Customer Reviews

Phantom Nights

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Phantom Nights is a masterpiece of a novel, which deserves to be read far more widely than it has been to this point. John Farris, long a master of the literary thriller, brings all of his many novelistic gifts to this latest effort, resulting in a read that is always engaging and ultimately deeply satisfying. Mally Shaw and her father, Dr. Ramses ValJean, people of color in a sleepy southern town of the 1950s, are complex and moving characters, rendered by a consummate artist who sees deeply into the human heart. Bobby Gambier, acting sheriff of the town, is equally complex and appealing, and his mute brother Alex is as powerful and sympathetic a portrait of a tormented young teenager as you will find in any novel, commercial or literary. The evil in this novel is made larger, more real and menacing, by its very smallness. No mustache twisting cardboard villains here. No flat character of any kind. There is not a soul in this novel who does not live and breathe and move us in some way. Farris has that ultimate gift from which all else in a great novel flows: we care about the people he brings to us. The prose itself is so fine, so polished, that we effortlessly fall through it into the beating heart of the novel, where the heat makes us sweat, and we taste the grease at the local diner. The phantom train, a motif which appears in other memorable Farris novels, becomes a vividly chilling device in this one. Among his fellow novelists, John Farris has long been known as the master. I've been published fourteen times without ever writing half so well, try as I might. If life were fair, John Farris would be a perennial best selling author. With his many other talents, we are lucky he's still bringing us these stunningly good novels. You're in the right place to order "Phantom Nights" right this minute. Do it! Then read it slowly if you can, for it is too soon over. And when you are done, spread the good word.

John Farris does such a good job of drawing his characters in this novel that I had no trouble picturing them in my mind as I read. From villainous Leland Howard, to deputy sheriff Bobby Gambier and his mute brother Alex, to Mally Shaw and her father, Dr. Ramses Valjean, these are some of the more memorable and three-dimensional characters I've encountered lately. In the hands of the right person, this could make a great movie, with a very meaty role in Dr. Valjean and his forensics expertise. The story is a mixture of mystery and the supernatural and is handled with great expertise. It's nice to see Mr. Farris taking a break from the all-out horror pyrotechnics of his Fury sequels and turning his great talent to a quieter, though no less masterly tale. Very highly recommended!

John Farris only writes excellent books, but Phantom Nights is his best in ages. It's a brilliant southern gothic ghost story, with a beautifully vivid setting in the 1950's deep south. Suspense and horror do not get any better than this!

John Farris pulls out a classic....

I've read many of John Farris's novels and stories over the years but I was not prepared for how this left me, days after in fact. Stories rarely come this well written anymore. The bestsellers you see in the stores rarely come close to this

storytelling greatness yet John Farris remains obscure? I just love to sink into a period story(this one from the 50's)with such detail and with a touch beyond the grave. Excellent story. Reminds me how I felt when I read the great Joe R. Lansdale's classic tales 'THE BOTTOMS' and 'A FINE DARK LINE' which both have similar themes and terrific storytelling magic. This is sure to be one of the best of the 2005.

John Farris returns with Phantom Nights, a Southern Gothic told with the patience of Hemingway and the character insight of Cormac McCarthy. Phantom Nights might fall into genre fiction, but fans of Southern Lit, Horror, Mystery, and Literary Fiction (whatever that may be) will be hard pressed to deny Farris' talent for narrative, pacing, characterization, and wordplay. John Farris has been criminally underrated in recent years, and I challenge anyone to pick up Phantom Nights for themselves and not wonder why he's not competing with the Grisham's and Dan Brown's and Dean Koontz's atop the NY Times Bestseller list. Those writers can't hold a candle to Farris' immense talent. Find out for yourself.

This was a great novel. I especially enjoyed the characters. They were all easy to visualize.

A white boy who is mute witnesses the rape of his black friend. The rape ends in a murder that he does not witness, and all kinds of problems flow from there. I don't want to tell too much of the plot, but it has a supernatural element. Set in the early 1960s in the south, the racial element plays out against this background of crime and hypocrisy in a small southern town.

I would also highly recommend Son of the Endless Night, by Ferris.

Son of the Endless Night

If you like coming-of-age stories (and Phantom Nights is one), then you will probably also like Summer of Night--a great story!

Summer of Night (Aspect Fantasy)

Take one rape and murder case, add a misunderstood child, and mix it all with some good old Southern hospitality, and you get a ghost tale that will make your skin crawl. Phantom Nights is an absorbing tale of murder, lust, racism, greed, and guilt. If you liked To Kill a Mockingbird or the film, In the Heat of the Night, you will find much to appreciate here.

Priest Howard, a wealthy Southern gent, has just died. Moments before his last breath, he accused his son, Leland, of being a thief in front of his black nurse, Mally Shaw. Leland is sure that Mally has evidence that will sink him in the upcoming elections. In the hopes of retrieving the evidence, Leland pays Mally a "friendly" visit, which ends badly for Mally. Leland covers up the evidence and believes the incident is over. There are only two problems. One, there was a witness. And two, Mally's ghost can't seem to rest until Leland's sins are brought to light and punished.

The characters are clearly drawn. The prose is written in a lyrical style that is poetic. This has real Southern flava. Has there ever been a more despicable character than the Bobby Gambier's mother-in-law? Leland Howard is the perfect bad guy, who starts out the book a suave, confident politician and gradually shrinks to a pathetic shrimp with an oral fixation. Readers who enjoy murder mysteries, ghost stories, or Southern fiction will love this so it has wide appeal. Read it in the summertime with a nice, tall glass of lemonade.

OK this is the 3rd book I've read by John Farris and I have enjoyed them all. This one is deeply satisfying. It's just a perfect supernatural thriller. Great plotting and characters.

You cannot do justice to this book by revealing the plot. What John Farris has created here is something very complex, deep, emotional, scary and timeless. John Farris never ceases to amaze me -- I wait for each of his new books with great anticipation and he never disappoints his readers. By the way, his publisher should really release the latest of the Fury book series: Avenging Fury. Why is it not on the shelves?? It is very sad that Farris is not more widely recognized and publicized. He has a unique voice and his previous books should constantly be in print and re-discovered. His publisher should really pay more attention to their greatest writer and make all of his novels available again -- mine are starting to fall apart!

The number one question I ask myself when I started this book is why haven't I heard of John Farris before now? My local bookseller at the time recommended the book after Mr. Farris had a booksigning at the store last year. I bought the book but it's sat on my TBR stack all this time. After reading this book, I have to admit that Farris is definitely a diamond buried beneath a ton of black coals of other less talented bestselling writers. This was the first time in a long while where I took the day off and read a book cover to cover. No skimming. Every word...every turn of phrase is literally an artistic masterpiece. I tried to research the author on the web, but he seems to be as much a phantom as the Dixie Traveler. Majority of the characters are multilayered and you do come to care for a great deal of them-none more so than Alex. Highly, highly recommended.