Customer Reviews

Messenger

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Dodd was working as a package sorter for a Florida post office when he received the package. The package that contained death. Shortly thereafter, Dodd, known to most as a friendly neighborhood postal worker, went on a vicious killing spree.

Ten years later, similar events begin to occur in the quite and friendly neighborhood of Danelleton. Marlene, a well-known postal carrier, enters the post office and opens fire on all those inside, leaving no survivors, shortly after killing her husband and child. Carlton, yet another long-time postal service employee, leaves one day to deliver a package to a private girls Catholic school, only to slaughter and crucify a nun and several students. All of these crimes seem connected via a strange bell and star symbol left in blood at each crime scene. Are the people of Danelleton suffering from some strange psychosis, are they part of some satanic cult, or is there more going on than meets the eye?

Jane Ryan, the Station Manager of the newly re-opened Danelleton West Branch Post Office, and her cohort and love interest police Chief Steve Higgins, are in a race against time to save themselves and the rest of the dainty town from the unwelcome visitor.

A mysterious man named Dhevic has seen this all before, and he intends to do something about it. Whose side is he on, and what knowledge does he have of the occurrences?

The Messenger has a message to deliver from Lucifer, and the inhabitants of Danelleton are his unknowing and unwilling servants. Using a force similar to possession, The Messenger infests the minds of those he chooses and convinces them to serve his purpose, which they do almost without fail.

Edward Lee proves yet again that he is the undisputed master of the extreme horror novel. This novel, like his others, is sprinkled with gruesome depictions and vivid imagery, as is his trademark. Indeed, Lee leaves little to the imagination. Yet that is why we readers keep coming back for more! Though this novel is more sedate than some of his previous works, it should still delight the gore-hounds in addition to fans of more mellow horror.

If you have read "City Infernal" and "Infernal Angel," you will already be familiar with many of the descriptions and creatures within various snippets throughout the book, as Lee clearly draws from his previously established visions of Hell. However, this particular book draws slightly less from such imagined imagery. Instead, "The Messenger" plays out more like a thriller novel with a supernatural or parapsychological twist. Of course, with Lee the twist is always a noteworthy one that is very worth the time and money, even if a bit predictable.

I highly recommend this, and any of Lee's other incredible novels to those who have the stomach for them! This book, in its hardcover format, is limited to 450 signed and numbered copies, so pick yours up now!

It is a pleasure to Edward Lee's books coming out frequently. Unfortunately this one, while a fascinating subject, makes many blunders that destroy the overall work.

In this book we get glimpses of a traditional Hell, as opposed to those in the Infernal books. A small town is hit by a wave of violence as various postal employees go on individual rampages. The postmaster is worried and central to the story as is her new romantic interest, the chief of police.

What we have is that various people fall under the control of the Devil's messenger (the evil counterpart to Gabriel). Each victim commits atrocities at the physical and psychical direction of the Messenger.

Sex and violence play a big part in this story and the reader is gripped with a need to know what happens next right up to the last page. A very clever story from a true master of horror.

But what of the blunders? Well here are a few. A couple has sex after the woman's kids retire for the night. They go at it again a few nights later in the living room and spend the night there naked. No mention of kids this time. The setting is a small town that is described as very quiet and almost totally crime free (the worst being an occasion T-Ping of a tree) but later we learn that the town has an abundance of strip clubs and local prostitutes (huh?). Anyway, these problems and others will get to some readers but be ignored by others. The atmosphere of the book is so thick as to help obscure many of the flaws (like no Federal involvement).

If you are a fan of Mr. Lee, you will definitely want to check this one out as it pulls no punches.

I am an unabashed Edward Lee fan. Although I have only read a few of his novels, the smorgasbord of unsettling violence, intense erotica, and whiplash prose make his writings enormous fun for a dedicated horror fan. The biggest problem facing a potential reader is how to acquire many of his books and short stories. Nearly all of his old mass-market efforts are out of print, many other novels and collections are available only through wallet busting small press editions, and the subject matter of a majority of his tales virtually insures much of his work will remain in obscurity. In other words, I am an Ed Lee fan insofar as my meager funds allow. It does appear a ray of hope is breaking on the horizon: Lee now writes novels for mass market powerhouse Leisure press, and a few of his earlier works are starting to reappear in slightly more affordable trade paperbacks. "Messenger" falls into the mass-market cheapie paperback category. Lee's Leisure publications unfortunately tone down the over the top violence we're used to, perhaps in an effort to appeal to a general audience incapable of accepting the sorts of atrocities outlined in "The Bighead" and "Portrait of a Psychopath as a Young Woman," two other Lee novels that wallow in depravity.

Still, watered down Ed Lee is preferable to no Lee at all. "Messenger" tells the story of a series of horrific nightmares unfolding in the town of Danelleton, Florida. It's a nice town, a town where everyone waves to everyone else. It's a town that's starting to grow into a small city, which requires the postal service to open a second mail hub in order to handle the explosion of packages, letters, and other correspondence endemic to a bustling population center. Roughly twenty years before the main events of the story, a mysterious package arrived at the Danelleton post office, a package that led directly to a killing spree of epic proportions. Now, two decades later, the horror that unfolded in Danelleton on a beautiful Florida day once again rears its ugly head. But no one makes the connection at first, not the postmaster of the new branch office, Jane Ryan, or chief of police Steve Higgins, or anyone else in town. When a pretty, mild mannered postal employee named Marlene Troy strolls into the main post office and pumps bullets into everyone she finds, warning flags start to fly. An enigmatic message Troy left behind, a sketch of a bell with a star emblem, soon appears at subsequent mass killings committed by other postal employees. What is going on?

Think cult activity. Think satanic doings. Think of Lucifer's need for a mouthpiece to the world known to certain individuals as the Messenger. It turns out a very special object of massive import to the underworld resides in the musty basement of the new branch post office, an object with the ability to turn the sane and rational into enraged, frothing at the mouth murderers capable of the most heinous of crimes. No one in Danelleton is safe from the minions of the Messenger, not the postal employees who so often fall under the scurrilous influence of this fallen angel or the citizens walking around with targets on their backs. It's up to Jane Ryan, Steve Higgins, and a mysterious figure who knows more than he is willing to let on named Alexander Dhevic to decode the crimes and figure out how to stop Hell's machinations. It won't be easy, though. The Messenger has his eye on everyone, especially Jane Ryan and her children, and what the Messenger wants he usually gets. One way or the other.

Of the Edward Lee Leisure novels--"City Infernal," "Infernal Angel," "Monstrosity," and this one--I think "Messenger" is the best one of the batch. I liked the idea of a fallen angel using postal employees to carry his unholy messages to the world. I also enjoyed several of the imaginative atrocities described in loving detail. For example, one postal worker under the spell of the Messenger pays a visit to a local Catholic girl's school to wreak some decidedly unwholesome havoc. Another minion gives a whole new meaning to the concept of barbecue. I've read more than a few novels from Ed Lee, so I know he's more than capable of describing carnage with more gusto than he shows here, but "Messenger" is still a lot of fun. The conclusion takes the reader for a ride too, with so many twists and turns that you should be highly suspicious of any reviewer who will claim--and they will, too, you just wait and see--that they saw the whole thing coming long in advance. It's disappointing to realize I shall have to wait another year or so before this writer's next mass-market paperback hits store shelves.

"Messenger" is enjoyable, but the book does have its flaws. I found it extremely hard to believe that Jane Ryan had no idea a massacre took place in Danelleton twenty years before she took the job of postmaster. Dozens of people perished at the hands of a crazed postal employee and no one knows about it? People who work for the post office don't know about it? C'mon! Totally unbelievable! Everyone knows the national media would have been all over a story like that, even back in the 1980s. Lee's explanation that the Danelleton city council hushed it up fails to provide an adequate explanation for such a huge plot hole. A few other comparable problems pop up from time to time, but such difficulties seldom interfere with the flow of the narrative. "Messenger" is a great starter book for readers interested in moving beyond King and Koontz into the darker realms of horror fiction.

I had heard rumors of Edward Lee and what a great horror writer he was but I had never read any of his books. So I took a chance and ordered Messenger and devoured the book in two days.

This book is NOT for the squeamish and while not the greatest of 'writers' Edward Lee is a wonderful 'storyteller'. While the book just kind of floats along from one violent act to another without a lot of character development it is still a fun as hell read with plenty of Oh My God spots.

If you are a true Splatterpunk fan I HIGHYLY reccomend Edward Lee...Just remember if you get hooked on the guy the majority of his books are VERY hard to find and average about 40 bucks a book.

I'm drawn to the works of Edward Lee time and again because I know that rarely, if ever, will I be disappointed in what I'll find while venturing through the pages. And once again, Messenger delivers as expected. Horrific violence? Check. Graphic (and often disturbing) sexuality? Check. A killer story? Check.

I've said it before (most recently in my review of Monstrosity) and I'll no doubt say it again because I think it bears repeating, especially should anybody out there be considering their first venture into the terrifying worlds of Edward Lee: Procede with caution. Those who are easily disturbed by graphic imagry of a violent or sexual nature should avoid Lee at all costs.

That said, those who want a good, gory tale that will keep the pages flying (and the lights on) late into the night... welcome to the Danelleton Post Office, where very bad things are happening (and we're not just talking about the rising cost of stamps). Before long, a mild-mannered postal worker has turned the workplace into a river of blood and there are no easy answers as to why. Now in the real world, we might suspect stress or trouble on the homefront... but get real. This is the world of Edward Lee, so you know there's something sick and wrong transpiring in the tiny town. In fact, what's happening is...

... you didn't think I'd tell, did you? No way. I'm not one of those "read and tell" reviewers! Instead, I'll simply say that the next time you see the mailman coming down the street, make sure he doesn't have a machette tucked away...

This was my first Ed Lee book. It had a lot of nice gorey scenes in it. And the idea of mailmen as messengers of the Devil was very tongue in cheek. The story and plot were nothing special, but it did keep me entertained. Most of the characters were intriguing as well. As a fast, fun read, I sort of liked this.

However, I was dissapointed in knowing the end about half way through the book. This was seomthing i noticed with Lee, he doesn't trust his audience to be smart enough to know what's going on. There is a scene where a repairman comes to a woman's house. She is clearly possesed by the Messenger. We know she is going to kill this guy, but Lee drags it out for something like 12 pages. I was like, okay, I get it, kill the guy already, you're not fooling anyone. Stuff like that occurs throughout the book. It's frustrating.

My other problem was that none of these characters acted like humans. I'm not talking about the ones possesed by the Messenger, but rather the unaffected ones. The protagonist's employees butcher half the town and kill themselves in the course of three days, and she just goes through life all ho-hum. Doesn't take a day off work, doesn't seek counseling, doesn't spend hours on the phone with friends. There was a serial killer in my neighborhood growing up. When the police caught him, we were numb for months, the local schools offerred counselors (he was a student), and the parents formed a watch group. News reporters were on every corner. I didn't read about one reporter pestering the protagonist in this book. At one point one of the possessed employees commits suicide in a horrific (kudos to Lee on this scene) way, in front of the protagonist, and the protagonist just goes home and shrugs it off. I don't know about you, but I'd be in a state of shock. I mean come on, a dose of reality please.

Anyway, barring that, it was indeed a fun, mindless, book. If you like gore and interesting interpretations of hell, it's worth a read. I will certainly read more of his stuff.

Well, it's about time that Edward Lee went postal! Although MESSENGER is considered "lesser Lee" but some of his fans, I found that it held up extremely well, a sharp, quick, hardknock novel that just runs full-throttle. A post office haunted by demonic forces that possess many of the employees is just such a superb idea, and Lee makes it wild, weird, and vicious as all get-out. A fast and furious read that will appeal to anyone who likes something seriously out of the norm and isn't afraid of a lot of hellish kinkiness along the way.

I really love this author but I was a little dissapointed in this book. I really enjoyed the city infernal books recently and hoped this would be just as good. It had a good idea and started off really great but then got kind of repetitive and a little bit predictable. I do like the fact that he puts little references to his other books within. Oh well, I will still read everything he puts out, even the best of authors have a lame book or two (and this is only my opinion, also I should note that even in my dissapointment I read the book in two sittings with a break in the middle, so read it and I hope you enjoy).

Ed Lee's "Messenger" is a repeat of old work. He hints at many aspects of his Infernal novels, but never really gets things going. True, there's the usual sex and gore, but nothing seems fresh or inventive. This is the same old demon/possession novel we've all read before. I like a lot of Lee's work, but this is definitely my least favorite.

This is one book I'll probably throw in my giveaway pile. The plot, such as it is, treats the tired old theme of demons taking over human beings to wreak bloody murder. The title is a sort of pun, since the demon in this novel utilizes postal employees as its "messengers." The title is about the best part of the book. The old Heaven and Hell stuff doesn't get my engines revving, especially when the action isn't particularly interesting. Sure, there's lots of gruesome slayings, but nothing I could sink my teeth into as far as plot and character development. Lee's writing is pretty standard: modern, utilitarian, to the point. Not exceptionally winning. If you want a lazy-day read you can plow through and throw out the next day, sure, go for it. Otherwise, take a pass on this one.