Customer Reviews

Night Life

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

 

 

"Night Life" isn't quite as good as its predecessor, "Live Girls", but it's still great. I almost couldn't put it down. Usually that's an exaggeration. People say "I couldn't put it down", but they don't mean it literally. But with "Night Life" I read the entire book in one day. It was that gripping.

I'm a big horror fan, but I'm not specifically interested in vampires. I'll read a vampire book by an author that interests me. Garton is just fantastic, so horror fans should read his books regardless of what they're about. I recommend "Live Girls", "The Loveliest Dead", and "Darklings" for starters.

Don't read "Night Life" before "Live Girls." Also, don't read them back-to-back. They were written about 17 years apart and they are set just as far apart. Give yourself a breather between the two books.

NIGHT LIFE is the sequel to Garton's memorable 1987 paperback original LIVE GIRLS, published by Pocket Books at the end of the "horror boom" of the late 1980s. Described in blurbs as "The most nightmarish vampire novel I have ever read" by Ramsey Campbell, and as "gripping, original, and sly" by Dean Koontz, LIVE GIRLS is one novel that nearly lives up to the hype of its cover copy.

Set in a gritty urban landscape of New York City's Time Square, and exhibiting an overt sexuality not common at the time it was published, LIVE GIRLS accelerated the process of moving vampires out of their traditional Gothic settings by placing them squarely in the modern world. Its protagonist is the luckless Davey Owens, who, as the book begins, has just lost his job and his girlfriend. Seeking distraction from his problems, he drifts down to the seedy environs of 42nd Street, entering an establishment called Live Girls. There, he falls under the sway of the vampire Anya, who sustains herself by taking blood from clients who pay her for oral sex. At first seduced by the new life she offers him, Davey later turns against her, resulting in a bloody, violent and, ultimately, explosive confrontation with Anya and her extended vampiric family.

NIGHT LIFE picks up in 2005 as horror writer Martin Burgess hires two private investigators to look into the destruction of Live Girls in 1987. Their investigation puts them in contact with the retired Walter Benedek, a newspaper reporter who covered the bizarre story for the New York Post (the disaster, which was at first covered in the mainstream press, has since become tabloid fodder). Unfortunately, their activities draw the attention of the vampires who were forced to flee New York almost two decades earlier, triggering acts of retribution against all those who know the true story behind the events chronicled in LIVE GIRLS, including Davey Owens, now "living" near Hollywood.

Intense and swiftly paced, NIGHT LIFE should satisfy both new readers and long time Garton fans. After a slow build up, Garton plunges you into a ruthless and depraved world of sudden violence so intense it seems as if he's daring you to turn the next page. While not quite the book that its predecessor was, NIGHT LIFE is nevertheless a well conceived, tautly executed piece of work, one which once again demonstrates Garton's enviable ability to shock and surprise his audience.

Although the loose ends left dangling in LIVE GIRLS are resolved, Garton has by no means exhausted the story possibilities generated by the brutal reality he's conceived; the characters he's created cry out for further development, and the latent plot lines suggested by the action of NIGHT LIFE seem too numerous and fruitful to ignore. It will be interesting to see how Garton capitalizes on those potentialities should he decide to pursue a follow-up.

NIGHT LIFE

Night Life is Ray Gartons sequel to Live Girls. I purchased this book with the highest of expectations. I enjoyed Live Girls and felt the sequel couldn't miss.

I was wrong. The sequel was extremely weak. The character development was poor. With the exception of Gavin Keoph and Karen Moffett, we never get the feel of the other characters in this book. (Even the two PI's arent that well fleshed out.)

O.K we know Davey Owen. Right?
How about Mr. Barna? What in the world becomes of him? Who in the world is he? I'm banging my head on the keys as I write this. I have never read a book with so many poorly written charcaters.

We learn nothing about Mrs. Dupassie, Norman, Darrin, Steve or Neil. This makes it impossible to care about these characters. I could care less if these people disappeared from the story. With that being said, this story needs these characters to progress, so more detail about them would have made this story more interesting. Another hundred or so pages wouldn't have hurt this book, its only 338 pages as is.

Come on Ray tell us a bit more about these bottled-blood guzzling vampires. Let us enter their circle and learn who they are.

Ray Garton ended the book leaving the reader anticipating a new adventure featuring Gavin Keoph and Karen Moffett. It appears Mr. Burgess has another story brewing. This one deals with a haunted house.

I hope Ray Garton fleshes out the characters a bit more in any future books.

This book deserves no better than 2 1/2 stars. Not the three you see posted.

There's something fantastic about reading a vampire novel every once in a while, they are usually free of the daily grind and every day problems, vampires can be both dark, deadly and romantic, you can argue for your life with one, that option isn't always available if you however deal with a werewolf, now that's an obstacle that is hard to cross. Ray Garton has penned a sequel to his marvelous first entry; Live Girls, which by the way was hot and amazing and totally delectable. In this novel the action resumes almost twenty years later, few characters come back, Davey and Casey are now married but their past is still haunting them, a curious thrill seeker has hired two private detectives to follow the New York Times journalist, Benedeck to his hideaway and to probe him about the past, to find out if vampires are real, if they in deed exist. The problem is that they are indeed real, and as long as they are left alone they hunt and abuse in their dark chambers, when they are seeked out by careless humans who want to make a buck they turn into vengeful creatures, killing and whiping out anyone who wants to out them and disrupt their sweet, syrupy pleasure of using and consuming humans. The problem is clear, vampires that survived are threatened again and this time they won't give up easily, they will go out and punish anyone who stands in their way.

Night Life picks the story up in the future, but the abuse and hunger isn't any smaller. In fact the vampire emporium has really grown in the adult industry, using the primal human tug to eh-chant and attract people with money into it's clutches. In my eyes that has diminished their cool, the tingling, dark and corrosive vampiric desires was replaced by something cheap and dirty, hard to bond over. The novel was a nice read, I enjoyed it in one day, because I simply had to know what was going to happen next, but it was a bit weaker than the first, I don't know why everyone finds the need to compare the two but it's almost impossible considering how good this author is. His writing is so rich and fluid, his ideas without bounds, tickling our imagination and making readers out of the most stubborn people, who somehow have to have more. I hope that there will be a third book in this series, as I feel that the idea pool hasn't been drained yet when it comes to this story line. Some of the things that happened were shocking, it would be nice to see the aftermath of this little battle. I must however hope for a better cover, this one was really ugly, that's hardly a good thing.


- Kasia S.

The premise of this book had me hooked early on. A wealthy and famous author hires a couple private investigators to look into the legitimacy of a secret vampire culture, one that he has personally been researching for years. Great idea. Unfortunately, the rest of the book seemed rather predictable with a by-the-numbers hunt for the bad guys, complete with a gathering of allies, a sizable weapons purchase, and a target practice session for the main protagonists to bone up on.

Although the last 50 pages were full of action and enjoyable images of grotesque gore, I felt a little let down by this book. Some of the other problems I found were a few continuity errors along with portions of dialogue that seemed a bit cheesy. Most of the scenes moved so quickly there was not time to build any real atmosphere. This was not as good as Garton's last book in the series, LIVE GIRLS. There were things, of course, I enjoyed about this book - likable characters, well written prose, and a few pleasantly unexpected moments. However, I can only give this a mild recommendation.

Ray Garton's sequel to his 1987 novel "Live Girls" is an enjoyable read, but a very flawed sequel that doesn't quite deliver in the end. If it wasn't for the returning characters and some minor details, the approach to "Night Life" could have been easily altered to form an original novel on its own given many of the events that played out in its 337 pages. Though it may not be necessary to read "Live Girls" before reading "Night Life," it would be very much recommended.

The book has a strong beginning and a reasonably strong middle. Unfortunately, the ending just killed it. First off, it seemed as though I was re-reading "Live Girls" again in regards to the events that unfolded during the falling action. Garton didn't do anything different at all here. It was nearly the same ending as "Live Girls," just a different location and some new characters. Not very impressive. Garton should have taken a different approach to further the story and the saga. An approach that wasn't so safe and cliche. Very stagnant and unoriginal here. I may add also that there seemed to be quite a bit of filler here... events that occurred which did nothing to further to plot. They simply happened to knock off excess characters who were minimal at best.

Secondly, the book does a good job at building up all of this tension leading to the final "showdown." Then, once the reader gets to the actual unfolding of the "showdown," it's rather quick and easy. What the hell? I expected something challenging for the characters, something that truly tested them. And I got, not only an "deja vu" ending, but a rather watered down at that. I felt cheated. No real action, no real substantial amounts of gruesome brutal violence (which... face it... we all just love!!!). Nothing. And that's not all folks...

Thirdly, the extreme nature of the ordeals which three of the central characters endure would (in my mind) generated a different kind of response than those they seemed to have given in the end. And don't tell me, "Well, they were in shock..." My response to that would be, B/S. After being brutalized for days, one of the central characters is joking and smiling in the end. After the loved one of another central character endures the same kind of brutality for a similar length of time, all of this due to their own irresponsibility and stupidity, they shows no sign of having learned a lesson from any of it. Yet, they are supposed to be so distraught over the outcome. I guess some people are just always trying to ice skate uphill, huh? No learning curve here apparently. Finally, another central character loses a loved one in a gruesome manner, and though they may be a bit somber at times they don't really seem real in their response to what is supposed to have been an incredibly painful event for them. Hmm...

All in all, Garton's style holds the reader's attention pretty well. But his lack of originality in the end really ruins the book as it all just ends up feeling completely rushed and ultimately empty. It does leave space for possible Part 3, but if that should ever happen Garton really needs to do something different and take his time with it. Otherwise, it is going to be just as pointless as "Night Life." I do not want to re-read "Live Girls" for a third time. This further proves that sequels should only be written if the story has something new to bring to the reader; something different and of substance that is based off the original storyline. If this isn't case, then DO NOT WRITE A SEQUEL.

"Night Life" could have been brilliant and from it could have spawned an excellent vampire saga... sadly, not true.

Grade: C -

Sure, it's just another vampire novel. Sure, some of the characters are a little weak.

But, with that said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was a good fun book to just kick back and enjoy. I picked this up at the local Big Lots for $2.00. I couldn't pass it up. Once I got home, I read it over a few days and was pleased. I certainly got my money's worth.

No, it probably won't blow you away or contend for any awards or honors, but if you try it out, you may just be surprised by how fast you finish it and then yearn for more Garton to read.

There are some horror authors whose books I enjoy, even if they have glaring flaws. Ray Garton and Edward Lee are two that I always seek out, though both of them seem to struggle with producing realistic dialogue and characterization. I enjoy the pacing of their books, though, and the fact that they don't shy away from sexual horror.

Having said all that, this was not one of Garton's best efforts. In fact, it is the worst effort I have read by him. Characterization is virtually absent. Character reactions to the events surrounding them are unbelievable, and the ending was one of the weakest I have seen (from any author) in the last decade or so.

For example (without giving away any major plot points), one character is viciously and violently anally raped by multiple attackers over a period of time, yet comes out of it with relatively minimal physical damage, and spends time trading flirty quips with other characters after her rescue.

The other two books in this series were entertaining, but this one was just...well, BAD. I was really looking forward to reading it, but now wish I had bought something else. Don't waste your money, even if you enjoyed the other two books, or like Garton's works in general.

Was this book as good as Live Girls? No, but how could it be, Live Girls is a horror classic, not only one of my favorite vampire novels, but one of my favorite novels period.

I really enjoyed catching up with these characters nearly 20 years later, even though some of them wouldn't survive. Ray Garton has built on the facinating world he created in Live Girls, and I hope he really continues writing novels set there.

**spoiler**

One complaint, I hated that he killed off Anya, she was a fantastic villain, and if he's going to continue writing in this world, she should have been a part of it. If a movie is ever made of these novels, Dita Von Teese should play Anya.

**end spoiler**

If you liked/loved Live Girls, then you should enjoy this novel, sure it suffers a bit in comparison to Live Girls, but it's still a very good read, and better than most other vampire novels out there.

Private investigators Karen Moffett and Gavin Keoph are linked by multi-millionaire horror novelist Martin Burgess. He wants them to investigate former New York Times reporter Walter Benedek under a pseudonym wrote an article about evil vampires for the New York Post. Mr. Burgess wants to know if they are real. Karen tracks Walter down to a small town in Upstate New York where he tells her vampires are real and he did battle with them.

He gives them an introduction to nice vampires Casey and Davey, a married couple who drink blood from containers obtained through an underground network. The "brutals" believe mortals are meat to do with as they choose and they dine on anyone looking for them. They never forget a slight and when Davey, Casey and Gavin are in the home of a psychic vampire, Karen and Casey are kidnapped and placed into a hotel belonging to the most dangerous brutal of all. The place is a fortress but they are going to make a rescue attempt regardless knowing there will be casualties on both sides.

NIGHT LIFE is the direct sequel to Bram Stoker nominated LIVE GIRLS and it is a fascinating modernization of the vampire legend. These vampires can stay awake in the day, wear sunblock to go outside, are allergic to garlic but religious objects don't bother them unlike in most vampiric novels. The characters are full blooded and the storyline is fast paced, action packed and totally terrifying. Ray Garton writes horror fiction at its most frightening best.

Harriet Klausner