Jason Strain [Paperback]

Christa Faust (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: GAMES WORKSHOP (ABS) (January 30, 2006)
• ASIN: B000K3KM4Q
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I think Jason Was Added as an Afterthought to Sell a Previously Written Story, February 23, 2007

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Jason Strain (Friday the 13th) (Mass Market Paperback)

This isn't a bad story, but what it also isn't is a continuation of the classic Friday the 13th series that most people would be expecting when they order a copy of this book. Other books in this standalone novel sequel series, all written by different authors relate well to the classic movies made over the past 25 years. In fact the best of them refer to events in those movies as historical facts. This has not been done by Christa Faust with The Jason Strain.

I believe Christa had already written this story, heard about (or her agent did) the 25th anniversary celebration series and thought well that'll get me more exposure and rewrote Jason into it the story as he really plays no central role or even necessary role in the story for the plot to work and he's not even a main character. On its own, this is not a bad story, granted not an original idea anywhere within (all parts of the story have been done before ie The Running Man by Stephen King and also his book The Cell for the later half of the novel, that half also borrows from every other living dead zombie movie around.) Without Jason, The Jason Strain would be another B grade adventure which probably would have pleased those who stumbled across it, but as the author knew, without Jason hardly anyone would have picked it up.

If you haven't even heard of this book the basic plot is Jason is captured by a television production company and transported to an island off Costa Rica to be the surprise guest on the second season of Xtreme Elimination. Also transported there are a number of death row American prisoners, both male and female. This show takes Survivor to a new level, inmates must kill each other until there is only one left alive. The winner gets their death sentence reduced to life in prison and cushy one at that. Meanwhile a hot female scientist (one of those typical Hollywood written character scientists who just don't seem to know their hot or care) Dr Cain is obsessed with harvesting whatever immortal genetics are in Jason to make a new immortality virus. Of course Jason isn't going to just lie down and cooperate with either of these ridiculous plans.

If this is your first novel from the 25th Anniversary series don't be put off about reading the others. Friday the 13th Carnival of Maniacs by Stephen Hand in my opinion is the best. All books are standalone storylines and do not relate to the other authors novels in the series so you do not need to read them in any particular order.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but far from great, November 19, 2011

By 

Jake - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jason Strain (Friday the 13th) (Mass Market Paperback)

Before I picked up a single book in this series based on the popular Friday the 13th films, I was told that most of them were bad beyond belief, with The Jason Strain among the worst, along with half of the Jason X series. But I took my chances (and my money) and plunked down the cash to get them anyway. I enjoyed the novelizations of Jason X and Freddy vs. Jason, so I had high hopes for the other books. And after reading Christa Faust's original novel The Jason Strain, I still do, but they've been brought down significantly.

My love for Christa Faust is split. I loved her novelization for Final Destination 3, but didn't care too much Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamspawn. This book did nothing to sway me one way or another, which is, I guess, a good thing.

The Jason Strain's plot is relatively straight forward. A twisted television producer creates the twisted television show Xtreme Elimination, which takes death row convicts, tosses them together on an island, and lets them have at each other. Last one alive has their sentence reduced to life in a cushy federal pennetentiary. But this year, the executives decide to shove Jason Voorhees on the island, just to shake things up.

The drawback of having death row cons as your characters: ALL of them are instantly unlikeable, save for Buth, the "Butcher," who may or may not be guilty of the crime for which he will fry. And being death row inmates, nearly nobody can relate to them properly.

Also, Jason seems to have been added as an afterthought. Its like Faust an original story and was told to add Jason Voorhees to make the story marketable. Also, theres a weak subplot about scientists wanting Jason's DNA to use in research for diseases. Fortunately, Jason never quite feels forced into the narrative, but neither, too, did he feel like a natural element of the story.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, and for the most part, I did but not as much as I would have liked. The kills are fun, and the narrative is solid. But its no literary masterpiece. I recommend only hardcore fans of the series (or horror, in general) seek this out.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Keep Jason at Crystal Lake, April 3, 2006

By 

R. Howell "boriskhan" (Medford, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jason Strain (Friday the 13th) (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay, in the movies, when Jason took Manhattan, it was easily the worst in the series. Here, Jason is taken to Costa Rica, simply appalling. This book couldn't decide what story it wanted to tell. We start off with "The Most Dangerous Game" style of hunting humans using death row convicts and a "Survivor" type reality game show, we move into "Outbreak" with a genetic manipulation that leads to rapid spreading disease and then get slopped into "Night of the Living Dead" where anyone killed by Jason becomes a infectious maniac zombie. This story is simply disastrous. I've been pretty lenient in accepting the new Black Flame novels on Friday the 13th (but not the Jason X series). I've enjoyed the others enough, this one completely blows though. The story could have easily been done without using Jason for any part of it and it would have been better. The Jason/F13 franchise is only used here to try and sell the book. The author has no concept of what the whole Jason/F13 is for and this is just so ridiculously weak that I warn others to stay away from it.