I’m going to be honest in the reasoning in my reasons for buying Jack Ketchum’s Joyride. My cheapness in pages per dollar came into my decision not to buy the very short novella, Weed Species. Looking at the cover and seeing these epically evil plants (and I love my plant based horror, apart from the horrendously frustrating Garden of Evil by Edmund Le Plante – which I hope is a pseudonym!) it was hard to resist.But along comes Leisure who have released an impressive catalogue of Ketchum’s work, and give us Weed Species as a bonus story with the novel Joyride. At the usual low low prices, I certainly couldn’t resist this time! Let’s look at the main novel first.Carole is a nice enough, slightly posh woman who has been driven to hell and back by her abusive ex-husband. He really did a number on her with beatings, rape, etc. Now she’s with Lee, and the two are moderately happy together…apart that the ex-husband still pops around now and then for threats, harassment and the odd rape. The police haven’t done a thing, so the couple decide to indulge in some vigilante action, involving a seldom used hiking trail and a baseball bat.Enter Wayne. Wayne is your town nutjob. In his twenties and working bar, he has a deep seeded resentment for basically everyone and a secret obsession with murder. After a failed romantic walk with his girlfriend, he takes a minute to rest, overlooking the trail.This is where Wayne sees something he wasn’t supposed to see.Now Wayne wants to be their best friend and share in the thrill of murder. Carole and Lee aren’t so keen, but how can you argue with a mad man?Ketchum, as usual, hits the road running and never lets up. The novel slips by and you don’t even feel it going in. Ketchum just has this pace and sharp edge to his words that few can compare with. He keeps the plot rooted in reality, with absolutely no supernatural element whatsoever. The subject of a man who finally gives into his bloodlust in such an explosive way, while some may see this as Ketchum simply ticking his own extreme violence box, is gritty and actually, close to real life events.It was an interesting read, as at the time of finishing, I thought it was quite a shallow read. Ketchum in third gear, Ketchum providing the cheap thrills, but with a paler moral stance than say The Girl Next Door. Only a few days after it did I start to think about it. Yes, murdering random strangers is bad, but it raises questions such as is the murder of a bad person make it acceptable? Does an ignorant society breed psychopaths?Ketchum also has the stereotypical cop hot on the trail, but with a few atypical character flaws. A decent subplot.Onto Weed Species. Now, the mistake I’d made (as I believe others had in the past) was that this was a story about plants. How very wrong.A very different couple from Joyride, Sherry and Owen are serial rapists, and murderers when the situation demands it. Weed Species follows them over many years, revealing their exploits, the repercussions and how their presence affects the community (like a weed species. No plants).This is the most rape-tastic story I have ever read. It reminded me of that famous scene from Dusk til Dawn. We got rape! We got date rape! We got anal rape! You like oral rape? We got oral rape! How about some anal rape followed by oral rape? We got lesbian rape! We got incest rape! We kinky rape! We got torturous rape!Lots of raping. Be interesting to see what percentage of the page count doesn’t have any raping.Ketchum really lets his hair down here on the pure gross out and explicit details. Funnily enough, just before reading this, I discussed in interviews how the first draft of Samhane was more extreme. However, Weed Species certainly would have aced it in the full-on rape stakes. Seriously, I cannot warn you enough, if you have a nervous disposition regarding rape, do not read this story. I’ve seen readers say they’re ashamed to own this book.Is it any good? It was okay, I guess. I prefer other Ketchum titles, but this was still a good, fast read, but definitely not for everyone.
Joyride by Jack KetchumLeisure304 pages (including a bonus novella Weed Species)Re-issue of 1995 novel (AKA Roadkill)I really enjoyed Ketchum's novel Red, and let me just say that his novel “the Girl Next Door” is one of the most brutal and intense horror novels I ever read. I was excited to crack open this book, but in the end I was disappointed. Joyride is the story of Carole and her lover Lee. Carole's powerful ex-husband wouldn't leave her alone, and no matter how he harassed her, or in some cases violently attacked and raped her, he seems to get away with it every time. Lee and Carole make the decision to pull off the perfect murder. It would have been perfect if a bartender Wayne didn't happen to be in the woods watching them. After they show up in his bar, he decides to black mail them, not for money but to re-kindle the excitement of the murder on a trip of serial killings.Ketchum has a excellent reputation in horror and Leisure understands that a Ketchum book will come packaged with a new Stephen King blurb. Each one of his last few books have hyperbolic King declarations my favorite being that you wont sleep until Christmas if you read this book. This time King says you shouldn't open this book unless your ready to finish that night. So maybe after you finish this review you'll take his word over mine. Without the well earned reputation that Ketchum has this novel would never have seen print.The central plot to Joyride to me is too much of stretch. Wayne happens to be in the woods at the right time to see the murder, and they happen to come into his bar the next day. Ok fine I'll go with it, but the major problem here is the structure. The novel begins with Carole's ex-husband breaking in and raping her, at least I think it does. Everything happens so quick at the beginning I wasn't sure who was who yet. And when Carole and Lee murder her powerful ex-husband I didn't know enough about the story to really understand why I cared. Why murder? Why not go to police?After the murder and before the main blackmail plot began, the novel's point of view shifts to the cop who had been following Carole's ex-husband and the case, now he is charged with investigating his murder. It is from his point of view that we get the horrible back story of Carole's marriage. This is the most horrific part of the novel. The problem is we are not shown this part of the tale, we are told this is part of the tale.To me the abuse Carole suffered in her marriage and the breaking point she reaches is the most compelling part of the novel. By the time we learn those details there is no pay-off, no revenge to be had. He is already dead. I didn't find the storyline of Wayne black mailing them and taking them on a serial killing road trip to be compelling or believable. Characters are quickly introduced in obvious attempts to make us care in time for them to become victims.Joyride reminded me of the Brad Pitt movie Kalifornia which did a better job of putting a couple in this situation. I did not enjoy this novel, only libraries that are serious about having complete horror collections really need to get this one. If you don't have any Ketchum in your collection your better off starting with Red, Offseason or The Girl Next Door.
What do You think about Joyride (1995)?
Like most Ketchum novels, this story unfolds around a simple plot: A man with a murderous heart has been keeping a list of names for a future retaliation. One day, he witnesses two stranger murder someone and try to cover it up. Inspired by the kill, he takes his list of names, along with a few weapons, and takes the two strangers captive for his joyride. He feels a strong connection with the two since they have actually done something he has only dreamed of. Now, they will be there for his brutal slayings and mayhem.I got the hardcover edition from Cemetery Dance Publications, which includes Ketchum's signature on the title page. This is one of 1,000 copies and there are still some left. If you like thriller novels with a lot of psychological investigation and a heroine cop with his own life problems, this is for you.In true Jack Ketchum style, you will find a dark, ominous tone throughout the entire story. Jack writes characters that have dark pasts, or who are struggling with intense emotional problems. He brings them to life, makes them real, and causes us to grip the book and hold on for the ride.
—Chris
You know how sometimes you're hungry but don't want anything too big or heavy so you skip the big meal and just settle for a sandwich? Well that's what splatterpunk is to me: it's a snack! Road Kill (or Joyride) is a 183 page novel that scoffs at character development, frowns at over long plots and instead offers you as much violence, gore and fast paced, fucked up action as your stomach can handle. Sure, the characters lack depth but with a book like this all you need to know is there's bad guys and there's good guys. Who cares if their dad got drunk once and slapped them about a bit back in 1942? All you need to know is they're messed up and that's that. But perhaps this is why Ketchum is such a genius. By the half way point of reading this, I felt I knew the characters well and actually cared about them which isn't easy with a book of this length. This book is not a masterpiece, it's that naughty little sandwich you have whilst you're waiting for dinner.
—Ben Smith
After _The Girl Next Door_ I went back to my local used bookstore. This was the only other Ketchum on the shelf. It was not as good, and substantiated some of the criticisms that I had of _Girl._ Still, it was good, an engaging, easy read.In the afterword, Ketchum says he got the idea for the book from Zola's La Bete Humaine, which includes a scene in which a man watches two people murder someone and then vows to meet them. I suppose there could a be a lot of Zola in this book--I haven't read much of him, and certainly not La Bete Humaine. But what it reminded more of was John D. MacDonald, particularly _The End of the Night_, which is similarly a tale about a multi-state killing spree told from varying perspectives.The whole vibe of the book harkens back to drugstore paperback thrillers, with ads in the back and a frontispiece that highlights some scene from deep in the book. (But this is contemporary--the pull out has no problem reprinting the f-word.)There are differences, of course, the main one being that the plotting in _Joyride_ is much less intricate. The points of view are all those of the people directly involved, and seem used so that there are no gaps in the readers knowledge.The story itself is fairly straight forward, and its outcome predictable from very early on, although Ketchum does stop just short of the Hollywood ending the narrative seems to drive toward. The sentences are simple, again, with a lot of fragments, and recursive thoughts that build character without being overwhelming. As in _Girl_, Ketchum often eschews commas that would make sentences clearer, and opts for pronouns when it is not obvious about whom he is writing. These tics seem deliberate, I'm just not sure to what end.There is a lot of violence. Again, he might plead, since the story was also built around real life tales (which, like _Girl_ he borrowed from _Bloodletters and Badmen_. But that doesn't really explain why he dwells so much on the violence. In this story, it is not as shocking as in _Girl_, but seems pro forma. There's also, again, a reliance on the Women in Refrigerator trope that makes his use of it in _Girl_ seem less like a critique of a culture--his use is just another reflection of the tendency to turn women (and women) characters, into objects.Carole (SPOILER) escapes Meg's fate, and even has something approaching a happy ending, or, at least, a chance to begin anew. But the story is never hers, really. It was always Lt. Rule's--and so, her pain and suffering was for his redemption.
—Joshua Buhs
