Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oh what a night, 1 Dec 2002
If you like horror and enjoy reading for pleasure and entertainment only, you should take a look at Laymon. This is not Faulkner; you are not going to learn anything from this book. This is the second Laymon novel I have read, and I must say I enjoyed this much more than I did Bite. The characters were a little more real this time, and a couple of them were even likeable. I still can't really figure Laymon out; the whole time I am reading him, I have a gnawing feeling that the guy is just a hack, yet he does a good job of keeping my interest and entertaining me. He's just here to tell a good story, and it may be unfair of me to expect something more from him--Laymon certainly seems comfortable in his style, and I admire him for that. That in itself is the sign of a good, confident writer. And he does tell a good story. Action is the name of the game here; the writing style is very direct. Basically, all of the important characters wind up wet at some point, so we must judge them by how they act under abnormal and normal conditions in order to "understand" them. Good and bad exists in all of us, and Laymon certainly seems to recognize this fact. One thing sticks out in my mind--I am bemused by the fact that Laymon's characters are always hungry. They can survive an assault by a bunch of wet, black, terrifying people and then immediately sit down to eat: restaurant employees (those still alive) start serving dinner before dead rioters can even be stowed away. Denise and Kara, a teenager and young girl (the true heroes in my mind), eat popcorn in between acts of defending their very lives. When I think of some of the actions and events in this book now, they almost seem laughable. While you are reading it, though, these things don't matter. Laymon makes it all work somehow. Those disgusted by gore should not even be reading this review, yet Laymon's gore is not as bad as it is made out to be; the gore in this book belongs here, really, and it does not seem to be employed purely for shock value. Laymon is unique; some will like him and some will not, but you can't know how you will react to him until you actually try him out.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast paced and grusome, 10 Aug 1999
By A Customer
A warm black rain starts falling in a small town, the strange rain has a terrifying effect on the behavior of the locals.......... Laymon is on top form here, this delivers everything you have come to expect from the author. In spades. The action does not stop for a second, dragging you brutally along at a breakneck pace. Do not start this book unless you have time to finish it NOW, you will not want to put it down !
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A blood thisty tale of unrelenting violence., 4 Feb 2009
First published back in 1990, `One Rainy Night' came at half way through Laymon's career.
Following Laymon's fast paced, action packed, blood filled formula for creating a novel that will be adored by many horror fans, `One Rainy Night' does not disappoint when it comes to an intensive splatter-punk style tale of blood lust and unrelenting violence.
With huge similarities to novels such as James Herbert's `The Fog', David Moody's `Hater' and Danny Boyle's 2002 film '28 Days Later...', `One Rainy Night' sees a large proportion of the population (in this case the vast majority of a town), turn into psychotic killers when they are subjected to the mysterious black rain that starts falling on the town.
From very early on the reader is thrown into the nail biting tension and claustrophobic fear that surrounds the town as the story spirals into an almost post-apocalyptic scenario that is not too dissimilar in feel to Laymon's classic novel `The Quake' that came out five years later.
The blood starts spilling from every page, with moments that appear to be lifted straight from any one of Romero's `Dead' series.
A somewhat weak sub-plot is threaded loosely along the novels storyline, that half tries to explain the mysterious turn of events as some sort of voodoo curse that was visited upon the town in the way of revenge for crimes upon a particular family. This half-baked explanation is not necessary to the overall enjoyment and structure of the novel, but does not really detract at all from the tale.
Yet again, Laymon throws in a collection of comic book style colourful characters that are brought to vivid life with their individual loveable and instantly identifiable traits.
The violence is strong yet not over descriptive that allows for the `Dawn of The Dead' style of comic gore. Even with this, the reader is subjected to bursts of suspense throughout that will leave you on the edge of your seat at the end of each and every chapter.
For those who are relatively new to Laymon's work, this is a good novel to approach first, with classic Laymon touches and his non-stop blood drenched action formula that is sure to please almost every fan of horror.
The novel lasts for a total of 410 blood soaked pages, of which all 410 of these will keep your heart racing, as you sit there perched on the edge of your seat.
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