Product Description

Haunted-attraction designer Ken Ripple has designed his masterpiece, the Ghost Walk, a trail winding through the mysterious woods of LeHorn's Hollow. He doesn't realize that the woods are truly evil and a gateway to hell has unleashed a real demon.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105398 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 275 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780843956450
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Needed another 20 pages!
Although the book is the standard Leisure length of 330 pages, "Ghost Walk" is only 275 pages with a short preview of Keene's next book at the end to bump it up to the 330. For those of you just meandering into the world of Keene, although it is not officially stated, this is a sequel to "Dark Hollow" which for full enjoyment, I suggest that you read first. Though the baddie in this one is not our half goat satyr, we do have the return to LeHorne's Hollow and the return of writer Adam Senft.

Short Summary: A hunter in the Hollow disturbs a circle of stones in the woods, opening the gateway to another world. As a big nasty starts creeping through the gate, we have the local charity ghost walk being set up right next door. Can the ex-Amish user of powwow named Levi fight back a being older than the Earth itself?

Before you begin with my review I want you to know that I truly believe that the skills of Brian Keene rival those of Stephen King. Only time will tell if he will gain the notoriety and voracious fan base of King, but the skill level is already there. That being said, this is not Keene's strongest work. It is obvious that he went into this with an agenda, which was to complete his pantheon and tie all of his books together. As such we spend a lot of time learning about pre-Earth history, the 13, the labyrinth, powwow magic, stone circles, etc. This is also the first time that Keene connects his book "The Ghoul" with the rest of his books, all of which had either intertwined or run in parallel universes with overlapping characters. Now I personally don't have any issue with the pantheon that he has developed and is playing on... however to get out the information and tie up the loose ends in the readers mind, we needed a much meatier book. The story felt like a thin vehicle for explaining the pantheon rather than an independent entry into the cannon of Keene.

Before you think I'm bashing this book, it was very good. The characters were interesting, as is standard in Keene's works, his writing is easy to read and very fluid, making for a pleasurable and relaxing reading experience. He is good at drawing the reader into his world and creating sympathy and concern for his characters. The character of Levi remained a mystery, as I assume Keene wanted, making him hard to truly latch on to as a reader even though he is the central character of the book. The story could have been huge, epic and complex to deliver Keene's concept of multiple worlds and concurrent histories, and nasties from before the dawn of time however the story told in this book suffered because of the compact method that he chose to deliver the message in. In the end the story was a bit of a downer (aren't they always?) but the ending was thin... we never find ourselves worrying, there is no foreboding sense of danger as we approach the final confrontation, I found myself more worried about our characters making it through the traffic jam in time than I was for them when they entered the Hollow. There is also no follow up (good or bad)to show the aftermath of what occurred that evening.

Do I think this was a bad book? Not at all - please notice the 4 stars, Keene is a magnificent writer. I would not advise anyone starting here if they have not read a Keene book before, this book may serve as Keene's Dark tower (not the series, simply the hub in the middle of the spokes of his reality). I hope that with his pantheon described and defined that we can now venture more fully into the horrors that can come from it. Once you have read his previous works, this book will answer many questions left behind from the other stories but it is not a good starting place, or one of the strongest works he has put out.

Keene can do better...
i'm a big Brian Keene fan, pre-ordering ever book he puts out, pretty much. So it is with a slightly heavy heart that i must say this is probably his weakest effort yet. What makes it more disappointing is that it is a semi-sequel to The Hollow (set in the same town...the main character returns) which was one of his BEST books to date.
it was truly as if another writer took this book on for Keene as a deadline favor.
Missing the deeper character development and unpredictable storylines (and endings) he usually delights readers with, this was straight forward, generic, and pretty boring. Particularly annoying is how he completely trashes the main character from The Hollow in his return here, by basically rewriting him as a generic "crazy guy" with god-awful dialogue and the depth of a puddle. The character has since been pronounced mentally insane -and is, as Keene makes it PAINFULLY clear by actually having the character announce in numerous diatribes "I'm crazy! I'm crazy!" (Oh...thanks. Now we know, Brian)
While i love the Pow-wow aspect he has been building on in the past 2 books, and i appreciate this books attempt to explain his "many universes" idea linking all his books....he just seemed to rush through this one. I'm hoping Castaways is a stronger effort...or I'll start to get worried.

Take a walk on the ghostly side
It was just a few months ago that Brian Keene's horror novel Dark Hollow came out. Although The Horror Review may have declared Keene the next Stephen King, that was a bit of hype: yes, they are both horror writers and at least Dark Hollow seemed to focus on the King-like setting of a small, superficially idyllic town in an Eastern state (King likes Maine, Keene Pennsylvania), but Keene is not yet ready to be declared King's literary heir. Keene is good, however and Dark Hollow was no fluke as its sequel, Ghost Walk proves.

Like Dark Hollow, Ghost Walk takes place around the wooded area known as LeHorn's Hollow, a forested region of Pennsylvania with a long tradition of being haunted. This doesn't deter a hunter from a little poaching in the area, a crime with unintended consequences as he accidentally opens up a gateway to another universe. Out of this universe comes an alien and malevolent force that is intent on destroying all life; all that holds it back are the remaining barriers in the gateway.

Fortunately for this presence, Ken Ripple is setting up a Halloween attraction known as the Ghost Walk right outside of the Hollow. Some of the volunteers setting up the site are disappearing, being lured into the Hollow to help take down the barrier. Furthermore, Halloween itself has certain properties that will remove the barriers.

Though Ripple has no clue what's going on, Levi Stotzfus does. This lapsed member of the Amish community knows certain magic and is aware of exactly what's going on. Levi will try and stop it, but he cannot do it alone. He recruits Maria Nasr, a freelance reporter investigating the Hollow's dark history. This, in turn, will lead to the involvement of the lead character from Dark Hollow, Adam Senft, currently locked up in an institution for the criminally insane.

With a tale of ancient alien monstrosities, Keene wanders into Lovecraft territory, and it's a successful venture. This book is well-written, solid entertainment; Keene keeps the pages turning. He may not be the next Stephen King, but Keene shows that you don't need that title to still produce first-rate work.