Red Rain: A Novel [Hardcover]

R.L. Stine (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 9, 2012

R.L. Stine, New York Times bestselling author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series—two of the bestselling children’s book series of all time—now sets his sights on adults with a terrifying new horror novel centered on a town in the grip of a sinister revolt.

Before there was J. K. Rowling, before there was Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, there was R.L. Stine. Witty, creepy, and compulsively readable, his books defined horror for a generation of young readers— readers who have now come of age. In Red Rain, Stine uses his unerring knack for creating terror to tap into some very grownup fears. Travel writer Lea Sutter finds herself on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the wrong place at the wrong time. A merciless, unanticipated hurricane cuts a path of destruction through the island and Lea barely escapes with her life.

In the storm’s aftermath, she discovers two orphaned boys—twins. Filled with a desire to do something to help, to make something good of all she witnessed, Lea impulsively decides to adopt them. The boys, Samuel and Daniel, seem amiable and immensely grateful; Lea’s family back on Long Island—husband Mark, a child psychologist, and their two children, Ira and Elena—aren’t quite so pleased. But even they can’t anticipate the twins’ true nature—or predict that, within a few weeks’ time, Mark will wind up implicated in two brutal murders, with the police narrowing in.

For the millions of readers who grew up on Goosebumps, and for every fan of deviously inventive horror, this is a must-read from a beloved master of the genre.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Stine has a freshly terrifying story to tell, and he tells it with gusto, ratcheting up the chills until we’re frozen in our chairs. Parents, be warned: this is emphatically not for younger readers.” (Booklist)

“It's a page turner until the end, with short chapters that help increase the pace. Stine enjoys himself writing not for kids but about them.” (Associated Press)

“Stine’s story is a creepy, fun read.…" (Library Journal)

“With this brilliantly written novel "Red Rain", Stine proves that he definitely has it in him to challenge the greats in the Thriller/Horror genre ... think Dean Koontz, Douglas Preston, Harlan Coben and then amp-it-up by a hundred!” (MysteryNet.com)

About the Author

R.L. Stine, author of the multimillion-selling Goosebumps and Fear Street series, lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher, and their dog, Minnie. Visit RLStine.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; First Edition edition (October 9, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781451636123
• ISBN-13: 978-1451636123
• ASIN: 1451636121
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Why is Tim Jacobus R.L. Stine's favorite illustrator? Maybe because they've done so many scary books together. Tim did the cover paintings for more than 80 Goosebumps books, as well as the six amazing Amazon books. Recently, the two of them got together and asked the questions they've always wanted to ask each other...

~~~~

TIM (the illustrator) asks R.L. STINE (the author):

TIM: When I illustrate, I can "see" the image in my head before I start to draw. Do you "hear" a story when you write?

R.L.: I hear kids when I write. I try to hear the voice of the boy or girl who is telling the story. I visit schools a lot and talk with kids so I can keep up with what they are saying these days and what real kids sound like. Then I try to hear their voices tell the story as I write it.

~

TIM: You've written so many books I can't do the math, but I bet you've used millions of words. What's you favorite word?

R.L.: Someone once got in an elevator with a very witty author named Noel Coward and said, "Say something funny." And Coward said, "Kangaroo." Kangaroo has been a favorite word of mine ever since I heard that story. But as a horror writer, I guess my favorite word is SCREAM!

~

TIM: Where is the strangest place you have come up with an idea for a story?

R.L.: An empty movie theater. My wife and I went to see a scary movie in a big, old movie house-- and we were the only ones in the theater. It was kind of creepy. Then about halfway through the movie, I turned around and saw that the back row was filled with people sitting straight and still. Suddenly, I thought-- They are zombies! I'm trapped in a dark zombie theater! And that's where the idea for the book Zombie Town came from.

~

TIM: If you couldn't write-- and you possessed all skills-- what would you like to do for a living?

R.L.: I drew comic strips from the time I was in 4th grade, and I always dreamed of being a cartoonist. You can imagine my shock when the other kids told me how bad my art was. They were right. I stunk! I got over my extreme disappointment by starting to write. But if I had the skill, I would love to do what you do, Tim.

**********

R.L. STINE (the author)asks TIM (the illustrator):

R.L.: If you couldn't be an artist what would you like to be?

TIM: I would like to be a "Snowmaker" at one of the big ski resorts, out west, like Mammoth Mountain in California. You work at night when everyone goes home. Set up the snow guns, cover the slopes, and groom them with the Sno-Cat track machine. It's kinda like a snow tank! Then, you get to ski for free! I love that snow!

~

R.L.: When we were kids, my brother and I used to go to a horror movie every Saturday. We loved them all. The covers on our six Amazon books look like movie posters to me. Were you also influenced by horror movies? If so, which ones?

TIM: I was a complete "chicken" as a kid. I couldn't sit through any horror movie. The first scary movie I saw was on TV. It isn't really a horror movie. It was the Hunchback of Notre Dame-- the black-and-white version with Charles Laughton. That movie freaked me out! The mutant, Quasimodo, was something that REALLY could exist. Black-and-white movies, black-and-white photos--they all seem more "real" than full color to me.

~

R.L.: You have painted so many great covers. I think your scariest Goosebumps cover was for The Barking Ghost. And the black cat on The 13th Warning is really creepy. Do you have a favorite cover? Is it a scary one or a funny one?

TIM: It's hard to pick a favorite. But you gotta love the blue bathroom blobs in Monster Blood IV. That one is a little creepy and WAY funny. For just outright scary, I love the ticket taker in Zombie Town!

~

R.L.: What was the weirdest thing someone ever asked you to draw?

TIM: Oh, I have drawn a lot of weird stuff. One time, I had to paint a pimple! You know... acne! It was a medical illustration. Gross. When I first started illustrating, I painted pictures of food. My food illustrations were used in the Sunday newspaper for the local supermarket. I painted every food you can imagine. I can draw a pretty mean potato!

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#87 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#87 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 56 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Wonder twin powers ACTIVATE! October 9, 2012

By Susan Tunis TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The pop culture reference above has probably already alerted you to the fact that I'm a good decade older than the kids who grew up reading R.L. Stine--which is not to say that I haven't read his kid lit. I'm that kind of adult. And let me put out there that I have nothing but respect for this talented author, so youthful Stine fans, please don't beat me up for the following review. Yes, it's critical, but I'll support my criticism.

Stine's latest foray into writing for adults is of limited success. First, a brief synopsis: After a prologue, we follow the exploits of "adventure travel blogger" Lea Harmon Sutton as she visits the mysterious Cape Le Chat Noir off the coast of South Carolina. It's a beautiful part of the country, but apparently no one visits due to the island's spooky reputation. Says Lea in a blog post:

"I've saved the best (or worst) for last. Here's the most interesting historical detail--and it's definitely creepy. Especially with frightening forecasts of a big hurricane heading this way. I don't want to talk about the hurricane now. I'm pretending it's not going to happen.

You see, Le Chat Noir was devastated by one of the most powerful storms in hurricane history. It was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. And I have every finger crossed that history is not going to repeat itself now."

Okay, we're going to return and look at the quote above more closely in a minute, but for now we'll move on. In short, you'll be shocked to learn that the hurricane hits. At this point, we are introduced to Lea's husband Mark, a child psychologist who is just wrapping up the book tour for his best-selling (if controversial) book about child rearing. He gets a panicked call from Lea in the hurricane while he's on stage at a book signing. He can't wait to wrap things up and head home to Sag Harbor and their two kids and his single mother sister to await further news from Lea.

Back to Le Chat Noir... The devastation is complete and Lea is traumatized. In the midst of the "horror," Lea encounters two angelic blonde 12-year-old twins, Daniel and Samuel. They tell her that they've lost their parents and home in the hurricane. Lea is instantly smitten with these two kids and decides on the spot that she's going to "adopt" them (in the completely illegal sense of the word) and take them back to New York:

"Later Martha warned her that she was being too hasty. `You don't know anything about these boys. You are acting on pure emotion. You need to wait till you can think about it clearly. Do some research. Try to find out something about them.'"

Ah, if only. Lea proceeds over the strenuous objections of her husband. We're now at 20% of the book, and at this point the story actually starts. What follows is a evil twin/bad seed mash-up with an utterly ridiculous supernatural twist. And I guess what I have to say about the novel is: There isn't enough willing suspension of disbelief in the world.

Let's return to that first quote I pulled. A few observations... Visiting a spooky island is considered adventure travel? And the fact that there was once a terrible hurricane is "the most interesting historical detail" a travel writer can come up with about the place? Meanwhile, with the island's history, another major storm is forecast and there isn't a single mention of evacuating in advance of it? And then, if you're an adventure writer who went into this scenario with your eyes wide open, to completely lose your mind in the aftermath? Finally, a past hurricane is considered "definitely creepy"? That will give you an idea of the level of horror in the novel.

Throughout the novel, I had big, big problems with believability of events and characters' actions, and that was before the supernatural even came into it. But there were many other problems. As noted above, this is supposedly a horror novel, and I am admittedly the biggest wimp alive. While there were occasionally gross-out scenes, there wasn't a single scary moment in the book. Part of me wondered if this was supposed to be some sort of horror satire, because I know that R.L. Stine is a truly funny man. If so, I missed the humor entirely. This book is notably un-funny.

And, I'm sorry to say, it is badly written. The more traumatized the characters became, the more cringe-worthy their dialogue. I could quote, but I'll spare you. And on the subject of dialogue, let's talk about redundancy. Three separate times, Mark confronts the eavesdropping twins asking "How long have you two been standing there?" within less than 100 pages. Who was editing this book? Because there were also flat out errors. At one point Mark states that he hadn't seen his wife in "a week" when it had been, like, a day and a half. At another point Martha claims that a priest who held a ceremony in 1935 "told" her something. Well, I suppose it's possible, but it seems highly unlikely.

Individually, none of these issues are deal-breakers, but when you have flaw on top of flaw, it gets awfully hard to immerse yourself in a story, and virtually impossible to believe it. Despite these many criticisms, I will say this: It wasn't a terrible reading experience. The book moved quickly. It was both well-paced and also relatively short, with brief chapters and lots of white space on the pages. I read the book in just a few hours, and while I can't recommend it or really say I liked Red Rain, I truly didn't hate it. I was curious to see what Mr. Stine had written, and now I know. I think I'll stick to his children's fiction.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good R.L. Stine Read October 10, 2012

By Joellyn Lauritch

Format:Hardcover

When I found out about this book, I was really excited about it. I had loved R.L. Stine books when I was younger, and I have found that I really missed those books. While I still get enjoyment out of the Goosebumps books, I find that I was longing for an adult version of them; a good creepy read with some twists and turns along the way. The book "Red Rain" satisfies this desire! I do admit there were some gaping plot holes, especially when it came to how someone could had been accused of doing something that they clearly had no time to do it in and any competent investigator would have realized it, but these are minor in the grand scheme of this book. It is very entertaining! I began reading it yesterday when I downloaded it for my e-reader and finished a few minutes ago. The only reason why I took off a star for "Red Rain" is because I felt it could have been a little longer and explained a little more. It almost felt like he was constrained and needed to quickly let us in on things that we should have slowly found out about. That being said, any fan of R.L. Stine will enjoy this book, and those who are used to his twists will not be disappointed with this one!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars " Good Fear Street Novel"............. October 13, 2012

By Robin Lee TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

First I want to let you know this is his second unsuccessful attempt at an adult novel. I don't include "Eye Candy" in this because the character is still a young a adult. I read all kinds of books, and a big R.L. Stine, "Fear Street" Fan. I used to steal my teen sister's books because I was a little to old to buy them myself, and they were great creepy,scary, and even gorey somtimes. That series could make your heart race.......

This book had great promise, especially, the prologue and first chapter....You meet mom, Lea Sutter, who travels to far off places to write her adventure blog for tourists. You meet her dazed wandering around the island of Le Chat Noir, post a devastating hurricane that just wiped the entire village out. She sees torn, bloody, dead bodies and debris everywhere. In this state of shock she continues to wander to the shore line were hundreds of starfish have washed a shore, and thinks this is bad luck. Then all of a sudden it starts to rain bright, red blood out of the sky, staining everything. Could this be some kind of spiritual awakening or some ominous sign of things to come......

Now, in the middle of all this devastation, raindrops of blood, like the spiritual parting of the red sea, she is startled to see two beautitful, identical twins, blonde platinum haired, bright blued eyed, boys. (I am shocked too, because I am looking at the exact blonde headed children from the "Village of the Damned" thinking "OMG"! two managed to escape) She instantly feels some strong motherly bond, believes they are some kind of angels, maybe even a miracle, after this island's tragedy. As she walks closer to these boys she thinks they actually have a glowing aura about them. Thats it! She gets sucked in, hypnotized by there eyes. Looses all common sense and even though her psychologist husband objects, sorry she is bringing them home to Sag Harbor. She is their mother now! This is where my hope of an adult novel ended.........

These two evil, identical boys with special eye burning powers want to "Rule the School". They possess the rest of the children at Sag Harbor and want to take over the world... Where are the adults?? Well, they just disappear or they are props, to make it look like an adult novel...............

So, I will tell you this, it really is an excellent "Fear Street" novel. At times it was even funny.. So, I finished the entire novel in 2 days, it was a quick read. The only thing I was rewarded with, was two shocking twists at the end.. So if your a big "Fear Street" fan this book is good read.. But please, please wait until it comes down in cost or becomes available as kindle. Not worth the money as I paid for the hard cover edition............