Baal (1978), Bethany's Sin (1980), Night Boat (1980), They Thirst (1981). Those are the first four published novels of Robert R McCammon. Of them, I've read only They Thirst, and that was way back during my junior high school days. I don't remember where I bought the paperback (probably at the local Book Corner store), but I do remember seeing the incredible, embossed book cover and thinking, "Man, I have got to read this." I did. Let's just say that it's not today's vampire novel. As far as i can remember, the vamps in this aren't teenagers, they don't find themselves caught in love triangles, and they aren't nice. At all. That was my first encounter with a McCammon story. Fortunately for me, it wasn't my last. After McCammon published the above-mentioned novels (which he, at one point, refused to re-release because he didn't think they lived up to the quality of his work from later years), he wrote Mystery Walk. This story does live up to the quality of his later works. I used to work at the Levi Heywood Memorial Library, the local library of the city I grew up in, Gardner, Massachusetts. I worked there all through my high school years and then some, from 1982 to 1988. When Mystery Walk came out in 1983, I was floored by the book cover. It was cool, it was intriguing, it was mysterious. Someday, after I was done reading all of King's stuff, I would read this book. Well, decades would pass before I finally carried through on that. I think it was late last year when I finally read it. And, that may have been for the better. Back in the 80s, in high school, I don't know if I would have appreciated Mystery Walk as much as it deserves to be appreciated. There are some deep themes running through the book, and they might have gone over my head back then, especially if I was looking for something in the vein of They Thirst (pun intended). Mystery Walk is a subdued kind of horror novel. But, oh, there is horror in it all right. It may not be gruesome, it may not be in your face, but there's horror. I won't get into it, because that would spoil any surprises for you. The only thing I will say is...well,...never mind. You'll have to find out for yourself. Mystery Walk is where McCammon began to hit his stride. He got those first four novels out of his system, wrote Mystery Walk (his first novel published in hardcover), which is a mature story, and then look what he came out with:Usher's Passing, 1984, winner of the 1985 Alabama Library Association AwardSwan Song, 1987, co-winner of the 1987 Bram Stoker Award, nominated for the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, first novel to appear on NYT Bestseller ListStinger, 1988, nominated for 1988 Bram Stoker Award, NYT Bestseller ListMine, 1990, winner of the 1990 Bram Stoker AwardBoy's Life, 1991, winner of the 1991 Bram Stoker Award, winner of the 1992 World Fantasy Award for Best NovelLook at that list! Most authors would be ecstatic to achieve anything like this list of accomplishments. I know I would! Can you believe it? Three Bram Stoker Awards, one World Fantasy Award, and numerous nominations for both awards on top of the actual winnings. I mean, come on. And look where it all started--Mystery Walk.How many readers out there have never heard of this guy? He's one of the most accomplished horror/suspense/dark fantasy writers out there, he's in the same writing company talent-wise as King and Straub and Koontz, and how many of our reader friends out there have never read his stuff, have never even heard of him. Let's change that. There's a Robert McCammon group in GR if you're interested in more of his works. He's got a historical suspense trilogy he wrote after he took a ten-year hiatus from writing. He's got a sci-fi/horror book coming out in the spring titled The Border. This guy deserves a bigger audience. Check out Mystery Walk if you'd like to read a creepy, character-driven, thought-provoking horror story, and see what this guy is all about. In the next review, I'll discuss a science fiction novel that tested my limits and tolerance for space opera. It was the first book in that genre that I read (maybe almost ten years ago), it's characters had some of the weirdest names I'd ever encountered, one of its alien life forms amazed me, and the entire story stretched my mind in ways I didn't think possible from reading fiction. Oh, and the guy has a perfect name for a science fiction writer.
McCammon's name drew me to this title far more than what I knew about the plot. I am wary of "supernatural" fiction i.e. anything that focuses on ghosts and spirits and what-not. If I'm going to read some horror fiction, I'd rather that the fantastic elements have teeth, claws, or at least the rotten flesh of the undead. Monsters are my thing, all the way.Here, McCammon does offer up a monster of sorts, but he takes his time doing it while spinning a longish tale of a family that is touched by the supernatural through the Mother and her son. The real ramifications of Billy and his Mother's gifts are explored, and McCammon made me feel their sorrow as well as their wonder. Along these lines, McCammon dangles the cliche of a god-fearing, abusive Father, and I was prepared to endure this stereotype the same way that I put up with Stephen King's brand of Christ-loving Crazies; but then McCammon switches things up and reveals a man who loves his family while fearing the supernatural abilities that touch them. This thread teased the most miles out of my blood pump, a fact which made it one of my favorites.(view spoiler)[After all the years of hardship and soul searching occupying hundreds of pages, the story's climax comes down to the possessed corpse of a rich, obese madman lurching after our protagonist and his brother, both of whom have been wounded by a recent crash-landing. The corpse stumbles across the desert floor, waving a razor-studded set of brass knuckles, while the boys help each other towards the foot of a low hill. Will the evil spirit reach his prey through the lumbering ambulation of its heavy host? Please--this is horror fiction!Some may find this too cheesy after all of the drama and introspection that came before; me, I grinning and actually saying "hell yeah" aloud on my living room couch. The fact is, I was ready for a serving of some pungent, cheese-like substance and an overweight animated corpse armed with a sharp knuckle-duster more than fits that bill. Besides, the big realizations that Billy and his brother (have you cottoned to the fact that I can't remember his name? It's bugging me!) have been chasing are finally in their grasp, and each stands on the threshold of inner peace. Soon as they dispatch the Final Zombie Boss, they're home free. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Mystery Walk (1992)?
There are two boys/young men born with paranormal gifts. One is the son of a woman who puts down restless ghosts and demons at a cost to herself. She has Native American blood and the gift has come to her through her family line, along with the monster that hunts the people of her family, trying to get them to destroy themselves once they've begun their careers. The other boy is the grandson of a revival preacher, a healer who is terrified of the people he heals and of his power to heal them. He is also terrified of the woman and her son; his grandfather has told them they are demonic, and he believes. Like a lot of McCammon, this is a compulsive read. I would have liked a lot more ghost-busting and less of the religiosity, but hey--I'm not the writer!
—Tamora Pierce
Terrible. Just terrible. I loved Swan Song, and I just can't say how disappointed I am in this book by the same author. It read completely amateurish in every way. The story was half-baked and a mish-mash of barely (if at all) connected ideas, the characters were 2-dimensional and flat (and often more like caricatures and totally unbelievable), and I'm frankly not convinced that the chronology and the description of the eras were correct either! If someone had told me this was a 20-year old's first attempt at a novel before even graduating college, I'd have believed it in a heartbeat. Like I said. Terrible.
—Lori
Well then. I have a feeling that this probably wasn't the best of McCammon's books to start with... or, at least I hope that's the case. I was less than impressed with this one for much of the time it took to get through it, and while I guess it was interesting enough (as in I was interested enough to continue on and see what happened), I didn't really ever feel invested in the story or the characters. Perhaps it was the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook, a recording from tape circa 1983 or so. The reader was... distracting. He kept reading in a much different tone than I felt that the particular scene or situation warranted. Usually someone sounded wheedling or manipulative or threatening in this man's voice, when I feel that I'd have read the scene without the overtones of menace. Sometimes a question is just a question, not an unspoken threat. There were a lot of "Am I right?" and "Is/isn't that right?" questions and every time - EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. - he read one of them, I'd picture the asking character with their head tilted inquiringly, a fake smile plastered on their face daring the person to contradict. Go ahead. See what happens. And then there's the pronunciations. Oh man. Grimace was always "Grim Ace" and La Mesa was always "Luh Meesa". Luh Meesa. Really. It was just distracting. Because every time I'd picture fucking Jar Jar Binks. Ye gods, whatta meesa sayin'? Ohgodmakeitstopnow. Yeah, so... aside from that stuff... I don't have much to say about this. I wasn't shocked by the revelations in this story. Rather than being a twisty mountain road with sharp, unexpected turns, this was more like a go-cart course - predictable and tame... I may not have been on THIS particular course before, but they are all pretty much the same. I've seen the twists, the symbolism, the circular references, the good vs evil, the religiosity all before.This story just felt formulaic, and so it wasn't really scary or particularly impressive. Maybe it's because the book is almost as old as I am and I've read a lot of other (better) horror before this. That's plausible, but then I think of stories like Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend", William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist", or Ira Levin's "Rosemary's Baby", stories that are just as old (older, actually) and still amaze and terrify. This didn't. But I finished it and overall didn't loathe it, so... 2 stars. Maybe Swan Song will be better?
—Becky
