One Rainy Night [Mass Market Paperback]

Richard Laymon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000

A horror novel set in a sleepy backwater where a stark madness invades the inhabitants during a prolonged period of 'unnatural rainfall'.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 410 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843946903
• ISBN-13: 978-0843946901
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Ride, June 30, 2000

By 

Jane Osnovich - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Rainy Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read this novel last year as an import, I was thrilled to see it on bookshelves here in the US. This book is an excellent example of the writing abilities of this author. "One Rainy Night" opens with the murder of a black student by a bunch of rednecks. Shortly thereafter the small town is plagued by black rain that continues to fall without end. The townspeople who are exposed to the black rain find themselves becoming increasingly violent towards each other. Within a couple of chapters the whole town has become insane. Killings are rampant as decent people turn into maniacs. At every junction where people meet there are attacks. The violence is extremely brutal and raw. What makes it even more disturbing is that all the acts are completely realistic. Laymon has a way of exposing mankind's ugly side that would make even the most hardened reader cringe. This is not gratuitous gore like you find in a lot of hack horror novels but a glimpse at what happens when good people give in to their animal nature.

Another distinction in Laymon's writing is that he takes the conventional roles of hero, victim, villain and completely turns them around. It is not uncommon for the hero to become a victim, for the victim to become a villain and so on. In Laymon's books heroes sometimes die and villains get away. The battle between good and evil rages on, often within one character. The character's in this book are real people forced into the most extreme of situations with shocking outcomes.

Without giving away too much of the storyline, I must add that the ending was a big surprise. The twists and turns that occurred within the story kept me guessing through the end. The book was a fast, action packed read that pulled no punches. I highly recommend it but be warned it is not for the faint of heart.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Night of the Living Dead meets The Blob meets True Believers, March 22, 2000

By 

mellion108 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One Rainy Night (Mass Market Paperback)

If you are easily grossed out, this one isn't for you. Laymon takes readers on a campy ride through one fatal night in Bixby. A horrible racially-motivated murder leads to voodoo revenge plot. Hmmmm....

ONE RAINY NIGHT depicts graphic violence and sex underscoring the dark side that supposedly lurks beneath us all. Once the mysterious thick black rain starts to fall, townsfolk begin to run amuck. This is an easy read; I finished it in one sitting. You won't find any award-winning dialogue, characters or plot. Many things go unanswered here: what about the suffering of the murdered boy's family? how do a couple of people quickly figure out the rain's secret and accept it without question? why does 9-year-old Kara sound like my loveable elderly aunt? Laymon's typical ability to raise the hair on the back of your neck shines through however. If you are looking for deep-meaning horror with subtle twists: this isn't it! RAINY does what it intends: it gives you a few chills, has you racing toward the finish, but all in all leaves you with the feeling that you just spent an afternoon watching that low-budget horror film you've always loved. I enjoyed reading it; I love Laymon's writing in general. But don't pick this one up expecting to have to figure out the plot. It's simple: an eye for an eye, be careful what you wish for, and humans are just animals underneath the fancy clothes. Sometimes you want steak, sometimes you secretly pig out on cheeseburgers. This one is a fun, greasy cheeseburger: easily consumed, quickly forgotten.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced but unfulfilling., April 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: One Rainy Night (Mass Market Paperback)

The plot of ONE RAINY NIGHT can be summed up easily: black rain falls, turns people into killers, and the unaffected few must try to stay alive. That's it.

Granted this is my first Laymon novel, and I already have BITE so I will give that a chance, but if this lowest-common-denominator material is the sort of horror people are raving about, I feel sad for the future of the genre. This is b-movie stuff, and fit only for a short story or novella, if that. Like Bentley Little's UNIVERSITY, the author simply uses a device (in this case, the rain) as a vehicle for sex and violence, but there's even less to this particular story.

ONE RAINY NIGHT is easy to breeze through, and if you're looking for something to read on the train or on the beach it may be perfect. I thought it was a disappointment.