Raven [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 1995

A cozy motel and restaurant becomes a haven to nine people during a deep-winter blizzard, but when someone among them starts killing off the others, the remaining survivors must identify and eliminate a murderer. Reprint. PW. K. LJ.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This smooth, sophisticated and frightening novel from the author of Stunts is set in a backwood motel lounge owned and run by Neil Maclaren, a former state trooper. The random group of people gathered at Maclaren's Food and Lodging on a snowy night to celebrate engagements or rest from a trip to the country expects nothing unusual, not even when a raven is seen watching them. Then a drunken man leaving the bar is shot dead by a man dressed in black, who leaves no tracks in the snow. With all means of escape blocked and the man in black still watching, the customers turn to Neil to save them. When he proves to be no TV cop-show hero, they turn on him and one another, while the man in black waits outside. The eventual supernatural explanation of the events in this superior work of suspense is handled with a light touch reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's. Grant's starkly poetic prose adds atmosphere and style and puts the reader right in the motel lounge with the fully realized characters, feeling fear, hope, anger and despair right along with them.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

An ordinary winter night at an isolated lounge in the mountains turns surreal and deadly as an unknown assailant starts shooting at the people inside. The phone lines are down and the killer will not let them leave. To make things spookier, the assailant may not be human--it does not leave footprints in the snow. With no way to send for help and no understanding of why this nightmare is happening to them, this small society turns upon itself: members of the group begin to kill each other. It's The Lord of the Flies , though not as good. Indeed, because the characters are not well defined, it's difficult to care about them. Grant has done a lot better (notably in The Pet , Tor, 1987), but he does have a following, and this is still a successful novel of horror and suspense.
- Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (July 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812520807
• ISBN-13: 978-0812520804
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,973,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good horror story, February 10, 2002

By 

ZombieMan 5000 "Horror Enthusiast" (Burnham, Maine United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raven (Hardcover)

This was the first book I read by Charles Grant and I was impressed. Good storyline it will keep you guessing. Very interesting characters. I'll be sure not to get stranded in a restaunt during a blizzard after reading this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Taut, gripping but ultimately disappointing thriller, March 23, 1998

By 

Keith Vaglienti (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raven (Mass Market Paperback)

I read Raven in one sitting. I didn't mean to but once I got into the book I couldn't put it down. In a wonderful study of claustrophobia and paranoia, a small group of people find themselves trapped at an isolated diner while outside a lone man armed with a high powered rifle picks them off one by one. My only complaint is in the final revelation of who the killer is... a, in my opinion, rather disappointing ending. Up until that point, though, this book is a serious contender with classic stories such as Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians"/"And Then There Were None".

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars captivating, but the ending was dissapointing, April 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Raven (Hardcover)

the story itself was very good. It had me at the edge of my seat, but the ending was poorly done and thought through.