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101 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stay away from the dark!, March 13, 2004
This review is from: Deep in the Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)
Michael Laimo's first novel, Atmosphere, was a great mix of suspense and sci-fi, one of those rare debut novel that really promises and actually pleases and all levels. I was eagerly awaiting Laimo's next novel, and now that I've read Deep in the Darkness, I'm happy to report that Atmosphere was no fluke. With this novel, Laimo will leave his mark on the horror genre as a great new voice in the horror field. When Doctor Michael Cayle moves into the small town of Ashborough with his wife Christine and daughter Jessica, he thinks that this move is for the best. Bringing his young family away from the big city seems to be just the right thing to do. So he moves into town, taking the practice of the recently departed doctor and hopes for the best. Unfortunately, everything that goes wrong does and, soon enough, Michael seems to be standing knee-deep in a nightmare come true. Nothing is at it seems in Ashborough. Secrets is the only rule of the game. Something dwells in the woods, something old, something that rules the town with its darkness. What seems to be nothing more than a legend at first turns out to be the horrible reality. Soon enough, Michael and his family are trapped in a nightmare so horrible, so terrifying that their very lives are being threatened. Giving too much of the plot away would be ruining a great and completely satisfying read. I loved every single minute of Deep in the Darkness. The suspense seems to peak on every page, and the characters never feel false to the reader. But the greatest thing about this one is Laimo's writing. The author has a way of reeling his reader in, until he's cornerned with no means of escape. The writing feels natural and effortless. Laimo is able to involve his readers in the very story. Note a certain scene where the main character commits his first deed to the things living in the woods. That section had my skin crawling with shivers. And the ending? I had to read the last two hundred pages in one sitting. The suspense never ends. I can easily see this one becoming a great horror flick in the near future. If you haven't tried Laimo already, this is the perfect time for you to do so. Laimo is sure to quickly climb to the top of his game, where great genre writers like Stephen King and Douglas Clegg reside. Not to be missed!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
In Deep, But Not Necessarily in the Darkness, April 21, 2005
This review is from: Deep in the Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)
For me, horror writing falls into two types-one type features strong, bone-chilling suspense that could have its foundation in reality (if we imagine hard enough); the other type features the same spine-tingling suspense, but the premise is so far-fetched that I have difficulty taking the story seriously. Examples of the first, for me, are King and Straub, ghost and vampire horror (and its ilk), and dark suspense. Even Lovecraft, much criticized for his ambitious prose and poor dialogue, imagines a world where things not too far from us come too near.
Of the latter, sadly, is Michael Laimo's effort, Deep in the Darkness. Dr. Michael Cayle moves his family to a quiet New England town (Ashborough) to get out of the hectic pace of the city. The town's previous doctor was mauled by "dogs," and Dr. Cayle moves in to take over as the new town physician. On his first day of work (no less!) he visits his neighbour and is set up by him to check in on his wife, who also appears to have been mauled by "dogs" (yet survived), even though she is described as having cancer.
Things digress from there. Cayle's neighbour, Phillip Deighton, takes him on a trip into the woods, leading him back to a mysterious area of stones surrounded by a circle of oaks. The center stone appears to be an altar, and Deighton spins a tale of ancient evil that is living in the woods. From this point on, the story revolves around that evil's contact with Cayle as it requires his aid to keep its program going. Should Cayle decide not to help, he has an abundance of evidence from other townspeople about what happens when you defy this evil.
Of course, the tension escalates and the plot twists with the involvement of someone very close to the Cayle family. As Cayle ponders the origin of the ancient evil in the woods the connections he makes are too easily come by; they seem forced. And when the end comes, it is resolved too cleanly, with a disappearance that, although foretold in the prologue, doesn't make much sense in the logic of the story, other than to leave us with a tortured hero at the end, considering the unthinkable.
The suspense is top notch and the writing very good (though verbose at times). But the story falls short with the explanation of what is actually in the woods, what happens after that, and the too-neat tie-up of loose ends. That stated, if you are in the mood for a good read that will keep you turning the pages and perhaps (in places) will keep you up at night, this one is affordably priced enough that it will not bother you if you are as unsatisfied with the premise as I was.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A suprisingly creepy little story, January 18, 2005
This review is from: Deep in the Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)
I will admit that in the first couple of chapters, this book reeks of Pet Sematery. It borderlines on downright rip-off; however, I think that this only adds to the fact that after chapter 2, the plot is entirely different. It goes down an entirely different path in the spooky woods. I found the plot to be quite original, really.
I think that if you are looking for a perfectly and immaculately written novel of untold psychological terror, you'll be dissapointed. But, if you don't mind jumping over a couple of plot holes in the mostly linear path of this story, you can entertain yourself easily and get a case of the shivers. I thought is was worth 7$ and I look foward to reading more from Mr. Laimo.
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