have had that lantern on before starting to dig. More importantly the gas canister would have been unscrewed and within inches from me at all times. This seemed like another tension builder that just insulted our characters intelligence and got him killed. Besides the lackluster conclusion, I still really liked this book and look forward to getting my hands on another Garton novel, the few that are still available anyway.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent first book,
By
This review is from: Darklings (Paperback)
Although I don't believe this book deserves five stars, I give it this rating out of pure respect for the author. This is a brilliant first novel from a young writer, and it shows the many budding roses in a promising career. A career that has done very well, despite the fact that 'Ray Garton' is not a household name. I do not recommend this book as a 'first-read' if you are not familiar with Mr. Garton. You could do better with 'The New Neighbor', or 'Live Girls'. 'Darklings' is not Ray Garton's best work . . . but it is an impressive first effort from a writer who deserves a lot of respect in a world of cookie-cutter authors.
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