Blood Games by Richard Laymon Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Blood Games
Book Review: By far the worst Laymon has to offer (imho)
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm a huge laymon fan but this was really bad. The writing was very disjointed and just plain didn't make any sense at times. I didn't hate it but compared to resurrection dreams or the beast house trilogy this is complete rubbish. I've read about 20 of his books so far and this is by far the worst I've read. I've liked everything else I've read so basically I'd recommend anything but this.Book Review: Calling It Dull, Would Insult Dull
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm going to be fair, & eventually read something else by Richard Laymon. But as an introduction to his work, apparently Blood Games was not a good choice.
Of course, supposedly I couldn't go wrong: after all Dean Koontz assured me I would have a great time with anything written by Laymon. Considering how much I dislike Koontz' schlock, I guess that should have been my first warning, but even Stephen King declared Laymon a "treat", & the back cover description of Blood Games sure sounded interesting.
Sadly, it's not. From boring page 1, all the way to the boring last page, it's one long, dull parade of boring. It's not shocking, it's not bloody, it's not gory, it's not very suspenseful, the "twist" when you "discover" the killer's identity is among the most yawn-inducing ever, & worst of all, I never once got the impression the story was about 5 mid-20s women. If it had been about 5 mid-20s male characters, I might have been a little more convinced, but I simply could not accept any of the characters as female.
On top of that, the book is laden with "flashback" chapters detailing the collegiate exploits of these young women. I don't care what the blurb at the top of this page says: those "flashbacks" are the WORST part about this book, not at all the best. They are utterly pointless, totally irrelevant to the rest of the story, offering virtually no redeeming value & no apparent reason why they were included.
I'm actually, for one of the few times ever, feeling robbed. Had I known what this story was actually going to be about, I would not have bought the book. The description on the back cover -- to me, at least -- strongly implied supernatural goings-on, ghosties & other such monstrous bump-in-the-night sort of things. But, no: it's just Deliverance, & honestly, it's not even THAT good. I will accept, for now, that other Laymon books will actually deserve to be called "horror", & that something will eventually justify all the hype he has received as a horror author.
Blood Games, however, is among the worst pieces of crap I've read in a long, long time. It actually doesn't even deserve ONE star; if I could give it 0 stars, I would. Pure, unmitigated schlock; skip it, at all costs.
Book Review: Don't waste your money...
Summary: 1 Stars
Blood Games is, quite possibly, one of the most disappointing books I've ever read. The premise is that five womem, who met in college and subsequently became best friends, meet for one week every year to carry on the "escapades" they began in college. The five friends take turns deciding where they will go for the time they're together, and this year the trip they take is to an abandoned resort as one of the women has a fondeness for the macabre. The real story is that the resort is haunted due to a previous tragedy, and that the evil that perpetrated said tragedy is still lurking about. The only real tragedy is the writing. As far as suspense goes, there isn't any. The plot is obvious and shallow. The author flashes back to the events and escapades of their college days, which, while somewhat creative, have absolutely no bearing on the current events. The flashbacks also show the five women to be cruel, vengeful, and two-dimensional; traits which follow them into the present story. The author also has an obvious obsession with female anatonmy, especially from the waist up. The women spend most of their time either nude, partially nude, thinking about becoming nude, or thinking about their friends being nude. The nudity has no bearing whatsoever on the plot. In essence, the book is a pathetic B-grade late-1970's style hacker movie, with gratuitous nudity thrown in the mix in an attempt to keep the movie in the theatre for more than one weekend. If you want good suspense, try a different author.Book Review: Excellent Book
Summary: 4 Stars
Blood Games was the first Laymon book I'd ever read, and fortunately it won't be the last! Overall I thought it was a rather interesting and at times thrilling novel. A group of women reunite each year at a different location. Unfortunately this year they choose an deserted resort with a bloody past...A good plot, very interesting characters with different personalities. I enjoyed the brief flashblacks the characters had throughout the book also. Thumbs up!!Book Review: GIRL POWER?
Summary: 3 Stars
Richard laymon's blood games is probably his tamest book...The story revolves around all female characters, all friends from college that take turns going different places for there yearly get together..This year there going to a roomy abandoned lodge in the middle of the woods, guess what happens next? One of them gets killed while the others aren't around and they assume whoever did it will be back for them so they spend almost the entire book getting ready for this with big quantitys of the book lost in flashbacks of all the good times they had in college together. While you think it's suspense thats building it seems more to me like alot of wasted pages, i'm not sure why laymon choose this route, but i don't think it was very effective and the payoff all together is not very effective at all...Some laymon fans enjoyed this one...I started too and then it fell apart, not his best.