Forever Will You Suffer (Mass Market Paperback)

by Gary Frank (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Can true love conquer an onslaught of horrors that includes a taxi-driving zombie and flesh-rending spiderlike monsters? Readers will find themselves sorely challenged to stick with this scattershot spooker long enough to find out. Events kick into overdrive in the opening pages as bookstore clerk Rich Summers is hijacked by a reanimated corpse from the cemetery where he has been visiting the graves of his mother and sister and deposited at the home of Katarina, a former girlfriend. Katarina is missing, and shortly after Rich finds this out from her new lover, Meggan, the house morphs into another dimension where replays of grim events from distant pasts and alternate realities regularly occur. Frank writes with admirable energy, but the relentlessly escalating weirdness of his story leaves little room for development of characters or plot. As a result, this debut novel plays out like a feature-length B-movie horror trailer: intriguing, fast-paced, but unfulfilling. (Feb.)
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Product Description
Unsuspecting Rick Summers had simply gone to the cemetary to visit the graves of his mother and sister, killed in a car accident years earlier. He had the cabbie wait for him. But when he got back into the taxi, he didn't have the same driver. His new chauffeur was a re-animated corpse. And he was about to take a drive into hell.

The doors to hell open in the house of his ex-lover, Katarina, where he is delivered by his not-so-sweet-smelling driver. Rick learns that Katarina is missing and has been recently plagued by a stalker. That's just the beginning of the bad news. When the house changes right before their unbelieving eyes, taking them somewhen and somewhere else, a horrifying mystery begins to unfold. At its heart is unrequited love. And Rick Summers.

It seems that several lifetimes ago, Rick, then Thomas, spurned a woman named Abigail. Not a good idea. Because Abigail's great at holding a grudge, some of her best friends are demons, and she's dedicated to keeping a promise she made to Rick long, long ago. "Forever will I remember; forever will you suffer . . ."

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: Medallion Press (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932815694
• ISBN-13: 978-1932815696
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting idea, but poor pacing and horrid dialogue, February 6, 2006

By	Craig (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This book has a promising start. Rick Summers, the protagonist of this effort from Frank, has just finished visiting the cemetery to mourn his mom and sister. He gets into a cab, and immediately finds that his driver has been replaced by a corpse. A good start, but it's soon downhill from there.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but I will talk about what hurts this book. Most noticably, the dialogue throughout is stilted and mind-numbing. The characters don't seem capable of any discussion that doesn't focus on flirting, and their deepest statements sound like something a 7th-grader might come up with. Even their thoughts are boring, especially those of Rick, who seems to spend most of his time thinking about how much he'd like to get every female character in this novel into the sack. When he's not concentrating on bedding each woman, or thinking about lesbian action, he turns his mind to other important pursuits like drinking. At points, the book seems like some young man's fantasy life - getting drunk and having sex with hot women.

As for the story, there are a couple of problems. The first is that much of it is nonsensible. There are some great ideas, but the author doesn't manage to tie them well together. Added to that is the pacing, which is erratic. Too much time is spent on certain parts, which makes it plodding, while interesting scenes are really glossed over. Again, there are the makings of an interesting story, but they're lost in the clutter.

This one may have been saved had the hero been someone with whom we could sympathize, but he's not. Really, I couldn't have cared less by book's end about his fate. This isn't the worst book I've read, but it's not something I would recommend.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit erratic at first, but then very enjoyable, February 10, 2006

By	Jon A (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

What I've noticed most about all the reviews for this book is that they don't mention the past life aspect of the story. This isn't your typical serial killer out for revenge, but a woman who's been around for a long, long time who's been hurt and is pretty angry about it. I don't recall ever reading a horror novel like this one.

Though the first half of the book could've used more editing both in dialog and storyline, the second half of the book settles in for a great read. The story is entertaining and the entire book reads quick. Yes, there are some horror cliches here, but they take away from the story.

I don't think the dialog is anywhere near as bad as some people suggest, nor does Rick spend every scene wanting to get drunk and have sex. Yes, there are a couple of scenes where Rick oggles women, but it seems that this is who Rick is.

All in all, for a debut novel, I'd say this one's pretty good. Frank has potential to do some great work a long as he remembers to edit and then edit again.

2.0 out of 5 stars The Suffering, September 10, 2007

By	Throbbin' Hood "Carlin's Ghost" (Limbo) - See all my reviews

Frank offers a wonderful debut novel here. The storyline is quite original and has great potential.

However it does move but at a horribly, slow pace! The characters are almost cartoonish in nature, and the reader seldom cares what happens to them. Torture, pure torture in trying to get through this novel. There were too many words that could have been left on the editor's desk, or put into another novel.

Maybe I'll give it another read later on down the road. But for right now, I can't handle the pain of sifting through this tome.