Customer Reviews

The Omen

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

 

 

Why great books like this go out of print I'll never know. The author brilliantly weaves a tale based around the Biblical prophesies in the Book of Revelations about the coming and birth of the Anti-Christ. The story is both chilling and suspenseful as mysterious events start happening around young Damien Thorn. You will find yourself engrossed in the material and the tension will really grip you. The dramatic ending paved the way for future Omen sequels, but this one is by far the best.

I read this book in two nights. I just couldn't put it down! Never a dull moment, never a part that drags. A truly suspenseful fictional triller. While the book has little to do with the actual book of Revelations, it was still a captivating read with underlying themes of good vs. evil, priveleged vs. underpriveleged, and the inner moral and emotional struggles within all of us. I can't believe I didn't pick this book up sooner, and look forward to reading the rest in the series.

many extra occult details that weren't in the film make this book and the rest of the series very believable

Katherine Thorn, the wife of Robert Thorn an ambassador to the US, gives birth to a child that dies. Without her knowledge, a priest recommends to Robert that he substitute another baby as theirs. A few years go by and grisly deaths begin to happen. The child's nanny hangs herself and a priest is speared to death in a freak accident. It turns out the child is the son of Satan and can only be killed with the seven daggers of Meggado.
I can't say that I agree with some of the reviews here. It was an ok book, but nothing overly special. If you've seen the movie, then I can't think of a need to read the book. I found them nearly identical.

This is another one of those great 70's horrors (Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby) that's guaranteed to give you goose bumps. I especially liked the apocalyptic themes, the prophetic connections to Revelations, and the historical significance of Megiddo. And Seltzer sure knew how to create a creepy kid. I could feel Damien's silent, staring eyes, I could sense his mother, Katherine's panic and anxiety, and I could relate to his father, Jeremy's desperation. The Omen is well written, full of suspense and darkness.

The book is extremely well written and you are always on the edge wondering what's going to happen next.It never gets boring and keeps you engrossed all through even getting scary at times.Readers with higher imaginative quotient might really feel frightened at times so the book delivers a lot more than it promises.Read it as a book and try not to pick it up if you get frightened easily.

This is a first class, gothic chiller with a riveting story line. Katherine and Jeremy Thorn are a wealthy, older American couple in the political limelight. Katherine is pregnant and, while in Italy, gives birth to an ostensibly stillborn boy, a fact that is kept from her. Knowing how much his wife wanted the baby and the difficulty that she had in conceiving, Jeremy agrees to have the dead baby supplanted by a living newborn whose mother died in child birth, keeping this information from Katherine. They name this baby Damien.

All goes well for the prosperous Thorn family, until Damien's fourth birthday, when all hell breaks loose. A series of dramatic, unusual events begin to occur around the Thorns, all seemingly stemming from Damien. Well-guarded by a self sufficient, yet decidedly creepy nanny, there are those who would believe him to be the Antichrist. By the time that Katherine and Jeremy begin to realize who Damien may truly be, their lives are out of control. With the aid of an inquisitive photographer, a repentant priest, and an archaeologist who holds the key to the destruction of the Antichrist, Jeremy Thorn becomes a man with a mission. Will Damien let him complete that mission? Read this book and find out. You will not be disappointed. I guarantee that you will be sleeping with the lights on and the covers over your head.

If you enjoy the book, then view the original 1976 film, starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. It is relatively true to the book with only some minor changes, probably because the author of the book, David Seltzer, also wrote the screenplay. That movie is one of the most chilling ever filmed.

In 1976 David Seltzer released a Thirller about an ameircan Diplomat and his wife wanted a child so much,after the death of the child that was supposed to be theirs the babies were switch the stillborn baby was replaced by the antichrist,and his name became Damien. accidents after another started once the nanny was killed at a birthday party for Damien.then a sinister nanny named Mrs. Baylock appeared then all the mayhem took placed. not to give all the rest away. read this well written novel. then if you are up to it check out Richard Donner's 1976 classic.its is available on dvd and blu ray.The Omen

The Omen / 0-451-21942-2

I thought the concept behind "The Omen" was quite frightening, in a subtle claustrophobic manner - there's something deeply scary about a changeling child destroying a family from within, and all the photographic death foreshadowing, and the ancillary "the staff is in the employ of Satan" aspects all serve to create a dizzying tailspin as the senator and his wife are almost inexorably destroyed.

In that respect, there is nothing terribly wrong with this novel - all the details are here, just as creepy as ever, and the writing is well done and professional. And yet, there just seems to be something lacking - somehow, despite checking all the thriller/horror boxes, this novel somehow fails to really frighten or chill the reader.

Maybe it's too dispassionate - the hanging scene, for instance, is described with an almost artistically minimalist flair, but the reader is rushed by it so fast that the absolute horror of a smiling woman hanging herself at a public birthday party isn't allowed to sink in fully. (Indeed, the included full color photo of the same scene from the movie is more scary than reading about the event here in print.) Or perhaps the problem is that the characters are largely un-relatable - the senator's wife, especially, seems so devoid of human emotion (she is largely characterized as a chronically depressed empty shell) that it's hard to really take her victimization as the tragedy as it is, if only because she leaves behind neither a void in her family nor in the novel itself - it's hard to miss a character that hasn't been a fundamental part of the story anyway.

In the end, I felt like the technical aspects of this novel were well done and worth admiration, and I enjoyed the story and the narrative ride to the finish, but I was slightly disappointed that I was never really frightened or disturbed. I'm glad I read this book, but I probably wouldn't read it again.

~ Ana Mardoll

This wasn't a terrible book, there were some good moments while I was reading, but the writing style was sparse, and for the subject, this book simply did not have the thrills and chills that one would usually expect. It would have been better if this book was more descriptive and horrifying.