Customer Reviews

Mystery Walk

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'd say that you might want to start with SWAN SONG or BOY'S LIFE (McCammon's 5-star efforts) before you delve into this. This would be many authors' best effort, but then again, this is McCammon we are talking about.

You should read this book for the same reasons you should read any McCammon book: He sizzles as a storyteller. He is one of the best prose writers in modern fiction. You will really lose yourself in this book, which I can only describe as wildly imaginative and captivating. Some of the book's sections will blow you away. The part where Billy confronts a saw that screams like a man really chilled my blood.

The book weakens a bit toward the end. McCammon introduces some entirely new characters pretty late into the book. It's hard to care about them when you're so drawn into the characters he's been developing for 350 pages already: namely, Billy, Wayne and Ramona. The book's journey is ultimately a good one, though (even though it wraps up a little too neatly for my tastes), and it will make you contemplate whether you are on a mystery walk of your own.

If you are a fan of modern horror or suspense, you need to start reading McCammon's works, even if you decide that you aren't going to read this book. He's still a pretty well-kept secret, I think...

McCammon never fails to deliver a good read. McCammon has a way of drawing the reader into the story, enfolding the reader in the world he creates. Mystery Walk is about a young boy named Billy Creekmore who's blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the special ability to speak to the dead and help lead them over to the other side. During his "Mystery Walk" he has to face evil, tests of his strength, and old family secrets. Other McCammon books recommended: Swan Song and Usher's Passing

Right from page one to finish,unbelievebly hard to put down,moreover this is a story you'd wish there was no ending to. Robert McCammon delivers a roller coster of a ride with all human emotions,highlighting a very powerfull love between siblings and the magical relationship a mother and son posess.This story makes the works of Stephen King seem like stories and novels intended for teenagers.Even top movie directors can never be able to recreate the work of true brilliance on film.I first read the book in '92 and again in '93 and by now all my friends and colleuges have too,its one my life's treasures. By the time you finish the book,one thing is sure to happen,you are going to stare at in your hand and say"That was one amazingly incredable story" and wish someone would make a movie on it.

After reading Boy's Life and Swan Song I was craving more McCammon, and he delivers very solidly in this novel. A young half-breed Choctaw has inherited a strange gift from his mother - the ability to assist restless spirits -revenants- back into the grave where they belong. However, he is surrounded by ignorant and racist redneck in his southern town. They treat him and his mother with xenophobia and fear. The townsfolk are not the only ones with a grudge against young Billy Creekmore. There is a genuine religious boy-healer and his crazed father trying to scourge the land from impurities. Their paranoia towards Billy grows and grows until they decide he must be destroyed. The two magic boys have different agendas but their baths are destined to meet on their respective mystery walks. The evil shapeshifter spirit also stalks Billy, craving to kill him - just as it has stalked his ancestors.

A great tale, told with wonderful prose makes Mystery Walk a journey worth going on...

Relic113

I agree with another reader who said they found this book interesting from cover to cover. This is the fifth McCammon novel I've read, and I've enjoyed them all thoroughly.

I was submersed in the story from the get-go, and as I read on, I had no idea what page I was on until I looked up and saw that there was only about a fourth of an inch of pages remaining. I thought, "Oh no, its going to end soon!"

Though this is a work of fiction, fantasy and imagination, you feel as though the characters are real. The emotional highs and the lows, the sometimes twisting and turning path of life and the uncertainty and confusion and joys and rewards that go along with it, are described so well you can relate to it.

Mr. McCammon's work is heads and shoulders above most other authors I've tried to read, and definately a lot more rewarding than anything offered by the television.

I was present at a book conference where Mr. McCammon spoke at a panel. One question was put to him about which of his books he'd recommend a reader new to his works try first. He said Mystery Walk.

I also find Mystery Walk a great introduction to McCammon's talents perhaps at their finest, most honed perfection. Characters are compelling, emotionally involving, and real; plot tension keeps you turning the pages; the flow of the narritive is cinematically rich in detail as well as action and movement; the ending very satisfying.

I loved the characters good or bad and read this book with out a break to a great end. This book made me laugh and cry i was not at any time bored what a good read.

This book has been around for ages, I know because I've glanced over the cover probably a thousand times. Always the same cover, a dark sky with a strange feline-esque face shrieking out of it. Having never heard of McCammon until recently I'd glance at the cover and shake my head assuming the book was more over-hyped badly written horror. Magically this book, whose cover had turned me off for so many years, appeared on my shelf, so out of morbid curiosity I began to read. By the following evening the book was finished and I decided that this book was worthy of a review. I was impressed with the writer's skill, even when discussing mundane details or goings on, it felt important and the writing style was brilliant, artistic, and simplistic. McCammon was genius without trying to jam down the reader's throat that he was genius.

The story follows two boys, starting at a young age: Billy, the son of a Choctaw mother and her fervently Christian husband, and Wayne, the son of an evangelical minister. At young ages their mysterious gifts become apparent. Billy can see the dead, and help to send them on to their final resting place. Wayne can heal wounds and save the dying. The book takes place from the 1950's through the 1970's and there is much going on in the world during those times. The two boys are soon pitted against each other by the evil Shape Shifter... perhaps Satan himself who leads his pray down the wrong path by exploiting their weaknesses and by evil trickery of the mind. There are some who might say that the ending is a bit to clean, but to be honest, it is so skillfully written that when you are done reading your mind tells you that it couldn't have ended any other way.

I honestly can't recommend this book enough; I imagine that even those who don't read horror will find much to appreciate in this story. Needless to say, after having read it there are now several other McCammon books in my inventory that have been bumped up on the reading list. If his writing skill holds true, then he could write about grass growing for 400 pages and readers will thank him for it. Ignore the cheesy looking cover and pick this up, it's a wonderful read.

McCammon once again delivers a fast-paced, attention-holding plot with well-developed characters. The basic plot involves two young men -- one who one who talks to the dead, the other who heals the living. In years to come they are haunted by the same dream, they grapple with restless spirits, and they become deadly rivals on this earthly plane -- and beyond. The first half of the book and the last chapter or two were 'unputdownable." I found myself glued to my seat anxious to see what was to happen next. However, the second half dragged on too much during several passages. Overall, this book would have been better if it was 50-75 pages shorter. Nonetheless, if you are a fan of horror stories, Mystery Walk is a book I think you will enjoy

Robert McCammon takes you on a journey unlike any you've taken before in this riveting story of two opposite people finding their own paths in life. The pace is great and the characters so engaging that it is very hard to put down this wonderfully written book. There are a feww surprises in this book that make it even more appealing and a fun read.