Drawn to the Grave [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Ann Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

Beverly and Carl find love together, until she realizes that he is slowly turning her into a living corpse, trapped and powerless, only able to pray that Carl's next victim, Megan, can stop the cycle and save her life. Original."

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Drawn to the Grave is a short, tight novel with a simple premise, the grotesque implications of which are spelled out in full by midway through the first chapter. This approach allows the reader to concentrate on the characters: an arrogant man who is trapped by fate and weakness into performing the same horrible act of supernatural violence over and over, the woman he has just victimized, and the woman he plans to victimize next. As in the classic tale of "Bluebeard," the question of "Will it happen again?" is much less important than the nuances of how the pattern unfolds, mostly seen through the eyes of next victim. She is a college student on a solitary hiking trip who stumbles into the eerie and beautiful setting--a wide river in a remote, wooded area.

This is Mary Ann Mitchell's first novel: it has a bit of first-novel awkwardness (while not gory, the book does have quite a few gross-out moments), but the prose smoothes out and gains power as the book progresses. Especially effective is the use of odor, such as the sweet, cloying smell of hyacinths that drifts along the river, alternately enticing and maddening the characters. --Fiona Webster --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Leisure Books (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843946385
• ISBN-13: 978-0843946383
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #781,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It gets no scarier than this! This one rocks!, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Drawn to the Grave (Paperback)

Carl was supposed to have died long ago. A secret from a tribe deep in the Amazon kept him living. It was a simple technique which let him pass his death to someone else. Carl fell in love with Beverly though. He did not want to pass his death to her. But he either did it or wasted away himself. So Beverly was the one who started to rot away. Beverly DID plan on taking Carl with her somehow. Megan would be the key to her revenge.

*** WARNING! This is a sick book! I loved it! In fact, it gave me nightmares for two nights! Mary Ann Mitchell will make her readers cringe while they read the horror within her pages! ***

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely Morbid, January 6, 1998

By 

Norman Finlay [e-mail] (Edinburgh Scotland.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drawn to the Grave (Paperback)

This is a remarkable first novel. Especially because for the first time in my life I was able to be genuinely disturbed. There is fear and there is disturbance. Fear can be a pleasant emotion to encounter when reading a horror novel. It's only a story. Disturbance is different because it causes the reader to question what he or she believes. I found Drawn to the Grave disturbing and frightening. And I'm someone who has read a great many horror novels. The theme of decay and a living death are very present. And all that is within a prosaic, normal setting. If you read this book, and I recommend it to you, be prepared to be genuinely disturbed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read, March 21, 2000

By 

mellion108 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Drawn to the Grave (Paperback)

I gave this novel a chance after reading Mitchell's SIPS OFBLOOD. I wanted to see if she was truly worth the praise I had heardabout her because I found SIPS to be rather, well, mundane and silly.

DRAWN has that "tales from the crypt" feel to it. A well-worn premise (you know, white explorer stumbles on fantastic jungle spell and capitalizes on it until his own destruction), somewhat interesting characters and detailed gory descriptions of rotting corpses (er...living corpses?)...these all make for a rather fun read. I have to admit, I enjoyed it.

DRAWN certainly isn't a horror masterpiece in my book, but it is worth your time. Watch out for graphic sex and even more graphic gore; if you are easily offended, this one isn't for you. But if you are willing to suspend disbelief and pretend you are watching a Saturday afternoon "B" flick, you'll like this book. The ultimate revenge sequence at the end makes it worthwhile.