Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply amazing; best thriller I've read since "Misery", December 27, 1999
To me, there are 3 things that make for a great novel (besides the subject matter, obviously). One, the longer, the better. Two, trying to resist the temptation to peek ahead to the next page, and three, you want to race through it because it's so good, yet at the same time you don't want it to end either. Needless to say, "The 5th Horseman" easily accomplishes all three. It's the best combination of mystery, thrills and horror since Stephen King's "Misery" nine years earlier. I finished both in a week. I've become quite a big SH fan as of late; I've seen the Tim Burton movie over 20 times, I finally read the original short story and picked up the awesome Disney cartoon on video (it had been nearly 15 years since I last watched it), and acquiring this book was the icing on the cake. I purely discovered it by accident on some website, which made me feel like a 49er hitting paydirt during the Gold Rush. Normally I have a disdain for books written in the first person, but it works well here. I loved how it was set in modern times, since we're already familiar with the town of over 200 years ago, and the plot had me hooked on nearly every page. The author's incredible knowledge of Sleepy Hollow's rich history and the detailed background on the Headless Horseman (I had no idea what the Hessians were until I read the story) blew me away. It was as if Gonzalez was actually there in person for the entire Revolutionary War. The numerous and diverse characters, ranging from amateur sleuths to crazy ministers and airheaded cops, are so well detailed; you'll find yourself either disliking, laughing at or rooting for them. The story hardly drags at all and the ending, although somewhat outrageous, is a pure nail-biter. It's so complex, you'll almost feel as if you're part of the environment yourself. Even grizzled horror writers like King and Dean Koontz would be proud of something like this. The only thing I didn't like about the book were the numerous punctuation and mechanical errors, but it didn't lessen my love for the story one bit. In my humble opinion, the Headless Horseman is one of the best villains to ever grace a movie screen or the inside of a book, and is right up there with such legends as Dracula or Frankenstein as the best horror characters ever. Hats (or is it heads?) off to Mr. Gonzalez; I hope he'll pen a sequel or something else pertaining to SH in the future. Order a copy today and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I and many other readers did.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
follows in the "hoofprints" of the orginal story., November 28, 1999
This book is rich in the history and culture of both modern day and colonial Sleepy Hollow;although it never gets boring. Keeps you guessing right till the very end as to the orgins of the horseman;loved the new Tim Burton movie and loved this book. If you have a Sleepy Hollow fan on your gift list,this would be a great present.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Fifth Horseman, A Sleepy Hollow Legend, May 5, 2000
I was very impressed with Mr. Gonzalez's book. I knew very little of the Sleepy Hollow Legend until I went on a business trip to the U.S. and was highly recommended to read this book by a new writer in town. I ordered it through (you guessed it) Amazon.com and started reading it in the Airport. From the very beginning, one notices his well made research on the subject which allows one to become easily absorbed by the story. Throught the book, his well thought out words leads one into the keen suspense of the plot. The ending was so vivid with detail and activity that time did not provide much of itself to become distracted. After coming back home (Bogota, Colombia)from that trip, I've become very interested in the Legend and am currently looking up all I can on the subject. I truely hope that Gregg Gonzalez will continue with his writing ventures, and provide us with more of himself in black and white.
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