Customer Reviews

The Ferryman

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Once they were lovers but Janine Hartschorn left David Bairstow because her ex-boyfriend and the love of her life wanted her back. When she became pregnant with Spencer's child, he dumped her. The baby died and Janine almost did as well but she was a fighter and refused to go into the boat of Charon the Ferryman.

When David pays Janine a condolence call, the spark of passion and love reignites in both their hearts. They start going out together but they are both haunted by otherworldly manifestations. David is almost killed in a car accident and the driver of the car is a student who was killed more than a year ago. A stranger kills Spencer, who had been stalking Janine. THE FERRYMAN will not let anyone or anything to keep him from obtaining what he wants: Janine.

Once in a very long while, a horror novel will come along that is so believable and frightening that it will live on in the reader's mind forevermore. THE STAND and THE EXORCIST were such books and so too is THE FERRYMAN. Christopher Golden is a talented writer who makes the audience give credence to events in his novel as if they occurred in the real world.

Harriet Klausner

This is the third Christopher Golden book I have read, after Strangewood & "Straight on til morning", and it didn't really stand up to the quality of the others in my mind. Strangewood was so incredible that I feel bad about comparing anything to it, but there you are.

This book is more "adult" in theme, and therein lies the problem. Mr. Golden has shown genius in writing about the pain & wonder of childhood, and the echoes that result down through the generations as a result. There are elements of this in Ferryman, but most of the book concerns the lives and actions of as unsympathetic, self absorbed, even cartoonish a trio of lead protagonists as I can ever remember reading about.

This book agravated a few of my pet peeves, I'll admit. It's very strongly set in a old money New England world that this Californian finds less appealing that the author seems to. I think a token Republican at a party is the closest thing to an ethnic reference in the entire book. It makes a big deal of the homosexuality of a main character, yet never seems to realize that gay relationships are more than sexual. Only villains show any growth or ability to rise above their situation in 'life'. There is some confusion even as to who is, or whether this book has, a main character. The contrast between the Villain's motivation and choice of tools are the main source of this confusion, I think. Maybe I'm just over thinking it.

I wanted to like this book, and there is good stuff in it. Mr. Golden does a bang up job as always in describing the supernatural horrors and in weaving them into the book in a gradual, insidious way. He pulls no punches on bodycount, or who gets killed. At all.

Good stuff. I just wish I hadn't been rooting for the death of the protagonists there at the end.

This book reminded me of an old song from the 80s with the lyrics 'dont pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side'. One of the best things about this book is the villian, Charon the Ferryman. Mr. Golden has taken a figure from Greek mythology and made him amazingly frightening.
Particularly interesting is the theory behind Charon's appearance as explained by priests Father Charles and Father Jessup. Because Charon was once worshiped or revered as a supernatural figure his presence still exists, even if the modern world no longer considers him important. Another great thing is that Mr. Golden allows Charon to have human emotions, longing and concern and affection for the protagonist Janine.
Without giving away all of the plot details and the scary ending, I found this book interesting and unsettling, and very good. I'm looking forward to the next Christopher Golden novel.

This story has all the elements of great fiction writing.

When Janine loses her baby during birth she almost loses her life. During which she meets Charon the "ferryman". An evil spirit who will not stop until he gets Janine to come with him.

Hence the story takes us through ghostly beings,murders,and the faith of Father Charles. Which leads to a chilling climax to rid there lives of "the ferryman."

Excellent book. Easy to read. Haunting.

I'm a big fan of Christopher Golden's work (namely Buffy stuff but his other stuff as well) so when I bought "Ferryman" I thought I couldn't go wrong because hey, it was a Christopher Golden novel. The first 100 or so pages were interesting and I found myself really liking the book but then it slowly went down hill, becoming somewhat boring and the characters (namely David and Janie) became so whiny and dramatic with their problems that I found myself not caring whether or not they lived or died. However, I liked the myth behind it (the Ferryman has always intrigued me) and, once again, it was a Chris Golden work so that was an important thing. But, if you want a really good, hard core horror novel read something Stephen King or another Golden book. But, hey, you don't have to take my word for it.

I bought this book because I love, make that LOVE anything written by Charles de Lint. And, with de Lint's name written first in the author line, I thought I was reading a co-written book by both authors. As it turns out, de Lint only wrote the afterword, praising Golden. What a fortunate mistake on my part! Being a musician as well as writer, and married to an artist/musician, de Lint very often makes references to other books, and music recordings - real ones - in the course of his stories. I usually follow these leads because they are well worth following.

This book was a delightful discovery. Someone who writes in a similar way to de Lint, someone who has earned de Lint's praise - what more could I ask for? The story takes an old legend/belief, long faded away, and gives it life in a way that suspends disbelief in an instant. A thoughtful exploration of charters that flows through the story, not just bang-up in the first pages; an intermixing of present and ancient history, magic...

Read it. Then look up Charles de Lint. You'll be glad you did. And I'll be looking for another Golden.

The spooky cover of this book made me pick it up. Page one hooked me. The Ferryman is a very different kind of ghost story in that the main characters' nemesis is Charon, Greek god of the Underworld.
Janine Hartschorn experiences a nightmare, where she is standing next to a river in a hellish place. A lone figure beckons to her from his boat in the river. She realizes that she has three silver coins in her hand and that they are her fare towards death. Terrified, she flings them into the river and tries to run. But the mud sucks at her.
What she thought was a nasty dream turns into an all-out harrowing fight for survival. Janine is not alone, though. Her former lover, David Bairstow, and their mutual friend, Annette also find themselves entangled as the ghosts of David's past spring to life as Charon's minions, bent on killing them so he can claim Janine.
The Ferryman is a fast-paced story that kept me reading. If I had to describe it, I would say that it is a blend of Peter Straub's "Ghost Story", William Blatty's "The Exorcist", and Golden's own weird surrealism. The ending was well done. Very cinematic, as one reviewer put it. Recommended.

"It's not a dream."

The newest novel from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is here. The mysterious Ferryman from Greek mythology crosses over into our modern day world to seek out Janine, the woman who was at death's door but refused to go to the netherworld.

However, The Ferryman will not take no for an answer. . . and Janine is in for the fright of her newly regained life.

I went into the book expecting more of it set in the other realm / Styx and was pleasantly surprised by the majority being set in our realm instead. That David's past was haunting him, in a literal sense. That the battle was personal for ALL of them - Janine, for her baby and her life and her love; David, with the sidekicks haunting him; Annette, due to Jill; etc. I liked that they were all a part of it, not just standing there. They weren't expendable and they weren't too chicken to stay.

This book is about strength. Learn how to swim. Learn what life is. Learn how to love again.

Janine left her love for a man who abandoned her when she was pregnant: upon losing the baby, both men are suddenly back in her life - one with a supernatural accomplice who threatens everyone she knows. As she and her friends battle the supernatural ill-wisher Ferryman, more forces emerge from the nether worlds to threaten them all in this fast-paced horror chiller.

Christopher Golden is a great writer, but this book is definately not one of his good ones. His 'A Body of Evidence series' is awesome, especially the first 3 books.

[Might be somewhat of a SPOILER]
Janine Hartschorn has a near death experience whilst giving birth to her baby... sadly her baby dosen't make it. While the doctors were trying to bring her back to life... she was in some sort of creepy place between this world and the next in a river trying to get back home, but the river keeps pushing her forward. She meets the creepy ferryman, whom you find out later is named Charon. Charon holds out his hand so Janine can hand over the coins that were in her pocket. Janine doesn't give in, she throws the coins into the water and runs... ends up falling smack onto the ground... blacks out. She lives.

Charon is a creature from Greek mythology... the creature from the River Styx, who rides on a canoe type boat bringing souls to the next world or whatever...

Charon is intrigued with Janine... never before has any ever thrown the coins into the river. He falls in love with her... he wants her to be with him... he won't let anything or anyone get in the way... he disturbs her in her dreams...

Janine isn't really the main character... there are 2 more.

David Bairstow, was the man that Janine left behind so she could return to her ex. He still has deep feelings for her.

David sees things... people... people that arn't suppose to be alive... their not transparent like the stereotypical ghost except for maybe one...

So apparently Charon has negotiated with the dead to do his killings... somehow he brings back the souls from David's past... in the flesh. In return, the ghosts will return back to the living world permanently.

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some of the stuff in this book didn't really make much sense... was kind of bad... was very predictable... you will probably enjoy it if your into really horrible horror flicks.