Ghoul by Brian Keene Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ghoul
Book Review: A Genuine Disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
I should make it clear that I am not an elitist when it comes to horror novels. I like anything with compelling characters and situations that allow me to suspend my disbelief with ease. Ghoul has neither of these.
The basic premise is promising as ghouls have all but disappeared from the horror lexicon over the last 30 years or so. I was eager to see a new take on this creature. Trouble is, while the basic plot is interesting, it flip-flops from random extremity to random extremity with very little panache. Yes, it kept me reading, but it also made me wonder what Keene was going for.
Most of the characters are too extreme to be anything more than shadow puppets in this tale which is written on a sixth-grade reading level. I can accept that in a book for juveniles, but in a book that contains rapes, incest, child abuse, and wife-beatings it's a little hard to accept.
If you'd like to read a horror story with child protagonists, I'd suggest Orson Scott Card's LOST BOYS or Stephen King's IT.
Book Review: A fast read.
Summary: 4 Stars
This monster story is told from the perspective of a 12-year old boy, and while it's an entertaining story overall, it's difficult to acheive the suspension of disbelief necessary to really buy into the story. The references to the 1980s were really fun, but the boys' home lives really sucked.Book Review: A fun monster story
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a nice retro coming of age horror story. Though the 80's references were way too heavy handed during the first section of the novel (nearly one, sometimes two every line!) the author lightened up on the music and tv references and got on with the story. It's about a young boy and his two best friends and the summer when they must deal with everyday monsters as well as a slimy, corpse-eating ghoul. It's a fun monster book with a realistic ending if you're in the mood.
Book Review: A nice little read
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book with my boyfriend, and really liked it. The cast reminded me of the movie, "Stand by Me," but in a much darker setting. All in all, the book was spooky, exciting, and enjoyable.Book Review: A very good read.
Summary: 4 Stars
Brian Keene is my favorite horror writer, I've loved all of his books up until now, five star worthy, all of them. I really enjoyed Ghoul, but I didn't love it. I've never really cared for stories that have kids as the main characters, writers tend to get a little to cutesy for my taste. Sure I liked The Body, from Stephen King, but that was a short story.
Keene was able to overcome my usual indifference to this kind of story, and really got me interested in the characters. By the end, I was heartbroken about what happened to the Barry character, I was really pulling for him. There are a lot of references to 80s pop culture, and I can see how some might find it distracting, but being a child of the 80s myself, it gave me a kick to revisit this stuff through these characters. The story takes place in 1984, but the references span the 80s, that's kind of how it works for me too, it's all kind of jumbled together in one big stew of childhood memories.
I didn't love it, but I really liked it a lot, and I'll probably give it another read one of these days. If you've liked Keene's other work, then you'll probably like this as well.