Customer Reviews

She Wakes

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

 

 

Jack Ketchum has quickly become one of my favorite authors, one of the few writers who pulls no punches and consistently manages to truly horrify. In "She Wakes", Ketchum delves into the realm of the supernatural, taking the reader to the Greek Isles and immersing him in a world of ancient goddesses and unearthly power.

Most of Ketchum's other work deals with real-life horrors, no ghosts or spirits (or Greek goddesses)and I think that's where his strength lies. I found the cave-dwelling cannibals in "Off Season", the creepy couple and their dog in "Hide and Seek", and the evil, sadistic aunt in "The Girl Next Door" to be far more terrifying than anything Ketchum concocts in this novel.

It has its moments, for sure (undead rape, hordes of shambling, burnt corpses committing various atrocities) but for the most part this book never gets past "ok". Ketchum's reality-based horrors are where his strength lies and I reccommend "Off Season", "Offspring", "The Girl Next Door", "Hide and Seek" and the short story collection "Peaceable Kingdom" over "She Wakes" any day.

In their original forms, the ancient Greek myths were not bedtime stories or pretty tales for poets. Rather, the gods and goddesses embodied primal forces, and those who encountered them had reason to fear their power. Awe, terror, and brutality were what the gods were about. Jack Ketchum's "She Wakes" follows this tradition., with a reborn goddess making her sexual, bloody way through modern Greece. The characters were annoying at times, which definitely detracted from by enjoyment of the book, but the supernatural elements were intriguing enough to keep me reading.

Jack Ketchum has written some very good horror books but they are not supernatural in nature. This one is and unfortunately it seems to miss the mark. The story concerns a group of characters, locals and tourists, in the Greek islands. While they interact with one another they get caught up in a series of supernatural events including, but not limited to, the dead beginning to walk and kill.

This is all tied in to local myth and legend as the characters first confront what is going on and then have to find a way to deal with it. Multiple islands and viewpoints come into play until they finally guess what must be happening and how to solve it.

The author paints a very good picture of the Greek islands, the residents, and the people who visit. Ketchum's skill as a writer is very evident here. It is not badly written in any way but it seems to lack something his other novels have. It might be the lack of frightening reality or it might be something else. It is not a bad book, just not like Ketchum's others so if you are looking for more of his signature style then you will not find it her. If you are looking for a good and subtle supernatural thriller then check it out.

'She Wakes' wasn't a bad read, but it didn't hold my interest like I would have liked. This book excels in the strange and demented, but it never crosses that 'mediocre' line.

It’s hard to place a finger on the exact soft spots, but
basically the story is a bit lengthy for its kind(even though it’s not a large book to begin with), and could have been wrapped up quicker in a more entertaining manner. The pace keeps up at a rapid pace, so it can’t be faulted, it’s just that the traditional twists of ‘Lelia’ get old quick. New scenarios would have helped, and I didn’t care as much about some of the characters as I should have, causing me to grow impatient with their scenes (Hello, Jordan)

I will say one thing for sure, and that is that no one exaggerated the brutality of his work, how far out he went with slayings and horrid imagery, not censoring his work.

This is the first and only time Ketchum went through supernatural route - this just didn't click with me, although it may with you.

The story sort of started out of nowhere, and the characters backgrounds seemed insignificant. The plot behind the story was weak. Things didn't really start happening until half way through the book. Granted, some parts of the book were exciting, but overall, it was just o.k. for me.

What could be lovelier than Greece on a beautiful day? Gorgeous sunsets, romantic beaches, awe-inspiring ancient ruins. Oh, and don't forget the shambling, rotting, walking dead who are intent on rending and killing. And you might want to consider the powerful force that seems to be getting back into the swing of taking control and cutting a path of destruction. Other than that, things are just peachy in the land of mythological gods.

I wasn't quite sure how Ketchum would handle a supernatural novel. He is so adept at creating the most heinous and believable--but still very human--monsters. I didn't need to worry. This is an unsettling story with interesting characters, and a villainess who packs a punch. I didn't want to stop reading, and to me, that's always a sign of a good story. Ketchum continues to prove that he is firmly in place as one of America's great horror writers. Bravo!

This book, for me was hard to follow. It seemed like the story just dragged on and on. There were exciting parts and it was a good story in certain parts but the ending was just so confusing and far out there. Not impressed. I read "The Lost" and absolutly loved it, though.

I'm reading the average to below average reviews and I can't help thinking, "Really? But She Wakes is so good!" And it is good. Jack Ketchum is one of the best horror writers around and this book is no exception. If you like horror you should read this one. It's great!

She Wakes is unique among the Jack Ketchum books that I've read in that it's his first genuine supernatural horror novel. Typically, Ketchum's horror is more human, based in the depravity and violence people can show to each other, whereas She Wakes becomes a complicated tell involving Greek mythology and a vengeful deity. I was a little curious to see how Ketchum would fare outside of his typical material, and it turns out that he handles it all pretty nicely...once he gets to the point. There's a lot of setup in She Wakes, and without some of the realizations and details you get in the second half of the book, some of the early action just seems petty and cruel, to say nothing of borderline misogyny. The book's second half allows you to look a little differently at some of the characters, but you can't help but wonder if some of the book could have been trimmed without losing much of the impact. That being said, I've always argued that Ketchum succeeds because of his strong willingness to focus on characterization, and She Wakes has lots of it; unfortunately, when the horror is more supernatural, that characterization seems to matter less and ultimately feels a little discarded by the end. I feel as though I'm doing nothing but complaining, when in fact, I enjoyed the book quite a book; the absolute mayhem that breaks out in the book's closing half is superb, with a true sense of terror and creepiness that testifies to Ketchum's talent. And that says nothing of the ending, which Bentley Little should take some notes on to see how to handle his (often similar but weaker) climaxes. It's not typical Ketchum, and it's not his best, but it's still a damn good horror novel, and I'm all about finding those.

It took me two months to read the first two thirds of the book. I finished the last third in two days.

It starts very slowly, talking about unconnected people and their lives. I almost stopped reading it.

Then, suddenly, it catches up and you get a gripping and horror filled story that does not slow down until the epilogue.

It is mysterious, powerful and supernatural in a great way.

It gets three stars because of the slow first two thirds.