Hunted Past Reason (Hardcover)

by Richard Matheson (Author) "This is as good a place as any," Dough said, leaning forward on the backseat..." (more)
Key Phrases: Jesus Christ, Los Angeles, John Muir (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Testosterone, envy and smoldering psychopathology transform a weekend hiking trip into a lean, mean Darwinian struggle for survival. Making the most of his trademark less-is-more style, Matheson (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, etc.) spins a clash of ideologies between two acquaintances into a vision of the universe as existential hell. Level-headed Bob Hansen is on his way up as a screenwriter and novelist; temperamental Doug Crowley is on his way down as an actor, husband and father. Doug, an experienced outdoorsman, has agreed to help Bob research his next novel with a rugged trek through the forests of northern California. No sooner has Bob's wife, Marian, dropped the pair off and headed for the cabin where they'll meet four days later than their irreconcilable differences emerge. Bob is at peace spiritually, while Doug believes "the world is a nightmare." A couple of near-death experiences a falling boulder, a threatening black bear seem to send the increasingly morose Doug into an emotional tailspin. Quicker than you can say Deliverance, Doug assaults Bob, then challenges him to reach the cabin before Doug kills him and takes Marian. Matheson makes every word count, orchestrating ordinary conversation into philosophical parries and building a thunderhead of tension from Doug's smugly superior opinions and willful misinterpretations. Through Bob's tortured thoughts during his desperate flight, Matheson strips all beauty from the wild surroundings to expose the underlying hostility and hunger in nature. Matheson's new novel shows him still the Hemingway of horror, a writer whose honed prose and primal themes articulate universal fears and dreads.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Matheson's many thrillers and fantasy novels, published over the past five decades, include Somewhere in Time (1980) and What Dreams May Come (1978). His new novel may not be quite on the same level as those classics, but it comes pretty close. Two old friends, Bob (a novelist) and Doug (an actor), head off into the woods for a short hiking trip. Bob wants some hands-on experience for a novel he's working on; Doug is an expert in woodsmanship. From the get-go, there is tension between them: Doug seems excessively demanding; Bob reacts a little too sharply to his friend's criticisms of his stamina and abilities. Soon the mood turns dark, transforming the story into a psychological thriller, a variation of Richard Connell's much-imitated Most Dangerous Game (1924). Matheson effectively translates the basic story (man hunts man) into modern psycho-thriller terms. As always, his dialogue rings true, and his narration is lean and efficient. Recommended highly, both for Matheson's large and devoted following and for all readers of suspense stories. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (July 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765302713
• ISBN-13: 978-0765302717
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,808,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunate Trash, July 25, 2002

By A Customer

Richard Matheson is the author of one of the few horror classics, I Am Legend, and one of the most astute satires of 50's veneer, Stir of Echoes. Add to that the dozen or so great "Twilight Zone" episodes he wrote, and you have the basis for the cult following he enjoys.
Unfortunately, with this new book, Matheson has besmirched his reputation.
Hunted Past Reason is your basic chase story. Two men on a backpacking trip, one descends progressively into evil and we end up with a "game," where the bad guy is after the good guy, trying to kill him. Wrapped up in this is a metaphysical puzzle about whether there is life after death, and what happens because of the choices we make in this world.

All well and good, if not terribly original. But Matheson chooses to take the low road in his portrayal of the villain, with the most pornographic (yep, Matheson would have been arrested for this stuff in the 50's) and base images imaginable. The frequent use of four letter words and gross sexual commentary grows quickly tiresome, and reads like some fifteen-year-old's first attempt at "adult" storytelling. Or what he imagines is adult these days.
Which is the major disappointment here. Matheson, in his mid-70's, should be better than this. He should be giving us something more than juvi-porn-violence. Using the skills of a writing lifetime, he ought to be trying to reach for something that is great and lasting. Instead, he has merely penned a piece of fast-moving garbage.
If he believes, as his hero in the book, that we have to pay for the "bad" we do in this life with some sort of penance in the next, I'm afraid Matheson's going to be doing some hard time. He has tossed another trashy novel into our midst; we surely did not need any more of them.
There is some sloppy writing, too. ("Doug, let's continue with our hike, he imagined saying to Doug.") He has a character much too young to have been in Vietnam talking about killing people in Vietnam.

Matheson also piles on information about backpacking, so it seems like he's just copied a whole backpacking book. It's just clumsy. But I could have lived with all that. What I can't stomach is the story, and the way it's told.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tedious book that telegraphs each upcoming scene, August 19, 2002

By	Just Bill (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Richard Matheson is one of my favorite authors. His work with The Twilight Zone was stunning. His novels Bid Time Return (which later became the classic movie Somewhere in Time) and What Dreams May Come (which spawned a movie of the same name) are excellent.

So it was with great excitement that I discovered this book and bought it. A new Matheson novel! I couldn't wait to read it.

Boy was I disappointed.

Hunted Past Reason is a pedantic novel with dialog so heavy-handed and stilted that I'm not sure Matheson himself wrote it. How could he have? He's a master storyteller, a legend among legends!

Yet, there's his name on the book, and his photo on the dust jacket.

The story is about two supposed friends (more like acquaintances) who go backpacking in the wilderness. One man (Doug) is experienced. The other man (Bob) is not. But Bob agrees to go on the trek because he's writing a novel and wanted actual backpacking experience with which to add realism to his book. Somewhere along the way, Doug turns into a maniac and hunts Bob down with intent to kill him.

The friction between the two begins immediately...and clumsily. I could tell immediately what was going to happen, and how it was unfolding. The scenes were unbelievably transparent.

I never did feel any tension or suspense reading Hunted Beyond Reason. All I felt was a sickness in my stomach from the way-too-graphic scenes of violence (Bob being sodomized by Doug, for example). Ironically, I also found myself pressing forward to complete the novel with the same dogged determination that Bob and Doug pressed through the woods. Not because I was enjoying it, but because I had a destination in mind (the last page) and I wanted to get there as soon as possible.

I finished the book last night and felt nothing but relief that it was done. The book's premise is shaky, its dialog is clumsy, and its main characters are unbelievably written. Doug, for instance, is evil incarnate. Bob, on the other hand, compassionately talks to animals and even stops long enough in his haste to flee Doug that he frees a trapped mountain lion. Like, hello! You have a madman at your heels and you're playing Dr. Doolittle?

I can't recommend Hunted Beyond Reason. In fact, I heartily suggest you hunt for an entirely different Matheson novel...and let this one remain snoozing with its fellows on the book store shelf.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars torture, July 29, 2004

By	Ryan Thomas "Magazine Editor" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Hunted Past Reason (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is torturous to read. I have to ask if Matheson is going a bit senile in his old age. For a man who gave us I Am Legend, and Hell House, and Stir of Echos, and a bunch of other brilliant books, his latest releases (such as the reprinted Now You See It) are simply abysmal.

I am about forty pages from the end of this book and am seriouly considering not even finishing it. I've only not finished (excluding some books i hated in high school--The Good Earth anyone?) maybe four books my whole life.

Where to start with why this book is bad. Well, to begin, it's completely rehashed. Our hero spends two days getting chased through the California woods by a man who wants to kill him. And rape him. Can you say Deliverance? Okay, so the book acknowledges that part, as the endorsement even says it's "straight out of Deliverance" or some such nonsense. But come on, it's not even an original twist on the subject. It's the same as that stupid Ice T movie, as a bunch of television episodes from the 80s. The so-called "chase through the forest for your life" game. Secondly, these characters are boring archetypes. The hero who believes in karma practically has the ability to talk to woodland creatures. And the bad guy is just bad for no reason. Oh wait, he's jealous. Yes, that's right, he wants to kill his friend because he's jealous of said friend's success. C'mon, I don't buy it.

On top of that, anyone who's been hiking for a weekend or more knows that the odds of seeing a bear,a mountain lion, another bear, a rattle snake, etc, are slim at best. I'm surprised the hero didn't run into an elf, a goblin, Jimmy Hoffa, Atlantis, or any other elusive noun as well. And the lightning? Please!

And finally, and maybe this is a style opinion, but who actually has arguments with themselves when they're alone ALL DAY LONG! This character does this throughout the whole book:

Yeah right, all of a sudden I'm a champion swimmer, he thought to himself.

"Shut up Hansen, just keep moving."

Once or twice okay, but all the time? Is the character nuts or something?

Well, you get the idea, this book is not only a dissapointment but a complete piece of (insert expletive) from a writer who is otherwise truly gifted. Do yourself a favor and skip it.