Customer Reviews

Monastery

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Patrick Whalen, Monastery (Pocket, 1988)

I knew five pages into Monastery that I wasn't going to like it. But still, I kept reading as per the fifty-page rule;... you give it fifty pages anyway, because it may pick up (and it gives you enough of a basis to write a scathing review, which is usually worth the time you put in). In this case, it DID pick up, and Monastery ends up being a compulsively readable little treatise. But the good parts end up underlining the bad more than canceling them out and showing how good a book this could have been. With a few more rewrites and a harsher editor, Patrick Whalen's name might well be sitting with King's, Koontz', and Barker's atop the pile of horror writers who can sell a million books by rewriting Mary Had a Little Lamb and including an axe murderer. That, however, did not happen, and Whalen sank into obscurity.

Monastery is the story of two basically unkillable folks, a hit man named Braille and an Ancient named Gregory. Gregory and his pal are vampires of an indeterminate age who were trapped by the Catholic church a hundred years before and imprisoned in the basement of a monastery (thus the book's title). A team of sociologists from a local college buys the monastery after the not-mysterious-at-all death of its caretakers and, as sociologists will, set about going out to the secluded island where the monastery resides and opening it up. Whoops. Braille, returning home to the island after a job, finds himself walking into something of a nightmare of vampires running around killing the townspeople, etc. Here's where the book diverges from other horror novels. Braille isn't your usual horror novel hero. No freezing in terror, no high-pitched shrieking, just a quick inventory of weapons and trying various ones out to figure out what's going to kill the vampires as quickly and easily as possible. This is the horror novel hero that horror novel fans have been waiting for for decades. Braille and Gregory, opposite sides of the same coin, are more like something out of a good martial arts film (or, actually, what came to mind immediately for me was Pacino and De Niro in Michael Mann's film Heat); the two grow to respect each other, almost becoming friends, while still realizing that one of them cannot survive. The question them becomes, what happens when the immovable post meets the irresistible object? And those are always the best horror novels, in my estimation.

Given such a great premise and such wonderful characters, why does Monastery not measure up? A lot of it has to do with the writing itself, unfortunately. Whalen is a little too transparent in where he's going at times, especially with character names (when you have a TV preacher named Chapel, you realize by page 20 one of the major twists in the final battle. After all, your hero is named... Braille). And after you meet the sociological team and see the inevitable end they come to, you've got the template for Whalen's minor characters. Every horror novel needs minor characters who are set up just to be killed, and even a few major ones, but ever since Stephen King pulled his "he's NOT going to kill HER!" twist in `Salem's Lot in 1974, every horror writer has aspired to follow suit: set up your minor characters as if they're going to become major characters. Make them more than cardboard cutouts. Most importantly, don't let the reader know they're going to die until they do (preferably in as inventive, spectacular, and grimly humorous a way as possible). Whalen handles the first two parts of the rule with considerable aplomb, but fails miserably at the third. And it's all the more painful because of the way he handles the deaths of various characters (impossible to show specifics without getting into plot spoilers, but one of the characters in the book you really, really want to die does, and his death could be--should be--a template for future horror writers to work from, specifically because it deviates from part three. Handled just a little better, it would have been one of the notable passages in horror writing in the past half century).

And so I'm stuck figuring out how to rate this novel. I'd unhesitatingly recommend it to readers of horror fiction, because there's a lot of good here, and there was potential for greatness. That recommendation, however, comes with the caveat that you can expect to be disappointed overall. As someone said in a movie I recently saw, "when it's good, it ain't bad, and when it's bad, it ain't good." ** ½

This is my favorite of Whalen's novels. This is a truly unique vampire book with a larger than life hero and almost human vampire. Be sure to read the sequel, Night Thirst. For lots more information on this author, e mail me at rjhue@bossig.com.

Yet again, Patrick Whalen has produced an excelent book. I have to say that I first read Night Thirst and was so thrilled with it that I searched for his other books. My search paid off when I found Monastery and found that it was every bit as good as Night Thirst. As I stated in my review for Night Thirst, I usually only read short story horor and science fiction but I have had to add Mr. Whalen to my small list of authors of whom I will read other than short stories. I only regret that Mr. Whalen has not continued the Monastery/Night Thirst line. I am now looking to obtain his other two books which if they are only half as good as Monastery and Night Thirst will be great reads.

My hat is off to you Mr. Whalen and please think about writing another book for the Monastery/Night Thirst line.

FINALLY A HERO ANYONE COULD CHEER FOR. AND THE VAMPIRE IS A TRUE ENIGMA, NO SIMPERING FOP OR OVERBLOWN EVIL BADGUY HERE. THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THE BEST I HAVE EVER READ IN ANY GENRE.

It's hard to find this book but worth the look. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I just couldn't put the book down. It is a vampire horror with a lot of suspense, you feel like you know the characters and you're right there with them. If you like vampire/horror, then you'll love Patrick Whalen's "Monastery".

I LOVE horror, give me a good vampire-paranormal-zombie book & I'm a happy camper. This is the only book I have read more then twice. These days it seems more and more authors are writing for young adults. There are some good ones, Mocking Jay series, Harry Potter. BUT when it comes to Vampires, NOBODY not Laurell K. Hamilton, or Stephenie Meyer, can scare you like Patrick Whalen. The only other author that's given me a nice fright would be Scott Sigler. IF you can get a copy of Monastery get it you will not be sorry.
J*

I remember this book when I was going through a 'read every horror novel I can get my hands on' stage in the very early nineties. This one stuck with me, over the last two decades, along with a couple of others. I found them, too, and it took me forever to find this one. I'm glad I did. I've read a lot of horror novels, mostly vampires, and for this one to stick with me for so long makes it something special.

My husband and I bought this vampire novel while in Spain and we both loved the action and up to date story line. My husband lost this book years ago, but we just bought it on-line last week at Amazon.com. We look forward to reading it again. I've read a few vampie novels and I enjoyed it as much as Dracula, Salems Lot, and Interview With A Vampire!

Monastery is a book that was recommended to me several years ago from a friend who also enjoyed horror literature. However, I never guessed how difficult it would be to find this book. But I'm glad I finally did. Monastery is set on an island in the Pacific Northwest where the Monks who maintain an old Monastery guard an ancient evil force. When the inevitable happens and this evil is released upon the island, the only man who stands a chance against it is a solitary professional assassin. The lines between good and evil become somewhat grey in this story and by the end, you know that the final battle has not been fought. If you can find this book at a reasonable price, it's well worth the read.

I thought this was the best book i have ever read! It keeps you wanting more, awsome look at vampires.