Mr. Shivers [Hardcover]

Robert Jackson Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2010

It is the time of the Great Depression.

Thousands have left their homes looking for a better life, a new life. But Marcus Connelly is not one of them. He searches for one thing, and one thing only. Revenge.

Because out there, riding the rails, stalking the camps, is the scarred vagrant who murdered Connelly's daughter. No one knows him, but everyone knows his name: Mr. Shivers.

In this extraordinary debut, Robert Jackson Bennett tells the story of an America haunted by murder and desperation. A world in which one man must face a dark truth and answer the question-how much is he willing to sacrifice for his satisfaction?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2010: With his debut novel, Mr. Shivers, Southern writer Robert Jackson Bennett presents a pulpy, Great Depression horror story where a mysterious killer "trails death behind him." After his daughter is brutally murdered, a revenge-seeking Marcus Connelly leaves Memphis on a hunt across America's hobo camps and ghost towns for the grotesquely scarred, ghostly figure known as "Mr. Shivers." On his quest Connelly teams up with a scrappy band of hobos recovering from their own brushes with "the gray man," and the body count increases as they ride the rails tracking their target. Connelly's spiraling bloodlust begins to rival Shivers's, threatening to take more than just his family and friends away from him. Sprinkled with hobo folklore, Bennett's supernatural dust storm of a debut offers a killer premise and may remind readers of vintage Stephen King. --Brad Thomas Parsons

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set during the Great Depression and reading like a collaboration between Stephen King and John Steinbeck, this remarkably assured first novel relates a good man's desperate travels through the ruins of the American heartland on the trail of his child's murderer. As he tracks the eponymous fiend, Marcus Connelly discovers that he's not the only person whose life the killer has ruined. The Dust Bowl refugees pursuing Mr. Shivers gradually realize that he embodies an elemental force of destruction, and they begin sacrificing their own humanity for the sake of vengeance. The everyday horrors of a deserted, drought-blighted countryside are interrupted by frightening dreams and fragments of disturbing superstitions as Bennett's characters try to articulate what's happening and imagine a way back home. Bennett makes dark fantasy feel like gritty realism, achieving a rare laconic eloquence that will captivate horror readers hungry for new voices. (Feb.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Orbit; 1St Edition edition (January 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316054682
• ISBN-13: 978-0316054683
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #507,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Jackson Bennett was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but grew up in Katy, Texas. His interest in writing came from hearing about the books his older brother was reading and then attempting to mimic them on paper, though when his brother became interested in Stephen King and the stories written for Robert's elementary school class developed a correspondingly high body count it did cause something of a ruckus. He later attended the University of Texas at Austin and, like a lot of its alumni, was unable to leave the charms of the city and resides there currently. His first novel is "Mr. Shivers."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars After A Promising Start, This Tale of Horror Starts Moving Down The Wrong Path, December 16, 2009

By 

K. Harris "Film aficionado" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mr. Shivers (Hardcover)

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I must admit that when I initially dug into Robert Jackson Bennett's debut "Mr. Shivers," I thought I had uncovered a winner. With its intriguing premise and set-up, I looked forward to seeing this story unfold with moral complexity, insight, and building tension. Set in Depression era America, "Mr. Shivers" chronicles the travels of a vagabond known simply as Connelly. Connelly's life unraveled when a murderer took the life of his only child. Desperate for closure and resolution, he has taken to the rails--moving from shanty town to shanty town in pursuit of the killer. On the road, he meets other vagrants whose lives have also been unsettled by the mysterious stranger known only by the alias of Mr. Shivers.

I loved the setting of "Mr. Shivers!" The idea of a mass murderer stalking the homeless camps and wreaking evil on a nation that is already suffering so much seemed a perfect jumping off point. But as I continued to read, I felt that Bennett missed many of the weighty and relevant issues that might have naturally flowed from this premise. Debating the nature of evil and how far a good man will go for justice, especially at a time when people are being forced to compromise their values, might have given the story some resonance. But as Connelly bands together with the others and they commiserate in the horrors that Mr. Shivers has perpetrated, something is just missing. And as I had hoped to know and be invested in the characters, they are never fleshed out as real people.

Bennett's interpretation of "evil" becomes more and more mythological (and literal) as the novel progresses and moves further and further into the realm of the supernatural. I'm certainly not opposed to supernatural novels, but this tale which started out as fairly grounded ends up in complete fancy. So, for me, the natural tension and suspense dissipated the further we moved away from anything resembling reality. Maybe if the character development has been stronger initially, I would have been more willing to follow this new path. As it was, though, I ended up feeling that "Mr. Shivers" never really fulfilled the potential promised in the set-up. A bit of a disappointment. About 2 1/2 stars.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Shivers, January 12, 2010

By 

C Wahlman "cdub" (Merrillville, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mr. Shivers (Hardcover)

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Robert Jackson Bennett is a fresh new voice. Mr. Shivers was highly anticipated by myself, not because I had ever heard of Mr. Bennett, but because the story so intrigued me.

Mr. Shivers is the story of a man, named Connelly, who seeks Mr. Shivers, a boogeyman of sorts, who killed his little daughter. This journey to revenge takes place in the plains/west during the Great Depression. Ordinary men become hoboes and ties to home are shattered. Nomadic pursuits are the rule, while comfort and civility are the exception; an interesting concept that is only heightened by the creation of a new mythology.

So why only three stars? Unfortunately it tended to drag early on and in the middle of the text. I was surprised how little intrigue the book created considering its plot. It should have been fast paced and exciting. But there were only several times that I read voraciously. Plus, I saw what was coming in the end.

I read it, and I am glad I did; however, I thought it would be a more compelling read. Try it for yourself. If you can get through some of the slower parts, I think you will be rewarded with an interesting story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creepy and Suspenseful, August 11, 2010

By 

Jessica Tate (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Shivers (Kindle Edition)

The story starts the reader off thinking that Connelly is after a serial killer. The plot is very suspenseful and keeps the reader wondering where the man out for vengeance will go next. It takes place during The Great Depression so traveling by train and meandering as a hobo was a constant part of the story. Connelly is a strong character with much depth. The reader feels his pain and relates to him in wanting to get revenge on Mr. Shivers.

The supporting characters were a little more shallow and not as developed. At times there were too many characters for the reader to keep up with.

All in all, this book was very well written. It creeped me out and that takes a lot for a book to do that to me. I will be looking into more books by this author.