Customer Reviews

Hexes

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

HEXES returns Tom Piccirilli to the top ranks of horror writers. HEXES takes place in Summerfell, under Summerfell and around Summerfell's asylum, Panecraft. Matthew Galen's father created and ran Panecraft...he killed himself and maybe his wife. Matthew leaves, but after 5 years, returns to Summerfell to right some wrongs that happened during his high school years. In between, Piccirilli dreams up some of the most vile, hateful and vivid scenes of horror I've ever read. Think his DARK FATHER was intense? Check out HEXES! Characters that are all too-real, scenarios that are out of whack but realistically rendered and a climax to end all climaxes.. Researched in occultism well, HEXES succeeds on all levels. Highly Recommended.

As the reader approaches this novel it quickly becomes apparent that there are few untainted souls in Summerfell. And that today's heroes were yesterday's villains in a complex story of damnation for all the right reasons. Something has haunted Summerfell for far longer than Summerfell has existed. And now it has come to roost in the Galen family, in particular on Michael Galen and his friends. Five years ago they unleashed the awful and now Michael has been drawn back to complete the bargain.

Michael's friend A.G. has been locked up in Panecraft Asylum after being found clutching the skeleton of a woman on his porch, accompanied by an unconscious boy. He is suspected of having murdered his girlfriend and has chosen retreat as his best defense. Michael returns to find out what has happened and help if possible. The two men share the bond of an unholy witchcraft - and the knowledge that Baphomet is rising, as the Prince of Evil's pentacle is engraved scar by scar on Michael's chest.

The madness doesn't stay in Panecraft, which was founded by Michael's father, and was where his mother died. It leaks out into wealthy citizens, policemen, and even the plain folk for whom Michael has always cared. A horrific sacrifice has Michael and his friends searching for another killer, and the events of the present run in haunting parallel to those that drove Michael away five years ago. This time, though, there is no easy walk to safety.

Tom Picccirilli does something unique in telling this tale with no attempt at lengthy explanation. We are made conscious of a continuing flow of ritual magic, but we never get bogged down in manuscript and incantation. Instead, the reader is simply transplanted into a world where a perfectly ordinary high school athlete can also be an honors student of the occult. And despite the steady degeneration of the town and its residents, we never lose faith in a hero who is half way to damnation.

The author paints with quick, sure strokes. He provides the framework for our own imaginings with enough detail for the reader to bring to life both the town and its somewhat loony characters. In doing so Piccirilli makes the horror all out own in a book that builds to a conclusion that Hieronymus Bosch would have loved. I like the way the visual context is evoked almost effortlessly, but never dominates the story. Instead, you are given every possible opportunity to scare yourself, and sure enough, you do. Piccirilli is one of those rare authors who know exactly what a story needs, and refuses to overdress the plot.

I read this book in a blur of pages. Fast paced and entertaining. Some of the flashbacks could have done with a little more work on their transitions but overall I didn't care. The way Piccirilli writes is pretty damn fresh, and the integration of occult ideas was woven into one hell of a tapestry. But I do think if a reader doesn't have much interest in the occult (or much knowledge of it) then that reader will be kinda lost. But the action was good and bloody, disturbing scenes do tend to pop up. And the ending wasn't a let down. Horror fans rally around this book. Occasional horror fans stick to King or Koontz.

Okay, maybe I missed something. Maybe I'm not the horror audience that Tom Piccirilli was looking for when he wrote this book. I'm a horror fan, have loved anything by King or Koontz since I was in junior high. I read at least a book a week and consider myself to be fairly intelligent. This book, however, lost me in the first 100 pages and I just never seemed to find my way back to the author's train of thought. Perhaps my tastes are better suited to the writings of King, Koontz, McCammon and Little, because this book bored the daylights out of me.

I would actually say two and half just to put it dead center of the scale. Not as good as, say, Halloween Man but certainly worth a weekend trip. That said I must say that some of the passages struck me as alittle distant if not clumsy. Sort of like Jay Bonasinga. However I did find that the fusions between interior thoughts and exterior action to be solid and sleek. Personally the high point of the book is the wild party from hell that caps the whole story for me. One final thing - How come Crowley is like the modern horror McGuffin? I read somewhere that this book was excellently researched but name-dropping doesn't equal research. This is like the third book in a row I read with Crowley references and this has the weakest connection to actual fact. The guy was a "kook" not Satan incarnate! Don't believe the hype.

If it wasn't for the glowing reviews others have heaped upon this book, I wouldn't have gotten past the first 50 pages. The characters, plot, and molasses-slow pace did not capture me at all, and the writing, while poetic to some, struck me as merely pretentious and turgid. _Hexes_ reminded me strongly of Anne Rice's Vampire books, which for me is not positive; consequently, it's taken me three times as long to read this as it's taken me to read books of similar size. Some books you can't put down, but this one, I hard a hard time picking back up.

Lying-back-cover-blurb alert: The "unspeakable crimes" are absolutely UNshocking, not even deserving of an "ew" let alone surprise, disgust, or terror. As a matter of fact, nothing in here frightened me in the slighest.

Verdict: If you are a fan of the occult, or enjoy heavily atmospheric, dramatic writing, you may enjoy this book. If you prefer more ACTION and dialogue, and less flowery language, don't bother with _Hexes_.

Not exactly overflowing with new ideas. Kind of like the recent Stephen King imitating Clive Barker on a bad hair day. Originality is difficult in a genre that has its best writers stealing from themselves, so younger writers have to be cut some slack. But, in my opinion, this author took a weak concept and buried it in cliches. In general, the writing is mushy. Attempts to decoy or misdirect the reader usually end up being confusing. Some good characterization, but I can't help feeling they were drawn from the last new "X-Files". And I wish I had a buck for his every use of the word(is it a word?), "arcana".

Firstly, I like many other reviewers of this book, picked it up as I was convinced by the glowing reviews by critics and the public alike. Also, as understood from readers comments, many like myself are fans of the horror genre and thought it sounded like a fresh angle on an old familiar formula. Secondly let me explain why the King's and Rice's of this world are familiar house hold names and Piccirilli is not. Hexes for the most part has enough narrative power to guide you to the anticlimatic finale. However once at the end, a time when you recap over the book, you realise that not a great deal happened in terms of plot and the character development was non existent. His writing is not bad but can leave you confused at times as he has a habit of adding random sentences or comments (Debbie is dead) leaving you going, 'eh?'...'errrm what'....'rrrrrrigght???' etc throughout the tale. There are a couple scenes of gibbering horror that will knock the breath out of some readers but I refuse in my experience of this kind of writing to let this be an accalaid; I think any body with half an imagination can do that or if not just watch the news every day!! I am glad I read it in a way as I will now stick to what I know is good horror writing and leave this kind of 'try hard horror' to the small time critics/2nd rate horror writers who have peppered it with overblown praise in an attempt to get this failed colleage of thiers off the ground.

.....You Know!

I had to read the other reviews for this book. Scary? (Debbie is dead).This was so boring I actually fell asleep a few times reading it. (Debbie is dead). Scattered through the book (Debbie is dead). I believe we got it the first time we read Debbie is dead. Tom Piccirilli's overuse of metaphors had me thinking he should write poetry instead of horror. He finally got around to that poem half way through the book. The way Mr. Piccirilli jumps back and forth in time, through the character's flashbacks, and the nightmare scenes, can make your head spin. Scary to me is the Exorcist, even the sequel to the Exorcist, I Am Legion. The only way I'd recommend this book is for insomnia. By the way, Debbie is dead!

Not living in the US and having access to public libraries, I have been unfortunately unaware of Tom Piccirilli until I ordered Hexes on a whim. And was very pleasantly surprised. Immediately, his writing reminded me of Ramsey Campbell, and I turned to the back to see if the author was American or British. I associated the writing with Campbell for a very specific reason: in this book, the author does not assume that the reader is an idiot, he does not do all of the work for the reader, but lets the latter fill in the blank spaces for himself, spacing his story out in hints and suggestions. I do not find this book excessively horrific, nothing is spelled out in descriptive hyperbole,but I do find it extremely interesting and provocative, in the manner of Black Easter. I think Tom Piccirili is a very fine writer, a great and needed addition to the genre that has included such greats as Poe and MacHen and Lovecraft, and yet still has not gained the respect of the public at large. His characters are believable and well defined, his story is innovative and captivating, and his prose is very literate and well paced.And, gosh, there is actually a moral imperative. I have every intention of buying all of his books.