This book was recommended to me. I'd never heard of David Morrell, and if it wasn't recommended, I wouldn't have picked it up. The magic of goodreads. First, it's about an abandoned hotel and about 5 urban explorers looking for archeological finds. That intrigued me immediately. The slang term for these explorers is "creepers" and it's a highly illegal activity, so that makes for great fiction in my book. They are joined by a reporter, Frank, whose motives are to write an article, but his entire agenda is not disclosed to them, but is revealed later. As the history of the hotel and in particular the man who maintained and owned it, Carlisle, is revealed, it adds a new air of mystery of 'what happened to this beautiful place'? Carlisle was a hemophiliac, and somewhat of a recluse, and the group finds some police reports to give clues about what strange events took place in the hotel. There are a few more surprises in the book, but the knowledge of that history comes into play, and what they find is not what they expected. A great thrill ride - I basically read this in one day. There were so many things that intrigued me about this. The idea of urban explorers & the dangers of an abandoned building in the dark, Frank's real agenda, and of course the fascinating history of this once luxurious hotel. The characters were good, and the dialogue was realistic. Once I bought into the whole idea of where they were and what they were doing, I was totally hooked. I wanted to find out more, and I wanted them to be okay. It was a great story, well constructed, plenty of suspenseful moments, surprises, and as the story unfolded I was more fascinated. The hotel itself, The Paragon, is a character in this story as well. I related her to an aging beauty - one who was beautiful and grand in her heyday but now has become dilapidated, rotten, and forgotten through the evils of time. It was great fun to imagine what she would have looked like when Carlisle first built her. He must've had a great love for the hotel, and it was fascinating to learn it's history.The only thing I had a problem with was the character of Tod. He was one of three would-be thieves who leaves the creepers for dead, then returns to join them when his other two partners in crime go missing. I felt the group was too quick to take him along, after he had ill motives. I felt that he should've been watched a little more closely, although he does prove himself to be useful in certain ways. I guess every story has to have at least one undesirable character (other than the villain) that everyone has to tolerate. I don't know where this ranks among other of David Morrell's books, but I liked it a lot and I'd be willing to read more of his books.
This was an odd book. Some aspects struck me as cheesy (listening on audiobook), but man it was intense, and the bad guy is a piece of work. Actually, there were other bad guys, which were a complete surprise (and they were complete jack*sses that made me want to jump into the story and do some b****slapping).The genre of this book seems to vary as I listened. At first, was it adventure? Then it was mystery. Then, horror...but supernatural or human monster variety? The violent parts come suddenly and are somewhat brutal. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I was gasping in horror and talking to myself as I listened on my commute. I'm working on my language, and I had to restrain myself from cursing at the bad guys. The characters didn't immediately strike me as memorable. But Mr. Balenger, well he earned my respect. Goodness gracious, what this man has gone through. But I have to say it really prepared him to be the hero in the ordeal that their little urban exploration jaunt into a long-abandoned hotel on the Jersey Shore will bring them to face. At first, he's a man who seems mysteriously knowledgeable and capable in emergency situations for a mere, mild-mannered reporter. And strangely bossy. But then, you know why. He comes through big time, and I definitely wanted to give him a high five. But he's also very human. The everyman sort of hero, kind of like John McClane from Die Hard, in a way. I also liked Amanda and Vinny. I felt bad for a few other characters who had some messed up crap happen to them.And the main villain. What a sicko lowlife scumbag, for sure! I mean, seriously??? What did I learn from this book?*Creepers, the nickname for urban explorers, are crazy as heck! *Every experience you go through in your life will come in handy, so pay attention!!*Minutiae and trivial facts might buy time if you can spout them off when you are dealing with bad guy losers who want to end your life.*Stay my butt out of abandoned old buildings.*People can be seriously messed up in the head!*There is a such thing as poetic justice.I didn't love this book (some parts just seemed cheesy to me), but it was an interesting read on audiobook. At any rate, I was sucked in big time.
What do You think about Creepers (2005)?
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. I DON'T HIDE MY REVIEWS, BUT I DON'T PUT THEM OUT ON A FEED OR BLOG.The title is apt since the story's about creepers -- explorers of abandoned urban structures -- and is itself creepy.In fact I'd call this a horror crime thriller.Morrell expertly delivers a story in multi layers. Just when you think it's only about a creepers club, you learn the target building, a hotel, has a history of a rich, perverted owner who spied on his guests, some of whom committed, or were victims of, serious crimes. Not just is there a macabre history to the building, soon the exploring party learns there are violent criminals stalking them in the building.Then, there's a ultra-weirdo stalker stalking the original stalkers plus the explorers.The deserted, decrepit hotel turns into another adversary, as its stairs and floors start giving way, as the explorers try to outwit their various opponents.Among the explorers, conflicting agendas also emerge, creating more tension.When several survivors of the original exploring party escape via a water conduit, are dumped out on a nearby beach, I was totally frazzled.The book was quite effective at keeping me puzzled and scared. I just wish Morrell would have justified the presence of mutant cats (with extra limbs) in the building. He raised them at the beginning, mentioned them at various turns, yet never explains them. The "compleat writer" doesn't leave hanging threads.
—J
This book was pretty exciting and fast-paced, but did not have much substance, in my opinion. It provided a unique look at history from the perspective of an urban explorer, which was pretty cool. But the characters in the story were not very fleshed out. It was also difficult to identify with any of them, because we never really knew much about them, and never found out. This is probably just as well, because, like in many thrillers, all of the characters were dead by the end of the book, excep
—Michael
CreepersI picked up this book in my building’s laundry room and idly brought it to my apartment. I read the first chapter, stopped, watched a documentary called Urban Explorers, and then read the book.Urban explorers are people who explore abandoned buildings. “Real” explorers are careful to not disturb the buildings they explore; they only take pictures, no souvenirs. In the beginning of Creepers a group of five people are preparing to enter the Paragon Hotel which is slated for demolition in a few weeks. The protagonist is Frank Balenger, who has been invited by a college professor, Robert Conklin along with three of Conklin’s former students, Vinnie, a teacher, and a married couple, Cora and Rick. Frank explains to the group he’s writing an article on urban explorers, though he assures them he won’t use their real names. What they are doing is technically illegal, though it’s a very benign form of breaking and entering.The Paragon is in New Jersey and it was built as a luxury hotel by an agoraphobic hemophiliac, Morgan Carlisle as a way to bring the world to him. He lived in a penthouse and had the hotel built with secret hallways, so he could spy on all the hotel patrons. However, in 1971, at age 92, he committed suicide.To tell more about the plot would spoil the story. I will say that David Morrell has written a very atmospheric book, though the atmosphere doesn’t quite work with the resolution. I read this book eagerly, slamming it shut at one point because it was late and I was worried I’d get too freaked out to sleep. As it was I woke up twice that night, gasping as I frantically listened for grim grinning ghosts to come out to socialize.However, at risk of spoiling (so stop here if you don’t want to risk it) I will say the resolution didn’t quite work for me. It relied on a lot of strange factors and coincidences that stretch believablity to the breaking point. In a way, it reminded me of the end of Jeffery Deaver’s novel Coffin Dancer. At the risk of seeming pedestrian, I’ll say that the resolution of Coffin Dancer made me think: “Ah! Okay, sure. Let me think. Okay, yeah that works.” The resolution of Creepers elicited the reaction of “Really? That’s what you’re going with? Okay, it works - but really?”
—Liz
