Customer Reviews

Ghost Walk (Leisure Fiction)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Although the book is the standard Leisure length of 330 pages, "Ghost Walk" is only 275 pages with a short preview of Keene's next book at the end to bump it up to the 330. For those of you just meandering into the world of Keene, although it is not officially stated, this is a sequel to "Dark Hollow" which for full enjoyment, I suggest that you read first. Though the baddie in this one is not our half goat satyr, we do have the return to LeHorne's Hollow and the return of writer Adam Senft.

Short Summary: A hunter in the Hollow disturbs a circle of stones in the woods, opening the gateway to another world. As a big nasty starts creeping through the gate, we have the local charity ghost walk being set up right next door. Can the ex-Amish user of powwow named Levi fight back a being older than the Earth itself?

Before you begin with my review I want you to know that I truly believe that the skills of Brian Keene rival those of Stephen King. Only time will tell if he will gain the notoriety and voracious fan base of King, but the skill level is already there. That being said, this is not Keene's strongest work. It is obvious that he went into this with an agenda, which was to complete his pantheon and tie all of his books together. As such we spend a lot of time learning about pre-Earth history, the 13, the labyrinth, powwow magic, stone circles, etc. This is also the first time that Keene connects his book "The Ghoul" with the rest of his books, all of which had either intertwined or run in parallel universes with overlapping characters. Now I personally don't have any issue with the pantheon that he has developed and is playing on... however to get out the information and tie up the loose ends in the readers mind, we needed a much meatier book. The story felt like a thin vehicle for explaining the pantheon rather than an independent entry into the cannon of Keene.

Before you think I'm bashing this book, it was very good. The characters were interesting, as is standard in Keene's works, his writing is easy to read and very fluid, making for a pleasurable and relaxing reading experience. He is good at drawing the reader into his world and creating sympathy and concern for his characters. The character of Levi remained a mystery, as I assume Keene wanted, making him hard to truly latch on to as a reader even though he is the central character of the book. The story could have been huge, epic and complex to deliver Keene's concept of multiple worlds and concurrent histories, and nasties from before the dawn of time however the story told in this book suffered because of the compact method that he chose to deliver the message in. In the end the story was a bit of a downer (aren't they always?) but the ending was thin... we never find ourselves worrying, there is no foreboding sense of danger as we approach the final confrontation, I found myself more worried about our characters making it through the traffic jam in time than I was for them when they entered the Hollow. There is also no follow up (good or bad)to show the aftermath of what occurred that evening.

Do I think this was a bad book? Not at all - please notice the 4 stars, Keene is a magnificent writer. I would not advise anyone starting here if they have not read a Keene book before, this book may serve as Keene's Dark tower (not the series, simply the hub in the middle of the spokes of his reality). I hope that with his pantheon described and defined that we can now venture more fully into the horrors that can come from it. Once you have read his previous works, this book will answer many questions left behind from the other stories but it is not a good starting place, or one of the strongest works he has put out.

i'm a big Brian Keene fan, pre-ordering ever book he puts out, pretty much. So it is with a slightly heavy heart that i must say this is probably his weakest effort yet. What makes it more disappointing is that it is a semi-sequel to The Hollow (set in the same town...the main character returns) which was one of his BEST books to date.
it was truly as if another writer took this book on for Keene as a deadline favor.
Missing the deeper character development and unpredictable storylines (and endings) he usually delights readers with, this was straight forward, generic, and pretty boring. Particularly annoying is how he completely trashes the main character from The Hollow in his return here, by basically rewriting him as a generic "crazy guy" with god-awful dialogue and the depth of a puddle. The character has since been pronounced mentally insane -and is, as Keene makes it PAINFULLY clear by actually having the character announce in numerous diatribes "I'm crazy! I'm crazy!" (Oh...thanks. Now we know, Brian)
While i love the Pow-wow aspect he has been building on in the past 2 books, and i appreciate this books attempt to explain his "many universes" idea linking all his books....he just seemed to rush through this one. I'm hoping Castaways is a stronger effort...or I'll start to get worried.

Warning-spoilers ahead!!

I have only read a few of Brian Keene's books, but all the ones I have read overlap each other a little- they all have at least one character who is related to or knows at least one character in a different story,and knows something about the events in that other story. That said, this is not a sequal to Dark Hallow, it is a stand alone story that overlaps Dark Hallow a bit. It answers the question of what happens to Adam and Tara at the end of Dark Hallow- he kills her by throwing her out the attic window, and is confined to a mental hospital. But Adam, who was the main character in Dark Hallow, is a minor character here. Actually, he almost seems like an afterthought- he comes in halfway through the story and barely says anything other than "I'm not crazy." It seemed to me like he was put in just to give the magician Levi someone to sacrifice at the end, in order to prevent the entity Nodens from destroying our world. Which was another rather disappointing thing in my opinion, the impression I got from reading this was that Mr. Keene wanted the reader to think of Levi as the book's "good" character, and meant his sacrificing Adam to be a surprise. But Levi starts talking about "necessary evil" and how evil can serve the greater good fairly early on, which tips off the reader that the "good guy" might not be all that good. All that aside, once I quit expecting Ghost Walk to be something it's not, I liked it. I like the overlapping thing Keene does, his stories all seem to be set in small town central PA, and having lived in that area, I can tell you that it's really like that in the small towns- everyone is somehow related to everyone else, and if there are two people in town who aren't related they know each other, and probably have all their lives. So having his characters know the people and events in other stories makes his books more realistic, at least in my opinion.

It was just a few months ago that Brian Keene's horror novel Dark Hollow came out. Although The Horror Review may have declared Keene the next Stephen King, that was a bit of hype: yes, they are both horror writers and at least Dark Hollow seemed to focus on the King-like setting of a small, superficially idyllic town in an Eastern state (King likes Maine, Keene Pennsylvania), but Keene is not yet ready to be declared King's literary heir. Keene is good, however and Dark Hollow was no fluke as its sequel, Ghost Walk proves.

Like Dark Hollow, Ghost Walk takes place around the wooded area known as LeHorn's Hollow, a forested region of Pennsylvania with a long tradition of being haunted. This doesn't deter a hunter from a little poaching in the area, a crime with unintended consequences as he accidentally opens up a gateway to another universe. Out of this universe comes an alien and malevolent force that is intent on destroying all life; all that holds it back are the remaining barriers in the gateway.

Fortunately for this presence, Ken Ripple is setting up a Halloween attraction known as the Ghost Walk right outside of the Hollow. Some of the volunteers setting up the site are disappearing, being lured into the Hollow to help take down the barrier. Furthermore, Halloween itself has certain properties that will remove the barriers.

Though Ripple has no clue what's going on, Levi Stotzfus does. This lapsed member of the Amish community knows certain magic and is aware of exactly what's going on. Levi will try and stop it, but he cannot do it alone. He recruits Maria Nasr, a freelance reporter investigating the Hollow's dark history. This, in turn, will lead to the involvement of the lead character from Dark Hollow, Adam Senft, currently locked up in an institution for the criminally insane.

With a tale of ancient alien monstrosities, Keene wanders into Lovecraft territory, and it's a successful venture. This book is well-written, solid entertainment; Keene keeps the pages turning. He may not be the next Stephen King, but Keene shows that you don't need that title to still produce first-rate work.

This quasi-sequel to Dark Hollow (aka The Rutting Season)is another writing sensation from one of the horror genre's most anticipated authors. Once again Keene intertwines characters from his previous novels into this story and goes on to explain a little more about the alternate realities that exit around us. I also noticed he managed to mention almost every title that he has written in this book. He didn't exactly mention the title of the books, but rather just included them in his narrative ie; in one scene, the lead character, Kevin, was mumbling to himself and said "No rest for the wicked, no rest at all" I found that rather interesting. Also, Keene enjoys writing in characters named after some of his bloggers that frequent his web site and message board (hope I make the cut some day).

The story itself moves along at a break neck pace. Great character development also. An enjoyable book sure to satisfy, and leave you wanting more Keene.

Skeptical about rumors of LeHorn's Hollow being a haunted ground, a local hunter stumbles into a circles of old stones etched with strange, ancient-looking symbols. Excited by his find - and hoping these stones will prove to be a priceless archeological discovery - Rich digs one of them out. Unbeknownst to him, Noden, the living darkness who lay trapped beyond the gate kept sealed by the circles of sacred stones, is now able to reach out through the opening. In order for Noden and his minions to completely come out and destroy life, all the stones must first be removed by unsuspecting humans. Noden patiently waits to make his grand entrance at midnight on Halloween night, when the veil between the two worlds is at its thinnest. His plan is incidentally facilitated by Ken Ripple, a grieving widower whose goal is to build a ghost walk in memory of his late wife right in LeHorn's Hollow. Only one person can stop Noden - Levi Stoltzfus was raised in an Amish family, but he abandoned his faith long ago to embrace a much wider truth. Levi is powerful, and aided by Spirit, yet he cannot act alone. With the help of Maria, a young journalist, and a novelist who's dealt Noden's minions before, Levi embarks on a journey against time to fight the forces of darkness.

As the hunter was skeptical about the rumors surrounding LeHorne's Hollow, I must admit I was a bit skeptical about this story in the beginning. Usually unimpressed with most New Age fiction, I sat with this novel for less than thirty minutes before I became so engrossed in it that I didn't want to put it down.

I immediately connected with Levi, and really appreciated the standpoint of Maria, the young journalist. I also found it quite endearing that this book linked, somewhat, to another favorite of mine, the Necronomicon; while unrelated to it, this story conveys some of the same information in a not-so-ominous fashion.

The writing style is pleasant and flows unrestricted. While I am not familiar (yet) with Brian Keene's other works, I really enjoyed Ghost Walk, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fiction sprinkled with a good dose of magick and small town lore.

Ken Ripple is a widower. His wife died of cancer two years before the novel opens and he is in the final process of designing and building a haunted woods tour for Halloween. The proceeds to be donated to a cancer research charity. The only problem, other than the usual problems of getting any enterprise in motion, is that a hunter unwittingly releases a demon in the woods next to the Ken's attraction.

GHOST WALK is an easy and unassuming horror novel. It is easy to read and it has an understated and effective atmosphere of both excitement and dread. The demon is portrayed well as a background piece that isn't developed much beyond the dark shadow in the closet, which makes it effective as a bogeyman-style villain.

The characters are tightly controlled and adeptly fashioned to the plot. They range from Ken, to a local freelance writer, to possessed teenagers and even an Amish outcast with the ability of astral projection. The plot is the usual--there are no real surprises--but Mr Keene is able to amplify the story with his toned down prose style and interesting vision of horror, which is a terrific mixture of the supernatural, comedy, and a vibrant small-scale low budget horror film.

There are also several unique elements in the novel. The Amish outcast mentioned above is a wonderful character that adds both originality and wonder to the tale. There is also the description of the joys and misery--and just plain poverty--of a freelance writer's life. Something Keene probably knows all to well.

GHOST WALK is perfect for a quick and spirited foray into the supernatural for both the horror enthusiast and the occasional visitor. It is a simple diversion and pure fun. It passes too quickly and leaves the reader pondering if the next Brian Keene novel will be just as entertaining.

-Gravetapping

This is probably my least favorite of Brians Keenes books, mostly because the story really just seemed to exist to help explain and expand upon his other stories. I love the Keene mythos and this fills in many gaps, but it seems to me that those who haven't read much Keene, or don't plan too could skip this one since the story is esentially pointless and kind of gimmicky. Read Dark Hollow first, better yet read every other one of his books first, lol.

The Good: Great Characters, Character Tie-ins, Great literary imagery,

The Bad: A Happy Ending!?

The Ugly: Lack of solid action, gimmicky setting...

Now for a Keene Fan this book pretty much explains how all of the other books are related which is what kept me reading.

Keene is good at crafting a good story with compelling characters, spookiness that keep you turning the pages. When all hell breaks loose, you are sad that the ride is over. Keene explores the back woods of Central PA and takes you into those dark woods which could hold anything. Great for Halloween!

This is a good story. However, I did not like the abrupt way in which the author ended it. It may have been the effect he was going for, but I don't think it worked in this instance. The story needed more resolution.