Customer Reviews

Road Kill

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jack Ketchum knows how to write a good horror story. There is nothing exceptional or highly original about the plot of Joyride, but it is a very satisfying read. The book opens with a murder. Carole has been a victim throughout her entire life; her ex-husband Howard had abused her just about every way possible. The only way to finally get rid of him, she and her new man Lee decide, is to kill him and make it look like an accident. They think they pull off a perfect crime, but they do not realize at the time that someone else has watched the whole thing, someone even more evil and perverted than Howard. Wayne Lock has killed things throughout his life, but he has always stopped just short of killing a human being. He sees Carole and her ex-husband as his deliverance, kidnapping them, trying to learn from them what murder feels like. The end result is a murder spree of epic proportions, with Carol and Lee his reluctant "witnesses."

One criticism Ketchum is vulnerable to is characterization, but he does a pretty good job of it in this novel. Oddly enough, this is most evident in the character of the policeman pursuing the mass murdering Wayne Lock. He knows Carole's history, and she reminds him a lot of his own ex-wife; it is he, however, who makes the most significant realization about himself at the novel's conclusion. We get snips and pieces of Wayne Lock's history, enough to explain the murderous intensity of his personality but not enough to truly understand his reasoning. Carole and Lee are not developed fully in my mind, but this seems to me to be a positive in the context of this novel. I never felt strongly negative or positive toward them; they moved in a haze of contradiction where good and evil continuously wove in amongst each other.

There is plenty of carnage in this book--that's pretty much a given with Ketchum. Another given, and this is what makes Ketchum such a great horror writer, is a brutally honest plot that will not cheat the reader at the end. It is hard to predict a Ketchum ending, which is the main reason I respect him greatly as an author. The cavalry doesn't appear magically over the hill to save the day--instead, things happen the way they would most likely happen in real life--good and evil are second-string players in this game; reality itself determines the fate of Ketchum's characters. This makes for a gripping read, even in a case such as this where the storyline is nothing remarkably original.

"Joyride," another Jack Ketchum book I read recently, is a serial killer novel. I think at some point all horror writers are required to write such a book. It must be embedded in their first contracts with a publishing house-"Thou shalt write a book concerning serial killers!" Obviously, this becomes a problem when it is done to death over a period of time. If you really want to read about serial killers, check out the numerous encyclopedias and collections on real life killers and psychos. They tell you the real story, and most of the writers crib from them anyway. In the case of "Joyride," Ketchum certainly did crib from a true account.

Poor Carole and Lee. They want to be together but Howard, Carole's ex-husband, insists on making his presence felt even when he isn't welcome. Howard feels that his propensity towards intimidation and forcing himself on Carole should merit reconciliation. Lee and Carole have other ideas. After police intervention has no effect on curbing Howard's violence, Lee broaches the idea of killing Howard. Carole goes along with this novel plan and the murder is done. Unfortunately for our two lovers, someone sees them do the deed. Even worse, this someone, Wayne Lock, is a sociopath with his own sick fantasies about murder. Wayne feels a sort of camaraderie for the two, and decides to pay them a visit. The rest of the book concerns these three people as Wayne goes on a killing spree. A subplot involves a local cop and his family problems.

This is a pretty straightforward book. The plot is simple, as is the prose. Surprisingly, for a Ketchum novel, the murders aren't exercises in over-the-top gore. A few of them are upsetting, especially the murder of Howard. But overall, they lack the usual Ketchum punch.

Also surprising is the character development. All of them are well drawn, with the exception of Wayne. Why write a serial killer novel and not develop the serial killer? This is not to say that Wayne isn't developed at all; he is. But not nearly as well as he should have been. More background on why Wayne is the way he is would have helped. How about more details about his messed up childhood? That always has the potential for some serious horror. Alas, `tis not so.

The ending of the book set off alarm bells in my head. I recognized the parallels to the Howard Unruh case almost immediately. For those unfamiliar with Howard Unruh, let me fill you in. Unruh, a WWII veteran, went on a shooting rampage in his neighborhood. Unruh was settling scores with neighbors who had done him wrong; he even wrote down the various "crimes" his fellow man committed against him (just as Wayne does in this book). Unruh's shooting spree left scores dead or wounded. When the cops finally arrived, Unruh holed up in his house. A reporter called Unruh in order to find out what was going on. Unruh's answer was, "I have to go now, I'm kind of busy right now." Wayne says the same thing when the cops call him at his house.

For a Ketchum novel, "Joyride" is about average. I expected a little more out of it than it delivered. It's still a good way to pass a few hours (the book is very short and a quick read). I'm slowly working my way up to "The Girl Next Door," supposedly the roman-a-clef of Ketchum's literary catalogue.

After reading "The Girl Next Door" and "Off Season", I can only give this book 3 stars. It's good, but it's not his best, and it gets a little repetitious at times. After what one has to go through to find themselves copies of Jack Ketchum's books, one expects no less than the best.

Ketchum is quite satisfying when I reach for his stories; the horror and gore are based on things that with some stretch of really bad luck could really happen to someone which he balances on that too close to comfort crossing line perfectly. Joyride has a few murderers in it and some you hate and despise and the others you root for, crazy yes, you do want some of the characters to be okay, the story is twisted and even though it's a good read it's not his most visceral. This goes easy on the usual Ketchum gore and focuses on speedy shock and a thriller to keep the reader alert thought the tale, as usual there is more than one story line going on and sooner or later they join for an interesting ending. This was originally published under the title of "Road Kill" in the nineteen nineties in the UK and the flavor of the story reflects the place and time of its publishing, you get the darkness and the battle between good and evil or in this case evil and lesser evil based on the characters and who's on top versus on who's more of a mad man chopping and killing like in his previous works, here the mental games take over the pain of the flesh that he can make real very easily.

Howard is a sick young man on the killing spree of his life, traveling with him is Carol and Lee, you know why he takes them when you start the story and absorb their sticky and stressful backgrounds. He takes them on a ride but in this case the journey is more important than the destination, it's either them or random innocents who will get their share of bad luck for the day, Ketchum makes this an addictive read that's hard to put down and one that stays in the memory for a while. You pick who you root for, both sides have their black acts and it doesn't take too long for some very bad things to start happening to some random good people and a few damaged souls in need of a new start. This was a fast and easy read, not the most potent from Ketchum but then again this is the same man who wrote Off Spring which was the most insanely gross and intense book ever in a good way if you love horror, so perhaps it's not such a bad thing.

- Kasia S.

Ketchum's books are never easy to recommend, per se. What Ketchum does, he does very well, but what he does is often brutal, nihilistic, and ultimately so without hope or optimism that his books are hard to take, and Joyride is no exception. Inspired by a couple of real cases, Joyride is the story of a young woman who, with the help of her lover, decides to murder her husband for the abuse he constantly doles out. What they don't know is that they are observed doing this by a young man who thinks he's found kindred spirits for the murderous thoughts inside of him, and he kidnaps them and takes them on a car ride filled with murder and violence. (The secondary piece in Joyride, a short novella called "Weed Species," is perhaps even more brutal and horrific, and revolves around a couple who preys on the weak and the devastation they leave in their path, both physically and emotionally.) As I said, there's something inherently powerful about Ketchum's work, which looks long and hard and evil and attempts to find an understanding of what drives it, and his unflinching looks at these events have a raw and brutal power that's hard to deny. But it's also so grim and hopeless that the cumulative effect can be hard to take, and in the end, there are legitimate questions about whether the books are confronting evil or reveling in it (and I don't deny those questions). All I can say is that Ketchum's books are horrific in a way that few books manage, and I keep coming back despite (or maybe because of) the unease they provoke in me.

Jack Ketchum frequently uses true crime stories as inspiration for his novels. Off Season is based on the legend of the Sawney Bean family, The Girl Next Door tells the horrors that befell Sylvia Likens and this novel, Joyride, is derived from Howard Unruh's killing spree. In Ketchum's afterward, he reveals that he found his story (and the story of Sylvia Likens) in Bloodletters and Badmen by Jay Robert Nash.

Usually Ketchum's combination of real-life terror and an interesting "what if" scenario hooks me, but Joyride never grabbed my interest and is a mediocre effort from a usually amazing writer.

Carole and Lee planned the perfect murder of Carole's abusive husband. But they didn't count on a man named Wayne watching them. He doesn't want to turn them in or blackmail the couple. He mistakes them for being as sadistic and depraved as himself. What Wayne wants is simple: friends who understand his dark side and can indulge in it together.

The plot is more like that of a crime thriller than a horror novel. The story is told from Lieutenant Rule's perspective on the chase of the spree killers, and then Carole, Lee and Wayne's viewpoint in alternating chapters. And there isn't much gore - at least for a Ketchum novel.It takes several chapters before anything exciting happens and even then the pace doesn't really pick up. There are a few more dull chapters, one action-packed chapter, and then back to the same tediousness. This formula is repeated throughout the novel.

The reason for my boredom is probably due to the lack of depth in the characters. Carole and Lee are fairly bland and hard to emphasize with. While the reasons behind Wayne's madness are never touched upon, he is merely crazy, end of story. Lieutenant Rule is an interesting and well-drawn character, but isn't featured in the story as much as Wayne or Carole.

But I didn't hate Joyride, although it may sound like I did. It's still a Ketchum novel, so it's well-written and the climax is exciting, but it still doesn't make up for the rest of the lackluster novel.

This novel also includes the bonus novella, Weed Species, previously released in 2006 as a hardcover, limited edition from Cemetery Dance.

Weed Species is also based on a true crime story, this time on that of Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo. This story still angers many of us Canadians especially since Homolka is now free and married with a baby although the videotapes found showed that she is just as depraved as Bernardo. And Ketchum's imagining of what happened after Komolka was released from prison is our worst fears brought to life.

At a mere 86 pages, this novella still packs an enormous punch. Anyone who is familiar with the rapes and murders of Bernardo and Homolka will know the brutality and gore to expect. For those of you who aren't, I'll warn you that there is a lot of violence in this novella, including graphic rape scenes.

Although Weed Species is well-written, interesting and leaves you wanting more, it's so disturbing and graphic that it will have you questioning why you enjoy reading stuff like this. But it takes a great novel to give you that feeling. This bonus novella is far better than the main novel, so I would recommend buying Joyride just for Weed Species.

Jack Ketchum is one of those guys whose work is either 100% pure hellfire on wheels or it slumps to the floor with a resounding "meh." For every world destroying, soul crushing work like The Girl Next Door or "The Box" there is an equally unaffecting work like Hide and Seek or "Megan's Law". Those last ones aren't particularly bad, but they lack the depth and liveliness that make the great stuff so damn brilliant. Unfortunately, Joyride falls on the meh side of the road but "Weed Species", a presumably tacked-on page-filler, makes up for it in a scant 43 pages full of "Glory Be" and "Hallelujah".

The blurb on the back makes Joyride out to be a harrowing tale of two people, driven to murder by desperation and fear, who find themselves in over their heads when an absolute psychopath decides that they should all be friends and go for a little drive. However, the story itself comes across more like a standard serial killer yarn with the occasional splash of a police procedural. While this isn't a problem in and of itself, serial killer stories live and die by the reader's interest in the killer and Wayne gives us no reason to be interested in him. He's a one-note psycho who destroys everything around him because... well... because he's crazy. And that is what crazy people do. The only matter of interest is the escalating extremity of his actions, which reduces the whole experience to little more than the violent pornography Jack's detractors accuse him of.

Then there is "Weed Species", the plot of which focuses on the exploits of a de rigueur serial killing and raping waste of air. Nothing special there, but the story stands as a thesis on the spread of evil, like and infection or an invasive weed, choking out all that is good and pure in the world. Peppered throughout this chain of terror and pain are little reminders of the horror that occurs daily as a part of the surrounding world, his way of reminding the readers that nothing occurs in a vacuum. Yet there are also reminders of good in the world (a cat repeatedly going into a burning building to save her kittens and tireless attempts to save lives of those on the receiving end of the violence) and even a spot of hope in one victim's attempt to stop the cycle within herself. This is the type of story Ketchum has built his reputation upon.

Superficially, both of these tales are similar enough orgies of violence and death, but Jack works best when dealing with what lies beneath the surface. On that level, "Weed Species" is the only one that truly satisfies.

Tough to put down once you start reading. Ketchum is very good. This harrowing tale kicks butt all the way through.

If you are a fan of horror or suspense, just read this book or any other Jack Ketchum book for that matter. I'm not even going to say what this book is about other that you MUST read it. It had me on the edge of my seat at times.
It would make a great movie but wouldn't get by the MPAA in it's current form but couldn't be cut since it needs to be in full form. In other words, just read the book before someone decides to butcher it!!!!!!!

Earlier this week I read the scary little novel ROAD KILL by Jack Ketchum. I was first introduced to Ketchum through his novels OFF SEASON and OFFSPRING which concerned a small town haunted by a cannibalistic family descended from shipwreck survivors. But ROAD KILL hits much closer to home and is thus not suitable for everyone.

A woman decides that the only way she can be free of her abusive ex-husband (one who has scarred her and been unrestrained by restraining orders) is to kill him. She and her new boyfriend come up with a plan and carry it out one dark night. By they were not alone. Their actions were witnessed by a man who became fascinated with what they had done. He has often wondered what it would be like to kill someone, but has never had the courage to follow his desires.

Obsessed with this couple who have done what he cannot, the man tracks them down. He wants to talk to them to see what it was like. He wants all of the details. But his obsession grows and soon he has killed his first victim. He is ecstatic and drags the couple around on a killing spree. But the police manage to track him down rather quickly and put and end to the short-lived horror.

ROAD KILL is an excellent example of psychological horror. The reader is drawn into the mind of a slightly twisted individual where they can then see the complete breakdown piece by piece. The terror lies in just how easily the deterioration progresses. The victims are random and could be anybody. It manages to convey the ides that we live in a very dangerous world where anything can happen. But at the end of this novel we find out that justice is not completely blind and that the sword of justice can be blunted with compassion. And that can give the reader hope.