Endless Night by Richard Laymon , book review

I've been reading so much lately that I'm 12 book reviews behind and STILL behind in progress to my 100 books a year goal, good thing that making it up is so much fun :) Here's an oldy but good for Laymon fans and those who are just getting into horror and suspense, I've had a quiet Sunday and  somewhere between making a fresh cheese at home  ( an Indian paneer ) and a coconut flan custard with vanilla I managed to squeeze out a review:

Endless Night by Richard Laymon 1993
One night you wouldn't wish for you worst enemy

I have read over a dozen of Laymon novels and yes by the way I am a fan, when you crave the kind of story that only he writes so well nothing else can satisfy. At least that's how I see it, take a bunch of sympathetic level headed kids, a crazed killer on their tail ( with a very flamboyant but totally cold soul) and you have some page gripping moments, you'd want to read this over the weekend if you have some time to put into this, it's an entertaining ride and it's well embellished for those who like some icky moments. Once again Laymon proves that his well used formula of bad men after pretty girls works to grip the reader, Jody is on a sleepover at a friend's house when noise wakes her up, what happens next is the appetizer of the story which sets up the tone and the urgency for the reminder of the novel, there is no time to breathe nor relax when this wild ride starts, and get used to creepy, crazy and nasty it can appear at any time in Laymon's world. I miss you man, wish you were still around to churn out some more...

This story line echoed a bit of Dean Koontz's "Intensity" which was an amazing book, a must read for horror fans, it has that nasty literary surprise of being in the wrong place at the wrong time but taken to another level, you're at your friends house at a sleepover and her whole family except for one boy gets hacked to pieces, talk about picking the wrong night and what it will take to keep your precious life!

Jody manages to escape along with the reader through some well written pages - I was pulling the paper to the point of breakage, but what waits for her next isn't any easier. One person in particular from the bunch of mysterious killers is on her trail, not only is he meant to kill and silence her but he's smitten with her as well, talk about double lousy luck! There are many unlucky houses that he uses to hide in or use something from, and those descriptions were the most interesting in the book because he gets quite creative with all that he finds in each house, the residents included - nothing is wasted, scalps included... but overall the whole story had a quick and crazy pace, there is no rest until the last page. I'm happy that the ending was pretty shocking, it was explosive until the last letter and period sign and sometimes I read an amazing and suspenseful book where the bad buy gets a buh-bye in a page or two after hours of torment, that to me is almost a cop out, this guarantees a satisfying finish, good or bad you judge but it was a great weekend read for those who like a crazy horror book or those who are Laymon fans, enjoy!

- Kasia S.