Rot [Hardcover]

Gary Brandner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A strong stomach and even stronger suspension of disbelief are mandatory to get through this far-fetched tale of a zombie on the rampage in rural Wisconsin. That's where California teen Kyle Brubaker is stuck for the summer, pining for the beach while helping out on his disabled Uncle Bob's farm. The fates are cruel to Kyle: his plans to seduce Marianne Avery, his absent cousin's fianc e, are rudely shattered by the vicious Gerstner brothers, who pay him back for breaking up their fight with a Gypsy boy by gang-raping Marianne and beating up Kyle. When the distraught Kyle crashes his car, Marianne, in the passenger seat, is killed. Deliverance seems at hand when the Mysterious Dorando, the Gypsy boy's grateful father, revives the girl at Kyle's request. But Marianne is merely reanimated, not brought back to life, and her post-mortem plot to get even with her assailants turns into a race against the ticking clock of her physical decay. Brandner (The Howling, etc.) knows how to pack a visceral punch with gut-churning scenes in which the putrescent Marianne takes on the revolted Gerstners. But his plotting falls apart faster than his decomposing heroine. There's no explanation (other than its shock value) why the former corn-fed girl-next-door develops an indiscriminate lust for sex after death. And it makes little sense that the rotting Marianne would pursue Kyle back to California, and coerce him into taking her back to the Midwest, complaining, "I can't move around too well by myself." Preposterous coincidences abound, amplifying the story's teen-scream-pic goofiness. (July)

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Cemetery Dance Pubns; First Edition edition (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881475662
• ISBN-13: 978-1881475668
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,387,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too short, great nvel., May 22, 2000

By 

P. Legerski (Corona, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rot (Hardcover)

As a big Brandner fan, it's great to see a new, albeit short, novel by this writer. ROT is a tale of Kyle Brubaker, who will become a man over a summer's vacation from college. Kyle has to help out his Uncle Bob's farm after Bob's stroke. He gets involved with Bob's son's girlfriend, Marianne and the action goes from there. Kyle and Marianne go to a carnival, get into some heavy trouble with some very unscrupulous brothers and then Kyle, in a split-second, must make a decision that will affect all of their lives. Needless to say Kyle makes the wrong choice and the downward spiral is started. You see, Marianne is brought back from the dead...and she wants revenge on the brothers...and Kyle! This is a well-written, fast paced novel. The characters are real and the situations Brandner puts them in is rivetting. The consequences are justified and the ending is a killer! Vince Natale's cover is an eye-grabber, as is the interior drawings by Keith Minnion. Another winner by Cemetery Dance Publications. Highest recommendation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superior to the Stephen King novel "Thinner", January 7, 2006

By 

David "Laymon Fan" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rot (Hardcover)

This book is sometimes compared to "Thinner," a novel that Stephen King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

I have two comments about that: (1) The books don't actually have much in common. (A gypsy appears briefly in each. That's about it.)

(2) I think "Rot" might actually be a better book. I love Stephen King, but "Thinner" had a stunning ending ... and not much else going for it.

This book might be a bit too short to buy at the cover price of $40. But it's certainly worth reading, and it might be worth buying secondhand.

Off the top of my head, the only thing that bothered me about the book is that the story implies that Kyle *deserves* to be punished for asking for the girl's resurrection.

I wouldn't agree with that.

Plus, why does Kyle deserve to be punished, but the gypsy who actually performed the resurrection does not?

This book is a good bet for fans of Brandner (particularly if they enjoyed his 1986 novel "Carrion") and for fans of Richard Laymon's novel "Resurrection Dreams" or Stephen King's "Pet Sematary."

Also recommended:

* By Gary Brander: All three "Howling" novels (particularly parts I and III), "The Brain Eaters", "Cat People", "Carrion", and "The Boiling Pool."

* By other authors: "Resurrection Dreams" by Richard Laymon and "Pet Sematary" by Stephen King.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Gray Brander's ROT..., August 3, 2002

By 

Christopher Mc Nally - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rot (Hardcover)

Kyle Brubaker takes time out from his California life of surfing to help a sick uncle take care of the family farm in a small Wisconsin town. He quickly falls for a local girl and takes her to the town Carnival where they're brutally attacked by a trio of hoodlum brothers. Throw in a helpful gypsy and you've got yourself a story. At least that's what Brander thought when he laid this tale to paper. This is the type of work you would expect from a college student. Not a veteran writer whose book THE HOWLING was made into a decent movie. ROT is too short and quick. If your looking for a similiar story that's well done try Stephen King's THINNER.