Endless Night [Mass Market Paperback]

Richard Laymon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2004

Jody is sleeping over at her friend Evelyn's house when killers break in. She escapes the house with the only other survivor of the massacre, Andy, Evelyn's twelve year old brother, but she has to kill a man to do it.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 466 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843951842
• ISBN-13: 978-0843951844
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It never lets up, July 15, 2004

By 

Andrew Phillips (Pocatello, ID United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Endless Night (Mass Market Paperback)

This is Laymon working his magic at a gruesome chase novel. Filled with gore and definitely not for the squeamish, Endless Night still accomplishes what it sets out to do: never let up.

Through-and-through, this novel pits a teenaged girl and young boy against a group of savage killers. With a very intense time span, the will to survive is tested against Laymon's painted picture of the will to kill, maim, and destroy. Richard Laymon is one of the only authors I've read who can make a group of marauding maniacs seem believable.

This isn't a novel about character, though there is plenty of character depth. This isn't a novel about scenery, although it is played out mostly in Los Angeles. What this is, is a psychotic romp of a chase. Take it for what it is and you won't be disappointed. If you're coming to Laymon as a fan, you'll know what to expect. If this is your first Laymon, you might be better off starting with Island, or Night in the Lonesome October, which are much better introductions to his work. This is, however, a good, fast-paced read.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gruesome horror novel for diehard genre fans., July 11, 2004

By 

DanD - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Endless Night (Mass Market Paperback)

I won't lie to you here--this is not a GREAT novel. Were you expecting it to be? I doubt it. Although, I must admit, Richard Laymon was capable of writing some strand-out novels ("The Travelling Vampire Show" and "Island" among them). This is, never fear, a GOOD novel--especially a good horror novel.

Jody is sleeping over at her friend's house. It's all well...until she shes her friend impaled on a spear. And then all hell breaks loose. Jody and her friend's little brother Andy manage to escape...but that's just the beginning. First, there's the pursuit. And there's the waiting. Becuase the killers will catch up...and they'll want to have some fun...

Then there's Simon. He's the guy who's been assigned to find Jody. Which is perfectly alright with Simon, because he has an agenda of his own, which he relates to the readers as he narrates his sections of the book. You see, Simon just may be sicker and crazier than his colleagues...and he'll stop at nothing to capture Jody.

There is one thing going for this novel that most other horror novels lack: suspense. Richard Laymon wove suspense into everything he wrote. Few can match him when it comes to edge-of-your-seat storytelling. If for that reason alone, you should buy this book.

"Endless Night" is a bit gruesome, I'll admit. It had my stomach churning in a couple of spots. But it is a good, fast read. A bit darker than Laymon's last published novels have been (although, as any fan can tell you, he can get pretty sadistic at times), and a bit more haphazzard, but "Endless Night" is still a novel for horror fans, or Laymon's new legions of fans (of which I am one). It's a thrilling, gory ride...one that will have you at the edge of your seat the entire time.

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Invasion of the Killer Krulls, July 10, 2004

By 

Matthew King (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Endless Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Originally published by Headline in 1993, Endless Night is one of Richard Laymon's most sadistic and mean-spirited books. Those who have read a few of his novels would know not to take such a statement lightly. Sadly, Endless Night also happens to be one of Laymon's worst novels, a flash-in-the-pan exercise in brainless violence that I would soon rather forget. Richard Laymon novels are like the literary equivalent of b-movie slashers. Fun, but not sophisticated in the least bit. I personally gobble all of his stuff up and usually love it but not this time.

The story centers around a group of fiends who call themselves "The Krulls" (a self-reference to the cannibals in "The woods are dark"). Put simply, the Krulls like to break into peoples' homes at night, rape and kill the inhabitants and then torch the house so as to destroy the evidence. Their track record was flawless until they decided to invade the Clark house, where 12-year-old Andy and 16-year-old Jody manage to escape. It is imperative for the Krulls that these two witnesses to the crimes be dispatched immediately and Simon Quirt (who recounts all of his exploits on a tape recorder) feels more than up to the task as he would absolutely love to get his hands on Jody...

The book starts off with a bang and 75 pages of pure adrenaline as Jody and Andy try to flee the murderous Krulls. This chase scene is highly enjoyable and proves that Laymon can be one of the best in the biz at creating suspense. Then the novel takes a nosedive. The dialogue and verbal exchanges between Jody and Andy are boring, laughable and do nothing to develop the story. The gimmick about Simon Quirt recounting his horrible exploits on a tape could have worked but too often we end up reading about the same things twice, previously from Jody's perspective and then from his own. Who wants to read about the exact same events twice?

The major problem with Endless Night was that this time Laymon decided to focus the entire story on rape, violence and perversion instead of using those things in liberal doses to supplement a central concept. The finale was unbelievably gore-soaked and suspenseful but was still not enough to save this novel. Oh well, Richard's written over 35 novels so I guess there's bound to be a few rotten apples.