Something Dangerous [Mass Market Paperback]

Patrick Redmond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2000

Kirkston Abbey is no place for weak or sensitive boys. Jonathan Palmer cant believe his good fortune when Richard Rokeby seeks out his friendship. Rokeby is everything Jonathan is not: wealthy, strong, handsome, aloofeven the professors cant touch him. As the bond between the two boys deepens, Rokeby grows increasingly possessive. Soon, Jonathan comes to realize that there is something not quite right about his new friend. Something a bit off-kilter. Something... dangerous. What started out as an innocent game among schoolboys turns into a nightmare as Jonathan finds himself powerless to stop Richard from unleashing a diabolical force that threatens to consume them all.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Right from the hair-raising start of this stunning debut, readers will know that something awful is going to happen at the British boys' boarding school, Kirkston Abbey. Thanks to Redmond's masterfully subtle foreshadowing, a brooding sense of impending disaster is maintained throughout his gripping suspense thriller. Set in the late '50s and bookended by a pair of scenes in which a reporter introduces and closes the story, the narrative centers on loner Richard Rokeby. "Arrestingly good looking," sharp-tongued, smart and aloof, Rokeby unnerves schoolmasters and students alike. James Wheatley, campus tough guy, will do anything to impress and befriend Rokeby, but Rokeby gives his friendship to sensitive Jonathan Palmer instead. Rokeby and Palmer recognize an indefinable "something" that bonds them intensely, and during one school holiday, they play an angry little game on a Ouija board. The details given to the reader are scant at first, but the eventual violent results are terrifyingly vivid. Rokeby becomes possessive of Palmer, domineering and jealous, evolving into an amoral monster and coolly rattling all the skeletons in the closets of Kirkston Abbey's faculty and students. Redmond tantalizes with his miserly description of those secrets, adding to the novel's cumulative power; an aura of tangible menace hisses behind the narrative's unfolding like a slow fuse heading for dynamite. There's a dark fairy tale at the core of the mystery (both Palmer and Rokeby have serious stepmother issues) and a kind of ethical dilemma for readers, who will not know whom to root for as the villains and heroes mutate and shift positions. The climax is refreshingly nonformulaic. Readers will welcome a writer bold enough to leave some things to the imagination, especially when that audacity is accompanied by the finesse Redmont displays here. $150,000 ad/promo. (Sept.) FYI: London lawyer Redmond's novel has been published in the U.K. as The Wishing Game.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The lives of four British schoolboys are drastically altered when one of them befriends the school rebel, a young man consumed by rage whose only joy seems to be outsmarting and humiliating those around him. The two boys begin to play with a Ouija board, which unleashes an evil power and apparently gives them the ability to learn the exploitable secrets of those around them. While it paints a vivid and harrowing picture of life at a claustrophobic British boys' school, complete with hazing, harassment, and homosexuality, this book never quite gets off the ground. Certain crucial details are omitted, such as the origin of the evil power or exactly how the boys are able to discover the skeletons in everyone's closets. Regrettably, just as the action picks up, first novelist Redmond begins to tell the story from the point of view of another boy, an outsider to the evil doingsAa narrative strategy that does little for what could have been a fairly exciting conclusion. Recommended only for larger libraries.ALisa Bier, Albuquerque P.L., NM
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786889578
• ISBN-13: 978-0786889570
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,287,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Something Dangerous" in psychological terror!, May 29, 2000

By 

Laura B. Norvel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something Dangerous (Hardcover)

Something Dangerous is an entralling quick read. The characters are very well developed and the plot really kept my interest. I could not wait for the climax. I felt empathy for all of the characters, even the one who seems purely evil on the surface. The only thing that I found lacking was the description and deveopment of the powers within the Ouija Board as reasoning for the school's troubles. These powers seem to enable the boys to see the skeletons in people's closets. I would have enjoyed a scene during which the skeltons were revealed to the players. The psychological control exhibited in the book is completely believable and made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. If you are thinking about reading this book, I would recommend doing so!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Creepy first novel, January 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Something Dangerous (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading Something Dangerous and am proud to say bravo to the author Patrick Redmond. This was an excellent debut novel, and one that left me totally exhausted! The suspense in this book cover everything from demonic possession, to adultery, to betrayal, and just about every other hedonistic subject u can think of! I could not put this book down and cannot wait to read more of Mr. Redmonds' work. If Something Dangerous is any inclination of what to expect from him in the future, we are all in for a real treat!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something Excellent, August 9, 2000

By 

Michael Spicer (Bath, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something Dangerous (Hardcover)

Having read Patrick Redmond's "Something Dangerous", I think I can say that the future of British horror writing is in more than capable hands.

Where this book scores is in way the horror arises from the interplay between characters, rather than - as is the case with King, Koontz, and Herbert - from the plot itself. There is something almost Orwellian about the sense of entrapment, of there being no escape for the the lead characters, that Redmond manages to evoke. I felt real empathy for Palmer and Scott.

In my experience as a dedicated fan of horror novels, this has got to be the scariest I've ever read. And having attended an English all-boys school myself, I know that Redmond has certainly done his research. This was a stunning read, and I would reccommend it to anyone.

Well done Patrick Redmond! I look forward to finishing his latest novel "The Puppet Show."