Pact of the Fathers: Amazon.co.uk: Ramsey Campbell: 9780312878696: Books

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The smile the young receptionist behind the steel-grey horseshoe of a desk offered Daniella was by no means purely professional. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining chiller, but far from Campbell's best, 3 Feb 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Pact of the Fathers (Hardcover)

PACT OF THE FATHERS is a fine exercise in creeping paranoia and a welcome new novel by one of the greatest horror writers of the last 30 years. However, this book might disappoint those readers enamored of Ramsey Campbell's past works. Like Campbell's suspense novels of recent years, PACT doesn't deal in supernatural horrors. You will not find in this book any of the inexplicable terror or the dreadful sense of impending revelation, of terrible things stirring restlessly below the surface or at the edges of perception, that distinguishes many of his unforgettable horror tales (eg, THE INFLUENCE and INCARNATE). Although an undercurrent of pervasive unease runs through much of PACT OF THE FATHERS, Campbell seems more interested here in engaging the reader with sprightly, cinematic storytelling. And for the most part he succeeds.

Yet, entertaining as it is, PACT OF THE FATHERS is far below the quality of Campbell's best work. Campbell's usually stellar prose occasionally feels unfocused here, giving rise to moments of unintended awkwardness. And whereas his stories tend to unfold in a natural, unpredictable fashion, the progression of this story relies too much on contrived situations and coincidences. These, though, are minor complaints, which don't detract too much from one's enjoyment of the book. A more substantial problem, for me, was the novel's conclusion. After hundreds of pages spent carefully building a rich atmosphere of quiet tension and paranoia, the mood is shattered by an unconvincing, melodramatic climax, complete with pat resolution; the kind of too-neat wrap-up we expect from a Hollywood thriller, but not from Ramsey Campbell.

Even with its flaws, PACT OF THE FATHERS is an entertaining, well-written novel. Of course, Campbell's fans don't need a review to make them seek out his latest effort; however, readers new to Campbell might get a better sense of his work from some of his earlier books. 3 � stars.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a throwback, 10 Jan 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Pact of the Fathers (Hardcover)

More than any other book he's produced in recent years, this one most resembles the stuff Mr C was producing in the early 80s (Nameless, and Obsession, etc). This is no bad thing, but the quality of those early books don't match the brilliant books he's produced recently,(Nazareth Hill, and the brill Silent Children).

This one's not the widescreen production we're becoming used to from Mr C; rather it's a TV movie of the week thing. You watch/read it and forget about it. There's only one genuine moment of unease in the book -- an early scene where the heroine is walking a country lane to her father's grave.

So so.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 2.2 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars flat and uninvolving, 5 Feb 2004

By David Group - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Pact of the Fathers (Paperback)

This novel never really shifted into second gear. There were few surprises, much of the plot was painfully obvious, and there were far too many descriptions of insignificant things. There was not much sense of menace or suspense in this so-called horror novel, and the climax felt rushed and tacked on. A major disappointment from this usually stellar author.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not bad...execrable!, 4 Sep 2002

By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Pact of the Fathers (Hardcover)

I'm sure glad I got this book from the library instead of spending money on it. Too bad I wasted time reading it.

The premise of the story has a great deal of promise, but the heroine is rude, snotty, apparently not too bright and doesn't learn very fast. If she's becoming paranoid, why is it that she trusts just about everyone she meets?

The characterization is so poorly done that I felt no loathng for the bad guys and didn't really care that the good guys won.

There's no suspense in any of the book and the story lacks gradual buildup to the final climax.

I have read that Campbell is a master at his craft, but I wouldn't read anything else of his based on this work.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A flawed but engaging thriller; not quite classic Campbell, 3 Feb 2002

By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Pact of the Fathers (Hardcover)

PACT OF THE FATHERS is a fine exercise in creeping paranoia and a welcome new novel by one of the greatest horror writers of the last 30 years. However, this book might disappoint those readers enamored of Ramsey Campbell's past works. Like Campbell's suspense novels of recent years, PACT doesn't deal in supernatural horrors. You will not find in this book any of the inexplicable terror or the dreadful sense of impending revelation, of terrible things stirring restlessly below the surface or at the edges of perception, that distinguishes many of his unforgettable horror tales (eg, THE INFLUENCE and INCARNATE). Although an undercurrent of pervasive unease runs through much of PACT OF THE FATHERS, Campbell seems more interested here in engaging the reader with sprightly, cinematic storytelling. And for the most part he succeeds.

Yet, entertaining as it is, PACT OF THE FATHERS is far below the quality of Campbell's best work. Campbell's usually stellar prose occasionally feels unfocused here, giving rise to moments of unintended awkwardness. And whereas his stories tend to unfold in a natural, unpredictable fashion, the progression of this story relies too much on contrived situations and coincidences. These, though, are minor complaints, which don't detract too much from one's enjoyment of the book. A more substantial problem, for me, was the novel's conclusion. After hundreds of pages spent carefully building a rich atmosphere of quiet tension and paranoia, the mood is shattered by an unconvincing, melodramatic climax, complete with pat resolution; the kind of too-neat wrap-up we expect from a Hollywood thriller, but not from Ramsey Campbell.

Even with its flaws, PACT OF THE FATHERS is an entertaining, well-written novel. Of course, Campbell's fans don't need a review to make them seek out his latest effort; however, readers new to Campbell might get a better sense of his work from some of his earlier books. 3 � stars.

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