AMARA
(To Wake The Dead)
Reviews
AMARA...
It's a mummy novel, okay? So you'd expect the usual, right? Mummy awakens...mummy
kills...mummy dies...
Simple, right? Wrong. Remember, this is a Laymon novel. And nothing is as it
seems...
Make no mistake, AMARA is a formidable foe, violent and hungry for the flesh
and blood of human life and, once she is set loose, she cuts a swathe through
the LA landscape about as long and deep as the San Andreas Fault. But this novel
is about sooo much more than one long-dead Egyptian Queen.
In fact, there's a whole lot of sick, perverted, deviant things happening in
this novel, and that's enough to make any Laymon fan grin from ear to ear.
We've waited quite a while for a new Laymon novel, but the wait was worth it.
This novel reads like early Laymon to me, full of short and sharp sentences,
scenes and chapters. The gross-out factor is high, and the violence is extreme.
Fast and bloody. Just how we like it.
With a large cast, we know we're in for a high body-count, and Laymon doesn't
disappoint on that level - but you may be surprised by who survives AMARA's
embrace...and who doesn't.
With an hilarious introduction by Dean Koontz, AMARA is a fine addition to
the Laymon stable - quite possibly the best release for some time.
Buy it, before AMARA comes looking for you...
Rating: 8 out of 10.
Reviewed by Steve Gerlach.
As usual with a new Laymon novel, I like to read the last page first. Ever since
I read the unsurpassable One Rainy Night I have the urge to flick to the
last chapter to see who lives, because with Laymon anyone can get it in the neck,
head, abdomen, hell even get chopped to pieces. So when I heard what Amara
was about I knew lots of characters would be 'buying the farm'. I wasn't disappointed.
One of the things I loved about Amara is Laymon is in classic storytelling
mode. He weaves a rich wonderful yarn full of his trademarks; the witty jokes
as death stares someone in the face, the fast paced nature, the genuine connection
to the characters and most of all he makes a mummy running rampant in L.A seem
so very plausible.
In some ways Amara reminds me of One Rainy Night and it reminds
me of why I became hooked on his books. I love the fact there are so many likeable
characters, who you know will all have a link somewhere along the line and as
much as you sit there hoping that so and so won't get the chop because you really
like them, when it comes to Laymon you need to be cautious: for he commands the
keys on a keyboard like a professional axe murderer and when he executes, boy
do they drop.
All in all though, a really great novel from one of the great novelists. If you
have not read Amara or are a first time Laymon reader I urge you to read
this book and then many more.
Reviewed by Wayne Hodgkinson.
