Customer Reviews

Scavenger

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

David Morrell is a solid writer of suspenseful thrillers. I thoroughly enjoyed "Creepers" which introduced Frank Balenger and Amanda Evert as major characters. They are back in "Scavenger", now living together and jointly trying to heal the psychic and physical wounds suffered in their adventure in the Paragon Hotel in "Creepers".

They become separated by a master manipulator, the Game Master, who wants them as players in both a "game" and a scavenger hunt for a lost time capsule, the Sepulcher of Worldly Desires. Amanda finds herself with four strangers who are collectively forced to follow clues in a search for the lost time capsule using high tech equipment as part of a scavenger hunt with a forty hour time limit and death or freedom as the reward.

Meanwhile Frank awakens at the Paragon Hotel and with the assistance of detective Ortega, begins the painful tasks of discovering what has happened and to track down Amanda. He also must follow clues that will ultimately (hopefully) lead him to Amanda and her crew in the search for the time capsule.

The Game Master is a devious manipulative evil genius who is not as fully realized a charcter as he could have been. He does pull myriad puppet strings that control the lives of Frank and Amanda and her companions as they move closer and closer to their goal. The twin searches, Frank's and Amanda's, are well played against the ticking clock. Death, gruesome discoveries, and duplicity are all additional elements of their quest. As might be assumed, nothing is necessarily what it seems to be and everything is potentially a death trap--this gives much of the needed suspense to "Scavenger" and gives both Frank and Amanda the opportunity to display their analytic talents.

I enjoyed this book enough to recommend it to others, particularly to readers of "creepers". I felt the pacing was uneven at times, sometimes due to the flashing back and forth between the two separate searches. However, the last 100 pages are a hell-bent-for-leather e-ticket ride to a somewhat predictable ending. I also felt the characterizations were relative shallow; thankfully, Frank and Amanda were well fleshed out in "Creepers" because I didn't feel a lot of new depth in this follow-up novel.

As usual, Morrell has researched his topics. There is considerable narrative on the history and nature of time capsules as well as considerable narrative on the history and development of video games. I recommend this 3.5 star effort to any interested reader.

At the heart of Morrell's previous thriller, the well-crafted and highly suspenseful Creepers, stood the ancient and oh so dangerous edifice known as the Paragon Hotel, which could be characterized as a metaphoric time capsule. In contrast, Scavenger, his follow up to that Bram Stoker Award winning novel, involves a frantic search for a real one.

Clearly taken with his esoteric subject matter, Morrell thoroughly researched his topic, as evidenced from this excerpt from an interview with Crimespree Magazine: "Time capsules are fascinating. The concept is as old as history, but the first object to be called a time capsule was invented for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. The Westinghouse Corporation filled a torpedo-shaped object with various cultural artifacts of the decade, including a copy of Gone with the Wind, and buried it with instructions that it shouldn't be opened for five thousand years. The capstone is still there in Flushing Meadows. Westinghouse got the idea from the eerily titled Crypt of Civilization, which is a drained indoor swimming pool filled with thousands of artifacts at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. It isn't scheduled to be opened for six thousand years."

In Scavenger, a group of people (including two members of the cast of Creepers) is forced into a desperate, high tech scavenger hunt by a man who calls himself the Game Master to uncover the time capsule known as the "Sepulcher of Worldly Desires," which is rumored to be buried in Wyoming. Trapped in a race against time where their very lives are at stake, the participants have to reach deep into themselves to find the resources to survive. Unfortunately for them, as they near their goal, they learn the terrible truth that "sometimes, the past is buried for a reason."

Scavenger does everything a thriller should, which makes it hard to review, for fear of diminishing any of the shock or surprises Morrell has in store for readers. Suffice it to say that Morrell knows what scares you, and won't hesitate to do just that. Besides being an entertainer and a master manipulator, ex-college professor Morrell is also teacher, effortlessly weaving myriad bits of information about old New York, time capsules, video games and various other phenomena into his narrative even as he tries to steal your breath away.

3.5 stars. A sequel of sorts to Creepers (2005). Frank Balenger and Amanda are invited to attend a lecture on Time Capsules. At one point during the lecture, people start leaving one after the other. The next thing they know, Amanda wakes up in a room and has no idea where she is, and Balenger awakes on the beach where the events of Creepers ended. They will each be forced by the Game Master, a twisted man with an obsession for video games and time capsules, to play a game for forty hours. Balenger will have to find clues to Amanda's whereabouts in what turns out to be an obstacle course throughout the city, and Amanda, along with four other people, has to take part in a scavenger hunt in wide open spaces to find the "Sepulcher of Worldly Desires", a mysterious time capsule.

I have mixed feelings about this one; Creepers, Morrell's previous novel, rapidly became one of my favorite books of all-time. Where Creepers was fast and furious, unfolding almost in real time, Scavenger tends to lose its momentum on more than one occasion. I strongly recommend reading Creepers first because you'll see how Balenger and Amanda's relationship began and how come they're both such wrecks (trust me; you'd be too if you'd gone through what they went through in Creepers!). That aside, I didn't find the premise as intriguing or as appealing as the one of the Paragon Hotel in Creepers; time capsules can be an interesting idea but it just didn't do anything for me. I couldn't wait to read the book though, because David Morrell is one of my favorite writers. I figured I'd enjoy it, especially since Frank Balenger, a character I'd grown to love in the first book, was back.

That's where my biggest gripe is; we don't see enough of him in the first 100 pages or so. The novel keeps switching between Amanda's scavenger hunt and his quest to find her. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough when it was Balenger's quest, but on the other end, Amanda and her teammates (whom I never really cared for) weren't that interesting and their hunt wasn't as compelling as it could've been. Once a few of the characters die and Balenger has made enough progress to come up with a plan of action, then things really pick up. It's hard to say any more without divulging crucial plot points, but let me just say that the third act of the book makes up for its weaker middle act and lack of interesting characters. The suspense builds up to a satisfying finale in true Morrell style.

If you're a fan of Creepers or David Morrell's books, then you owe it to yourself to pick this one up. It's not as engaging or suspenseful as Creepers, but it's well worth the read. If time capsules or Historical fiction is your thing, you might wind up enjoying it a whole lot more. Can't wait to see what his next book will be about; I wouldn't mind a third adventure with Balenger; if he's up to it, the poor guy!

I really enjoyed David Morrell's CREEPERS, but I found this sequel kind of so-so.

SCAVENGER is certainly entertaining enough to read, but Morrell really skimps on the characterization here. Instead, he concentrates on making the plot as fast-paced as possible, making his rather two-dimensional characters run from one over-the-top crisis to another. This is initially exciting, but becomes rather repetitive and silly once you reach the mid-way point of the novel. This book is fun and easy to read, but you will probably forget most of the storyline a few hours after you finish it.

To his credit, Morrell tries to inject a lot of interesting research into this novel. I learned a lot of interesting trivia about time capsules, scavenger hunts, video games, and other subjects. If you're the type of reader who likes to learn something while being entertained, this book might be worth a try.

In short, SCAVENGER isn't a great novel, but it's entertaining enough to spend some time with, especially if you like non-stop action.

I've read other Morell's books, such as The Protector, Assumed Identity (etc.) and rated them all 5-star. But this one is a little different. I should have listened to one of the reviewers to pick up Creepers first before delving into this one. Perhaps I would have enjoyed Scavenger a lot more. But this doesn't deter me from picking up Morrell's next book! Cold Eyes

I'm a latecomer to the fiction of David Morrell. [...] his classic thrillers from the 70s and 80s. I have them to look forward to in the future. From what I've heard, they may be a little more substantive than what Morrell is writing today--and that's not a criticism of his current work.

I read Scavenger, Morrell's follow-up to last year's thoroughly entertaining Creepers, in about four hours the other day. The novel comes in at 333 pages (plus some interesting afterwards), but it's a light 333 pages, with short chapters and lots of white space. And again, this is not a criticism. There's something really delightful about sitting down with a thriller that you just can't put down. It's entertainment. It's fun. You can actually finish the darn thing in a timely manner! Sure there's a little part of you that may want more, but it's sooo satisfying just gobbling the thing down whole!

As I mentioned above, I enjoyed Creepers and I thoroughly enjoyed Scavenger as well. I would also recommend reading Creepers first, just because that's my nature. But truthfully, you could easily get by without having read the prequel. The stories aren't that linked--other than the fact that the notoriety Frank and Amanda received in the wake of the first novel brought them to the attention of the antagonist in the second novel. Did you ever notice how some fictional characters just seem to attract psychopaths like flies to honey?

I have to agree, there isn't a lot of character development in this novel. That's not what the novel is about. Morrell has surrounded his two protagonists with almost archetypal characters. They do their job. A lot of detail and development just serves to slow the story down. He has given his characters conflict and obstacles. This novel is entirely plot-driven, and I felt it moved at a very satisfying pace. I thought the information on time capsules was interesting, and that it was an intriguing device to build a story around. I wondered if the stuff about video games was a little...dated. But you know what, I didn't care. This novel was my cotton candy on a dreary Saturday afternoon. I just ate it up.

David Morrell created Rambo, one of the iconic figures of the 20th Century. Somewhat more than three decades later he has created "Scavenger", which charitably may be considered trash. It's supposed to be terror, but it is not.

The prequel to "Scavenger" was "Creepers" where Morrell turned an abandoned hotel into a house of horrors. It was an okay read, but should have served as a red flag to approach any new Morrell works with caution - or simply ignore them altogether. The latter course would have saved me a few hours.

But I did read all 333 dreary and often just plain dumb pages of "Scavenger". The characters are thinner than the paper they are printed on. The plot, which might have had promise in still talented hands, is unbelievable. The action feels like every few paragraphs were laid out on 3 x 5 index cards and then threaded together with a few verbs and adjectives. In short, this book stinks.

I won't reveal too much of the story because I recognize that one man's garbage may be another's treasure.

Frank Ballenger was a big hero when he killed the murderer of his wife and rescued a woman held captive in the nightmarish Paragon Hotel of "Creepers". Now he is being released from the hospital and goes home with Amanda Evert, the woman he rescued. Conveniently, Amanda has a rich daddy who pays her rent. Such happenstances play a big part in this utterly implausible story.

Frank is pretty much the reluctant hero kind of guy. He was a soldier in two Gulf wars, but suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome. He was a cop, but gave that up to search for his missing wife. Now he's been traumatized again, but gee, look at all the experience he's had at murder and mayhem. Morrell needs to give his hero a means of support. No problem: one of the rare gold coins Ballenger found in the Paragon Hotel is seized by the government, but they happily give him a share of its worth, a couple of million dollars. The problem of Ballenger being broke and out-of-work is solved, so Morrell can move on.

Morrell and girlfriend Amanda go to a lecture in Manhattan about time capsules.

Morrell wakes up next to the wreckage of the Paragon Hotel. Amanda is gone, gone, gone.

Morrell is on the hunt again.

Amanda has actually been unwillingly recruited into a "scavenger hunt" far, far away, concocted by - would you believe? - a mad genius of a video game designer. Uh huh - remember "Tron"? Welcome to a pretty bad rip-off of part of the basic idea of that movie.

I'll not provide any more details, lest I ruin the book for someone who might actually find it enjoyable.

I think it stinks. I was predicting what the next dramatic moment was several pages in advance because everything is so predictable. Frank Ballenger has no depth, no believability. Girlfriend Amanda is a perfect match: no depth, no believability. Everything is supposed to be propelled by the "action". But every action is predictable. There are no Rambo moments here.

Why did I read every page? Because I kept waiting, hoping that Morrell would redeem himself. He didn't. I suggest you evaluate this book carefully. Spend some time browsing it before you buy it, especially after page 50 or so. I suspect the odds are that you'll put it back on the shelf and leave it there - which is precisely what I should have done.

Jerry

I respect much of the work of the author but really, this book can only have been written to fulfill a publisher's contractual demand. To say that this book is superficial speaks too highly for it. While others may applaud (why I don't know) Scavanger doesn't even rate an "airplane read". Save your money. Take a nap. Unlike another review here I don't even suggest you check it out of the library. You will still have wasted far too many hours.

Morrell's writing is smooth, Scavenger's plot races along, characters are in jeopardy, things get worse for our heroes, and I fail to be engaged, even though there's a tough-but-vulnerable heroine and a wounded-but-determined hero. I had a recurring itchy feeling that we were hitting all the major stops on the Hero's Journey (underground ordeal with symbolic rebirth? check!) rather than following real characters through a believable story.
Still, it could be a diverting read for the airport or Greyhound, except that the ending felt like a cheesy cheat. If I'd been really wrapped up in the book, the ending would have been a wallbanger, but since I had been skimming and dipping since the first couple of chapters, I only groaned.

It kept me interested through most of the book and had intensity, but I thought the ending was a little anti-climatic and bit of a let-down. Still worth a read, but definitely not a favorite.