Customer Reviews

The Upright Man (Straw Men)

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

 

 

Michael Marshall's novel "The Straw Men" was one of the best books I read in 2003. It told the story of a shadowy group of powerful figures that believed a disease called civilization infected the majority of the human race. These "Straw Men" maintained a tradition dating back to the earliest days of the human race, a time when human beings performed rituals to honor the ancient gods in exchange for power and health. A central tenet of these rituals involved, and continues to involve, human sacrifice. Using their positions of power and influence, the Straw Men employ various men and women around the world as procurers of victims. One of these men, sometimes known as the Upright Man, ran up against trouble in the form of a Los Angeles police detective named John Zandt, FBI agent Nina Baynam, and a smart mouthed former CIA operative named Ward Hopkins when he abducted a young girl. Zandt, Baynam, and Hopkins soon learned the Upright Man was involved in a series of bizarre incidents, including the abduction of John Zandt's own daughter and the disappearance of Hopkins's parents. A lengthy investigation of the Upright Man lead to startling revelations about Hopkins's childhood, and eventually led to a showdown between the three heroes and the Straw Men in a place called The Halls, Montana.

"The Upright Man" is Marshall's latest entry in what looks to be a multi-volume series about the Straw Men. Set roughly three months after the explosive confrontation at The Halls, the book reintroduces us to Nina, Ward, and to a lesser extent John as the trio continues to track down the Upright Man. Hopkins dropped out of sight for awhile after the incident in Montana before realizing he had to resume his search for the Straw Men. Zandt, after a brief dalliance with Nina, fled to Florida. Nina Baynam continues to work with her partner at the bureau. It isn't too long before more gruesome murders register on the radar. A slain LAPD cop leads to the discovery of a young woman's body in a nearby motel where suspicious evidence found on the scene leads Nina to suspect the Upright Man is once again on the prowl, a suspicion soon reinforced by two subsequent murders in Portland and Seattle. It seems the Straw Men took a little time to regroup from the fiasco in Montana, and now the ancient society is on the hunt for the three individuals who nearly brought them down.

Meanwhile, Ward Hopkins approaches the Upright Man from a different direction. Reassessing evidence discovered in his parents' house after their disappearance, Ward heads to San Francisco to search for the serial killer. He learns a lot about his own childhood in the process. He also learns that the Upright Man left a bloody swath through several foster families as a youth. The disparate facts Hopkins accumulates during his investigations in San Francisco start to gel after he reestablishes contact with Nina Baynam. The murders of the young woman in Los Angeles, a restaurant owner in Portland, and a hotel manager in Seattle couldn't seem further apart in terms of style and motive, but when taken together and fused with the evidence gleaned from the Upright Man's other crimes, everything eventually falls into place. Oddly enough, the crimes lead Zandt, Nina, and Hopkins to a small town called Sheffer, a place where a man named Tom Kozelek claimed to have encountered a Bigfoot during a botched suicide attempt in the deep woods. Confused? You will be during most of the book. Trust me when I say it all comes together in the end.

"The Straw Men" worked as well as it did because you could cut the creepy atmosphere with a knife. I read the novel nearly fourteen months ago and still remember the pervasive sense of weirdness when Ward Hopkins found a note from his deceased parents saying, "We're not dead." And that was only one particular eerie scene in a book full of them. "The Straw Men" took the reader on a roller coaster ride through the horrific hidden recesses of the America. "The Upright Man" isn't nearly as chilling as "The Straw Men," unfortunately, but it is required reading for anyone who read and enjoyed the first book. The introductory chapter does resemble in no small way many of the set pieces in the "The Straw Men," but after that the novel settles down quite a bit. What the book does do is give the reader a little more background on the connection between Ward Hopkins and the Upright Man first established in "The Straw Men," as well as explaining a few more details about the Straw Men and how they came into existence. Another difference between the two books is the relegation of John Zandt, the tormented cop with a personal vendetta against the serial killer who took his daughter away from him, to a minor role here.

I never gave a thought to the idea that "The Straw Men" would have a sequel even though the story left itself open for one. I was strolling through a brick and mortar the other day and just happened to catch a glimpse of the cover of "The Upright Man" on a rack of recently released paperback fiction. I immediately recognized the book for what it was and so beat a hasty path to the rack. I think I plowed over at least two toddlers and an old lady with a walker before laying my hands on a copy. I have rarely been so pumped to read a book. Well, "The Upright Man" isn't as good as its predecessor, but it's good enough to keep me reading if Marshall decides to release further tomes in the future.

There have been quite a few negative things written about The Upright Man, the sequel of course to The Straw Men.
I would consider The Straw Men to be one of the best serial killer novels ever written so it was always going to be tough to write a sequel that delivers the same impact. Well, The Upright Man is probably not as good as The Straw Men (there, I've said it!), however it is still a compelling, suspenseful and at times brilliant book.

The book starts off in fine style with a first chapter that defines the cliché "page turner". The only other introduction to a book that has grabbed me in such a way was Jeff Long's "The Descent".

After this the plot spins off in different directions. We have Ward Hopkins trying to find out more about the Upright Man, a
character who has connections to Wards own past. FBI agent Nina Baynam is investigating the death of a woman killed and left
to be discovered sitting up in her bed while John Zandt has gone off the radar completely in his search for his daughters
killers.

Things get really weird with the introduction of a sub plot apparently involving the sighting of Big Foot.

All I can say is just go with the flow on this one as it all makes (kind of) sense at the end.

The key to the success of this book is that Marshall is such a good writer. He has the great knack of generating lots of
suspense from any given scene and handles dialogue and action scenes with aplomb.

I'm really looking forward now to reading Blood of Angels, apparently the last in the trilogy, but surely it would be a shame for Marshall never to revisit the story of that group of psycho's known as the Straw Men again.

I stumbled upon The Straw Men completely by accident, and found it to be a creepy, gritty, genuinely pulse pounding suspense masterpiece. It single handedly rekindled my love of reading. So I eagerly picked up this sequel as soon as I became aware of its existence. Though not up to the lofty standards of the original, it is still very worthwhile. After a strong start it faltered a bit, then recovered -the seemingly random subplots are brought together well, with another intense, electrifying, feverishly page turning climax - which is where some otherwise good suspense novels fall short. If you liked the Straw Men read this - and read Smith's other novels as Michael Marshall Smith - especially the mindblowing "Only Forward".

I read a lot of fiction and I stumbled across The Straw Men last year. I loved it, the atmosphere was creepy and the story was tightly focused. I recommended it to all my friends who can read. When I saw the Upright Man in the store I had to have it. I read it quickly and ultimately must agree with other reviewers who found the Bigfoot story tangental and distracting. Michael Marshall is a talented writer ( he has written 3 scifi books under the name Michael Marshall Smith, "Spares", "One of Us",and "Only Forward" all very good)but this book seems like a filler novel to set up a series. The story was average and if you like the characters you will be fine but don't expect the creepy revelations that made The Straw Men so memorable. I have hope the next one will make reading this worthwhile.

When I first heard that a sequel to Michael Marshall's THE STRAW MEN (I gave this novel a five-star rating) was out, I was filled with excitement and anticipation like a little kid at a birthday party. I loved Marshall's first novel, especially the concept of a community where only serial killers lived. That was something new and intriguing, and I'd hoped that the second book in the series, THE UPRIGHT MAN, would continue to explore this particular theme. Unfortunately, Marshall's newest novel doesn't come even close to equaling his first, which is a huge disappointment to me. I will say that this book does have a fabulous opening chapter, though it doesn't follow through with the expectations it creates in the reader. John Zandt (ex-LAPD Homicide Detective), following a tip, leads Ward Hopkins (ex-CIA agent) to an area in Washington State called Dry Creek where over a dozen corpses have been left by either the Straw Men, or the Upright Man (Ward's twin brother), some of them in rather unusual and humorous positions. Zandt and Hopkins check out the crime scene, then go their separate ways. That's pretty much the last time Dry Creek is mentioned in the book. Anyway, John Zandt goes off on his own path, methodically hunting down members of the Straw Men in his vengeful search for the Upright Man. Little is known about Zandt's journey till the very end of the book. Ward, however, tries to hide from the Straw Men, but eventually gives up and begins to search for information about his brother's past, starting in San Francisco. While this is going on, Nina Baynam (FBI agent and Zandt's former lover) finds herself involved in a double-murder case in Los Angeles that may involve the Straw Men. So far everything is set up nicely to hook the reader. What throws the book way off course is another subplot involving a salesman by the name of Tom Kozelek who attempts suicide by walking ten miles into a snow-filled forest with nothing but booze and pills to keep him company, the strange citizens of Sheffer, Washington who seem to be hiding some dark secret, and the possibility that Big Foot is actually real. This subplot takes away from the rest of the story and eats up at least a hundred pages of the book. Each time a new chapter came along that dealt with good-old Tom and his sighting of Big Foot, I found myself scratching my head in utter confusion, wondering why the author was even including this stuff in the book. I wanted to skip over these chapters (and almost did a couple of times), but I was afraid that I'd miss something important with regards to the rest of the novel. Of course, the whole point of this particular subplot becomes clear near the end, but I didn't find the answers very satisfying. It's only because I enjoyed the parts dealing with Nina Baynam and Ward Hopkins that I'm even giving this novel a three-star rating. And it's only because I loved THE STRAW MEN so much that I'd even consider buying the third book in the series when it finally comes out. Michael Marshall has already proven that he can write an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller that's filled with new ideas. The author is also great at creating strong and interesting characters-both protagonists and antagonists-- and at weaving a complex story line, intertwined with several fascinating subplots that merge together at the end for a very satisfying finale (at least in his first novel). If you've read THE STRAW MEN and are somewhat like me, you'll want to buy THE UPRIGHT MAN and draw your own conclusions about it. Hopefully, the author will learn from this and do a much better job on the next book. And, probably like the rest of you, I'll buy it as soon as it comes out.

I don't know if I call it a sequel but it is a continuation. The Upright Man who we met in the first book is back and casuing all kinds of terror again. After finding out that he is the main character's brother, they didn't really push this as far as they could have I thought. Overall the book does sort of drag but it did have two LOL moments. One in particular was when they were in a trendy type of coffee bar or something and all of a sudden the main character just starts ripping on everybody. I am not good at explaining these things, you will just have read it. Obviously if you read the first one you have to read this and I don't think you will be dissapointed. This book certainly brings things to a closure.

Only three people know about The Straw Men; two are on the run(Ward and John) while the third works as an agent for the FBI(Nina). The group believes they are the only ones not infected by a virus promoting social conscience which gives them the power to kill whomever they wish and are responsible for many of the atrocities that have happened throughout history. The members are wealthy, powerful and hold positions of authority in law enforcement & government and sometimes they work behind the series to further their agenda.

Paul is the Upright Man, a serial killer in his own right who procures victims for the Straw Men to kill. He also is Ward's identical twin brother, the man responsible for killing Ward's parents and John's daughter. Nina gets pulled into a case that is of interest to the group and brings herself, John and Ward to their attention. The group decides it is time for the trio to die. Ward, John and Nina meet in a forest in the Pacific Northwest for a final showdown with THE UPRIGHT MAN and members of The Straw Men.

There is nothing more frightening and none more dangerous than the sane person who believes he can kill with impunity because it is his or her sanctimonious right to do so. The antagonist and The Strawmen are evil, not insane which make this a horror novel as frightening as that of King and Koontz because they wear the guise of humanity to hide their depravity. Ward is an innocent who learns fast how to stay alive against people so ruthless that they are beyond imagining. Michael Marshal is a master when it comes to writing horror of the human kind.

Harriet Klausner

The trilogy is a really excellent read...the plot is complex, convoluted and chilling in it's inception....would make any conspiracy theory devote proud.

The characters are well conceived and largely compelling....although some of the actions of the central characters could be very frustrating and difficult to buy

Executive Summary:

A few months after the ending of the first book 'Straw Men' we meet up with our Main Characters who are all behaving poorly and not doing anything useful or meaningful. Then all of a sudden, nothing meaningful happens. Then nobody has any insights. Then everybody does nothing useful. We meet some new characters, and see them do some strange things, and over halfway through the book there's no connection from the new characters & their story lines to the carried-over original characters / story lines. Then all of a sudden I quit reading because it was too dull/tedious/boring/uneventful to care enough to finish the book.

Detailed Critique:

I read the first book, Straw Men, and was engaged, pleased, and satisfied. Seeing that there was more to the story, I bought this book, The Upright Man, figuring it might be more of the same (which would not be bad in my view) and could even be better.

Well, it's not better. It's not even 'more of the same'. I got just over halfway through the book and quit reading it. I only got that far because I felt that since I paid for the dang thing, I had to read it. The story in this book picks up a few months after Straw Men left off, but quickly becomes mired in irrelevant ranting by one or more of the main characters. Is all that "exposition" the mind-set / world-view of the author, or something he decided was what his characters ought to believe? I don't know, but it was tedious and boring and utterly failed to move the story forward (or in any direction at all for that matter).

Over halfway through the book, and basically NOTHING of substance has happened. Okay, there's dead people here, there, and that other place. Halfway through the story, do we have any idea who/why/when/how the killings happened? No. Is there any effective foreshadowing that makes me want to find out what's gonna happen next? No. Do the main characters show any perspicacity, and insights into what's going on? No.

Halfway through the book and there's no apparent story arc at all, just a few random happenings with nothing to connect them to eachother. I know, I know, it's common enough vehicle for writers to start multiple story arcs that seem disconnected and them bring them all together in a great splash of awesomeness near the end. But I can't even get to the end of this book it's so dull and boring and tedious and ... jeez ...

Sorry, but I'm dropping this series at this point. I know that MMS is a capable writer; I also read "The Intruders" which I thought was a very well written story. But as far as the Straw Men series is concerned, let me just say 'thanks but no thanks'. My recommendation (fwiw) is this: if you must read this book (and I don't recommend you do) buy used, buy cheap, don't have high expectations. That's the only way you'll be "pleasantly suprised".

"The Straw Men" was a great thriller- it grabbed you from the very strat with Marshalls great writing style and bitter sense of irony and never left you. You had no choice but to surrender to Marshall and allow him to guide you through that haunted ride. although action and thrilles were to be found aplenty, I walwyas felt that the book was more than your avrege thriller. Michael had an idea about huminty, and he shared it with you.

"The Upright Man" is a diffrent book. without spoiling anything, I can say that it is much slower than its predecesor, and the action only really picks up when the plot approaches the climax. However, the writing is even better than it was before, and the themes of the plot tighter... though the plot itself, the *story*, which I feel should be the essence of evrey good book, was disappointingly short. not much actually happens in the first part of the book. but actually... that didnt bother me much. the intense charcter devlopment that took most of the book was worth it.

The Upright Man is highly recommanded... butI would advise you to expact a diffrent (though just as pleasurous) expiriance.