Customer Reviews

Ravenous (Leisure Fiction)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In a sleepy little town, evil is bubbling beneath the surface, waiting to erupt. Women are getting violently raped, dead bodies are rising from their slabs in the morgue to walk out, vicious murders are taking place, and strange creatures, resembling large wolves are stalking the darkening abyss of the night.

Meanwhile, a man named Daniel Fargo has the answer to the riddle; he understands that what the sleepy town of Big Rock is against isn't man made carnage, but something of the supernatural. Yes, Virginia, werewolves do exist. Now it's a race against time as the enigmatic Fargo tracks down the beasts, waiting for the day he might avenge himself. But, he's going to need help. In order to destroy the evil that lurks in the night, he must confide in the ever skeptical sheriff Arlin Hurley. However, Hurley is loath to believe the truth behind the myth and as he disregards Fargo, the murders persist. What will happen to Big Rock if the werewolves are not contained? What will become of our world as their evil seed spreads? Welcome to Big Rock --- population decreasing.


The wonderful world of Ray Garton's self styled horror is back in full force. The usual emphasis on sex, violence, and gory death has not been overturned in favor of the lighter side, but has darkened over the years, presenting the latest Garton, Ravenous with a bleak atmosphere complemented by the description of ever present drizzling rain, cold dark woods, and creaky abandoned houses festooned with mummified corpses. The ceaseless violence and mayhem begin immediately, never allowing the reader to awaken from the nightmare, never giving pause in the tale for a respite. Indeed, Garton has increased his love of mutilation and gore, presenting some scenes that are just too melancholy for modern audiences. For instance, the werewolves are not prey to discrimination as they happily feast on pregnant women and innocent children. Yes Garton, we want the violence, but not the sadness. This time, the horror genre has simply gone too far. Get depressed.

Garton's writing style is conducive to the atmosphere of dread, describing the scenes in vivid detail, entwining the language of horror with the emotions of the characters and the never ending hunger of a beast from legend. Garton chooses to allow his characters to narrate, alternating chapters between the protagonists and villains, giving each a distinctive voice and aura. This is perhaps one of the greatest elements in the story's success, since the language allows the tale to truly come to life, engulfing the reader in a story, that while unrealistic, is more than believable once the vivid language starts to paint a scene of death.

The characters are also a bleak lot, falling into yawning chasms of depression. They act appropriately horrified, saddened, and disgusted, making them become human. Garton even threw in a genuine love story that brings two characters vibrantly alive and grants the audience a much needed dose of sentimentality, allowing these specific characters to become central to the unfolding drama and gain our hearts along the way. Hurley, the disbelieving sheriff also proves to be a likeable, albeit short sited protagonist. Since most of the drama is told through his perspective we get to know and love Hurley as well making him a central character in our circle of protagonists.

However, despite the few characters mentioned above, most of the personalities in this novel only serve a meager purpose: future werewolf chow. Yes folks, they are there to get eaten over the course of several pages and their screams are intended to drag more sleepy eyed werewolf chow from their surprisingly insecure homes. The secondary characters are not totally devoid of humanity, and we, the collective audience, are still able to light the spark of empathy for them. The reader just wishes that before they were eaten, we could get to know them a little better. The human element is not missing, its just not Garton's best interpretation.

Ravenous is surprisingly imaginative in its modern retelling of the old wolf man themes. Garton, in a desperate attempt to get sex into all of his novels, has made lycanthropy transmittable only by sexual contact and since most of his characters are surprisingly licentious, it doesn't take the virus long to spread. See, you should always practice safe sex! Likewise, the werewolves are not just monsters baying at the moon (although there is a lot of that) nor are they the sympathetic souls who chain themselves alone in a room for the protection of mankind. They are cold, hard blooded killers that tell a surprisingly good story as they are allowed to narrate their own chapters, disclosing the secret thoughts of a lycanthrope for the reader's entertainment. As with all of his tales, Garton takes an ancient legend and gives it a modern twist making the familiar take on new dimensions.

As with Garton's preoccupation with violence, the sex scenes in this book have gone beyond traditional Garton and have become disturbingly violent taking the aura of despair to whole new levels. However, these scenes are not as frequent as the scenes of death and carnage, but nonetheless, they make the entire atmosphere a little too disturbing to be entirely enjoyable.

The plot is well structured and tension-filled, keeping the readers on the edges of their collective seats, forever trying to guess the woeful ending. But, to no avail! The plot twists, following shadowed corridors of violence, death, and lycanthropy leading the reader on a dangerous journey through a what-if scenario of gnashing fangs and great, silver lupine eyes staring out of the dark, rain soaked night. The conclusion races forward, delivering a shocking ending and more than one death leaving the reader to gasp as the very last sentence says it all, delivering a somber prediction for the future. The reader will be more than satisfied and will feel a prickling of curiosity, wondering just what will happen to the world after the last page.

Conclusion: Despite a few flaws, such as the rampant gore and some shallow characterization, Ravenous proves, in the end, to be worth the minor irritations. The protagonists grab our hearts and attention, the drama is all consuming, and the tension is rather addicting. The story will leave the reader breathless, waiting for more, staying awake all night, blood shot eyes riveted to the page, cups of discarded coffee strewn over the room, dawn seeping in around the window curtains. Fast paced, riveting, and entertaining, Ravenous is a novel to die for. Sweet dreams. To sleep, perchance to die.

- Ravenova

Though much better then his last Leisure publication, "Night Life", Ray Garton's latest novel deals with a werewolf infection spreading across a small, mid-western town. I won't go into details on the specific plot points, but I will say that the author uses a unique approach on how the virus is spread. Overall, the story is fast-paced, gory, and somewhat suspenseful, though it really doesn't add much bite to the werewolf mythology. If you're a Garton fan, then by all means pick this one up. If you're new to his work though, start with his earlier works, "Live Girls" or "The Loveliest Dead."

Sheriff Arlin Hurley is faced with a dilema: a woman has just been attacked and raped, and a deputy murdered. The assistant coroner thinks it's an animal, but all evidence points towards a man. As the mystery (and plot) unfolds, the town of Big Rock is thrown under the shadow of the big bad wolf...

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love Garton's take on the werewolf genre. In fact, that's one of the reasons I picked this up--I wanted a horror novel that I could sink my teeth into, one with bite (how're the horror puns treating you?), that didn't rely upon much social commentary. I love Stephen King, I love Bentley Little, I love satircal horror--but I just wanted a horror novel that I could read and be entertained, without having to think too much.

I got it. And not much else, unfortunately. I wasn't expecting Shakespeare, no. You don't WANT Shakespeare, in a horror novel. But...naming a chapter "The Calm Before the Storm?" Having someone "pursue other pursuits"? To laugh a laugh? To scream a scream? For the action to keep flowing, the text has to keep flowing. And in that regard, Garton's novel fails. It all leads to an ending that is unsatisfying (though there is the hint of a great horror ending here, Garton doesn't build us up to it fully enough). I felt genuinely let down. And that is hard to come by in a horror novel, when you KNOW what to expect.

Garton's premise is brilliant. His notion of lycanthropy being an STD is almost revolutionary in the horror genre. But his execution of the story flounders; and ultimately, so does the story itself. I know most readers won't care; they're in it for the blood and guts and gratuitous sex (of which there is a lot, and I mean a lot). And kudos to Garton, for giving his readers what they want. But anyone who pays close attention is going to walk away disappointed. And it IS a disappointment--"Ravenous" had such a wonderful premise, I almost don't want to admit that the story didn't work for me. But it didn't, that's the cold hard truth, as painful as a werewolf's fang.

If you have not yet read a Ray Garton book, then you are in for a treat!

Before I read this novel, Animals by John Skipp & Craig Spector was my favorite werewolf novel. . . No longer though. . .
Ray Garton has written the quintessential werewolf novel!

I have always been a fan of the hardcore, violent vampire novels - werewolf novels are generally good, yet I always preferred vampires to werewolves. However, due to this novel, Ray again has changed my preferences - the werewolves in this book could tear a vampire to shreds!! I so hope that Ray chooses to write another werewolf novel - preferably a sequel to this one!

I cannot rave enough about this book, so I am not even going to try.
It is a super fast read with great characters!!
Just go buy it and enjoy it!! You will be glad that you did!

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I've been following the works of Ray Garton ever since Live Girls(which in my opinion is still the best) and Ray's take on werewolves in Ravenous is not only original but excellent.

Not to spoil anything but the werewolves in Ravenous while being the Howling/American werewolf in London type werewolf infects others not by bite but by sex.

Quite gory and well written, the action is fast paced and suspenseful.

Very Highly recomended....

There are some writers who instill a passion in their readers, who have a quiet, but loyal following that would go to the ends of the earth, if necessary, to lay their hands on the next precious copy of their latest work. Ray Garton is one of those writers. His prose literally shines. And yes, I'm one of those groupies:) But thanks to Leisure Books, me and all those others don't have to go quite that far.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ray Garton's work, RAVENOUS is a good place to start. Big Rock, California has a little bit of a problem--people are dying in hideously horrible ways. While the physical evidence points to a large, unbelievably large animal, eyewitnesses all tell of a human element being involved. Naturally, the local law enforcement is baffled, especially by the onslaught of half eaten corpses.

Big Rock is in the midst of an attack of werewolves, only this isn't your momma's werewolves. No, these are THE REAL DEAL. Forget the folklore, forget the rules. Everything goes out the window. These are some of the baddest mothers you could ever hope (or not) to meet in your nightmares. And they are hellbent on procreating--not through a bite, but through sex. And these werewolves are very, very hungry for more things than just food.

The action is hard and fast,connecting like a gut punch. No beloved character is safe. My jaw was constantly dropping (oh no, he didn't!!) Pardon the pun, but I devoured RAVENOUS in one sitting:)

Run, boys and girls, don't walk, run and pick up RAVENOUS!!! This is horror the way it should be done!! Don't miss it!!

The werewolf may be underappreciated in horror novels and movies - at least compared to vampires, zombies and serial killers - but Leisure Fiction is trying to make up for the deficiency by publishing three werewolf-themed books: Shapeshifter by J.F. Gonzalez, The Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier and most recently, Ray Garton's Ravenous. Despite some flaws, these three rather different books show that there is definitely room for werewolves in horror fiction.

Ravenous takes place in the small community of Big Rock on the California coast. Early on, Emily Crane is attacked and raped by a mysterious half-human beast; though she apparently kills it, that seems to not be the case as it escapes from the morgue. This is a werewolf, and unlike the lycanthropes of lore, this one does not transform others by bite but rather through sexual transmission. And like an STD, it slowly spreads through the community as the infected want sex at any cost, even if rape is required.

More that sex, however, the werewolves also have a taste for human flesh. On the side of the angels is Sheriff Arlin Hurley, who has a hard time accepting what's going on. Daniel Fargo, however, knows exactly what the score is: he has been werewolf hunting for a while and intends on killing the lead werewolf at any cost. Fortunately, he has an abundant supply of silver ammunition; unfortunately, the werewolf population may soon get out of control.

One flaw in this story deals with the relative ease that the werewolves multiply; with their population growth capable of growing exponentially very quickly (and very few people able to rein them in), it is unclear why they haven't overtaken all of mankind already (this issue is also common to vampire stories, or at least the ones which infection occurs merely with a bite). Another flaw is the underdevelopment of some of the characters, who often come off as relatively one-dimensional: we have the drunken wife-beater and the elderly busybody as examples of characters who rarely show any depth beyond their stereotypes.

Despite these flaws, this is actually a fun page-turner of a novel, similar in quality to Shapeshifter and The Nightwalker, although each novel offers a decidedly different take on the nature of lycanthropy. If you're a fan of horror, this is your chance to read a less familiar - but still good - author in the genre.

I love werewolf books myself and was excited, like others to read this new novel. However, after being described every woman in way too much detail with emphasis on if they are fat, getting fat, or could get fat and who was sleeping with who and only 2 scenes of actual werewolf (this in the 1st 100 pages), I was rather disgusted. I enjoy werewolf books and expect blood and guts and sex, but really is everyone fat in this author's world. I guess it just kept getting repeated I had trouble following the story with all the detail. I was not happy with this werewolf novel and don't recommend it.

If you like werewolves this is the book for you, great reading I hope more like this will be available.

The Leisure Fiction edition is just as good and a lot cheaper. The story had great character building. I felt as if I knew these people. What good can I say about this that hasn't already been said. I'm already 2/3 thru the sequel and it's just as good. That's for a different review at a different time. If you just want to read the story, get the Leisure Fiction paperback version because it's mucn cheaper than the other versions.