Customer Reviews

Lot Lizards

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ray Garton's _Lot Lizards_ grinds like a big deisel. He hauls you into a truck stop, sets the air brakes and locks you into the setting. You hear a hundred truck engines idling, you smell the fuel oil and the greasy food from the truck stop diner.

Ray Garton shows you the trucker's lifestyle, and not all of it is romantic open roads. Passion? Yes, but usually bought, in the form of young prostitutes --lot lizards-- that frequent truck stops, roaming between the aisles of parked rigs.

The lot lizards at this particular truck stop, however, are strange: they're a little trashier than usual, a little bolder, and they seem to be hanging around two black Peterbilts loaded with coffins. And they have fangs.

Those who look for sympathetic vampire protagonists are not going to find any here. Ray Garton's vampires are *not* your friends. You don't want to sit in a room with them and ask them questions about their immortality. You want to get out your crucifix, smear yourself with garlic oil, and start sharpening your wooden stakes.

_Lot Lizards_ is vampire fiction for those who are tired of the bitterweet tales called "dark fiction" that have been at the forefront of the bookstores lately. If you like *horror* then these are the vampires you want.

After reading _Lot Lizards_, you'll never see a truck stop the same way again.

Garton's "Live Girls" was awesome; too bad it's out of print. I'd forgotten the author, but now I see the resemblance. The only thing that didn't ring quite true in "Lot Lizards" was how completely just ONE vampire retained his humanity. The characterizations are good, mystery is sometimes left alone to remain mysterious (as it should be), and in general there's not a dull moment.

I won't say too much because I'm always afraid of spoiling the story when I leave a review. All I'll say is this is an excellent vampire story and the story itself is worthy of 5 stars. I only gave it four stars for a couple of reasons. First, there weren't any clear breaks in the action. I'd be reading about one group of people one second and the next I was reading about another group and at times I found it pretty confusing. Second, there were some either editing or formating issues with the Kindle version. There were spaces in the middle of words, nurmerals in the middle of words, ect. Not enough to ruin the story for me by any means, but I did find it annoying. After having said that, if sparkly vampires aren't your thing, then Ray Garton's Lot Lizards will be. Do yourself a favor and buy it.

Just finished this book tonight. It's awesome! This is how I like vampires- as the monsters they are meant to be, not "immortal lovers" or high school students. The vampires in this are gritty, sleazy hookers that prey on lonely truckers at truck stops. They're not nice, they don't want to be your friend and they're not self hating whiners that cry over their lost humanity. I also like the setting for the book and found the characters likeable and realistic, one of my faves being Byron the janitor. I will definitely be reading Live Girls and Night Life, two more vampire novels by this author. This book is NOT for the Twilight crowd.

I decided that my first Ray Garton novel would be one of his earlier works, and this one is a dandy. Garton offers a fascinating premise, enough sex to spice up the story line without distracting from it, and economical but effective character development--I cared about the protagonist in this story, and I cared about his family. Great story and great writing.

Ray Garton whos previous books Live Girls and Night Life are similiarly themed companion pieces in which the vampire lore is turned into a sleazy underbelly. More for fans of Stephen Kings Salems Lot than those seeking a Twilight substitute.

Lot Lizards is a drive-in movie kind of horror novel. If you're looking for Grapes of Wrath... well, go read Grapes of Wrath. It's a classic. If you're looking for nasty vampires, lots of gore and a fast paced cheesy thrill ride of a narrative, then pick up Lot Lizards. What elevates this novel above outright camp is the fact that the premise of the book is actually downright creepy and logical. The modus operandi of the vampires would be an effective method of feeding if our favorite fictional bloodsuckers were actually real creatures. There were several scenes throughout the book that put the monsters to good use, with nice creepy imagery of the sinister sirens slinking in the shadows. On the downside, a bit too much coincidence... but to be honest, life is full of coincidences.

The formatting of the ebook was okay. There were a couple places where scanning errors occurred, and a paragraph break was dropped here and there that would have made the quick scene cuts a little more effective.

Think Planet Terror or Return of the Living Dead. Fans of pulp horror will be in hog heaven.

--Rod Redux, Author of Hole: A Ghost Story

Not born here in USA didn't know what a lot lizard was, I sure do now and then some. I look thrice driving through or even past truck stops. Absolutely brilliant book. Mr Garton spins a very fine yarn, a perfect example of the vlad tepes genre. Nice original take on the subject. I will certainly read more of his books especially live girls

The first time I heard of Ray Garton was through a special offer on his legendary book, Live Girls. That signed book was set for $45 and before I decided to buy it, I had just heard that the price has shot up to $145 (I hear it's even more expensive today than that).

I thought to myself, how can a book, about vampires to say the most be that expensive. What exactly was that book about to even that much critically acclaimed. All I had in mind was that I had to get my hands on it... and fast...

My search for Live Girls brought me upon this book, Lot Lizards and if it's any indication to what Garton's style is, he is by far the most underrated author of all time. The book not only makes you sense that you're in the pages with the characters, it makes you smell, taste and live the lives of each one of them. The setting changes are so subtle, yet so dramatic. Garton moves in with his storytelling using a very cinematic approach, and finds great success in it. He has some experiences in the field of movie novelization and that clearly takes things through and fires up his characterization. The book does read like a movie. In fact, if someone ever reads it to you out loud and you just listen to the words spoken, you feel that you are truly watching a movie with your eyes closed. Even the ending is very much cinematic, relying on the same gimmick of "what then?" and "where now?" Which in fact is not as bad as one might think it is.

The style is astounding. Not for a minute do you feel bored or the need to let the book down. It would seem that the book itself is like a vampire sucking away your essence as you continue with each page. For the very first time, in a long time, a relatively unknown author strikes such a chord in me.

This book should be put back into circulation and should receive better publicity that what it has already received. Ray Garton takes you there and he just won't let go until he drains you clean with the last page.

I guess now I know why his books are relatively expensive. They're collector's item and they are truly worth the time and the experience.

Being tired of the sanitized Mary Sue- and Gary Stu-vampires a la Twilight, the glowing reviews for this book enticed me to buy it, and I really wanted to like it (especially since I have a soft spot for truckers). Unfortunately, instead of merely hinting at the plot, the summary on the back cover gives away the whole story, and the poorly executed third person omniscient narrative, hopping haphazardly between characters, quickly destroys any seed of suspense.

Overall, the book reads like the script for a cheap SyFy channel movie. It is full of one-dimensional, cliched characters and the story depends so much on coincidences that it is preposterous. Of course you always have to suspend pretty much all your beliefs in order to take any vampire story seriously, but I felt insulted when the author presented a truckload of garlic (in the middle of winter, at a snowed-in truck-stop) as the solution to the vampire siege.