|
|
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Campbell`s best suspense chiller yet, 17 Jul 2001
By A Customer
SILENT CHILDREN contains some of the most disturbing scenes commited to paper in the last few years. Sure, Campbell is well regarded for his ability to convey chilling encounters with forces you can only describe as supernatural, but here he eschews his spookiness for something closer to home ... and, as a result, much more scary.Many readers will find Campbell`s prose something of an acquired taste -- it`s often surreal, often overly mannered -- but once you`re into it it`s very effective. Hector Wooley, the villian of this book is perhaps Campbell`s finest creation since Jack Orchard (the Stan Laurel inspired serial killer of his fine novel THE COUNT OF ELEVEN), he is funny and gruesome and deadly serious. Moving with pace and precision, never the easiest trick, Campbell shows the disintigration of a family`s life when one of its members dissapears (well, is taken by Wooley) and the subsequent recriminations. If the struggling American horror writter (Campbell`s books are sadly no longer published in the UK) is a little bit of autobiography, we can forgive Ramsey that much. SILENT CHILDREN, then, is a must read. The black humour will have you laughing out loud, but the scenes where Wooley attempts to entertain his stolen children will disturb you to the bone. If you want to be seriously disturbed, read this book. If you don`t, then perhaps you`d be better off staying away.
|
(1 customer review)
See all customer reviews...
