Product Description

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel

From a new master of horror comes an apocalyptic showdown between the residents of a secluded, rural town and the deadly evil that confronts them wherever they turn . . .

Evil Doesn't Die

The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country's largest Halloween celebration in what is now called "The Spookiest Town in America."

It Just Grows Stronger

But then--a month before Halloween--it begins. Unspeakably desecrated bodies. Inexplicable insanity. And an ancient evil walking the streets, drawing in those who would fall to their own demons and seeking to shred the very soul of this rapidly fracturing community. Yes, the residents of Pine Deep have drawn together and faced a killer before. But this time, evil has many faces--and the lust and will to rule the earth. This struggle will be epic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75304 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780786018154
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Maberry supplies plenty of chills, both Earth-bound and otherworldly, in this atmospheric horror novel, the first of a trilogy. Thirty years after the citizens of Pine Deep, Pa., killed the serial killer known as the Reaper, the town enjoys a quiet idyll and a tourist-friendly reputation as "the most haunted town in America." But gearing up for its annual Halloween celebration, the town is unprepared for the real haunts stirring in their corn fields, seeking to finish what the Reaper started. Switching among a large cast of characters, Maberry builds suspense by degrees, in the process exploring the community of Pine Deep. Showing his smalltown Americans at their worst—through domestic abuse, religious fanaticism and cowardice—Maberry proves how everyday, evening –news–grade sadism can dovetail neatly with capital-E Evil and the supernatural big guns that carry it out. This is horror on a grand scale, reminiscent of Stephen King's heftier works (The Stand, Needful Things) and just as dense with detail; though it simmers a bit too long, and the payoff doesn't quite measure up, Maberry can be forgiven—as long as he fulfills his grisly promises in the sequel. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher
"Serves up scares like pancakes at a church social."--Gregory Frost

"Without a doubt this prolific author is the next Stephen King. Maberry deserves more then a Bram Stoker Award for this; he deserves Bram Stoker to rise from his grave and shake his hand." --Chad Wendell, New World Reviews

"If I were asked to select only one new voice in horror fiction to read today, it would be Jonathan Maberry."--Katherine Ramsland

"A fun, fun read and creepy as hell."--Gregory Frost

"If you think small town horror has nothing new to offer, you have a surprise in store. Ghost Road Blues demonstrates that even the most haunted town in America is unprepared for the full depth of evil, either human or inhuman."--Don D'Ammassa

"Reminiscent of Stephen King...Maberry supplies plenty of chills in this atmospheric novel...This is horror on a grand scale." -Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

Gotta go against the crowd on this one
I'll probably get blasted for this review but I have to voice a dissenting opinion from the bulk of the reviews here. Let me first say that this isn't a bad book, but I simply don't feel it warrants the ratings it is getting. I've read far too many horror books which are better and which I feel deserve four and five star reviews before this book. My mom had a copy of this book which I borrowed a few weeks ago. When I looked on Amazon I saw a slew of five star reviews for it and very, very few dissenting reviews. That's normally a sign of a very good book so I borrowed her copy and started reading. The book starts out well, and there is actually two excellent scenes in the beginning which jerk your chain hard. Then the book settles down....then it slows down.... then it kind of begins to drag. Truthfully I got to within 30 pages of the end and then I put it aside and didn't finish. Why? I realized that the book couldn't fit the conclusion in the next 30 pages. It was obvious the story wasn't going to finish in this book. I went back to the website and discovered that this is the first of a trilogy. The problem here is that, in my view, the book's pacing is all wrong and I was tired at the thought of having to read two more books to get to the conclusion.

Why is the pacing wrong? Mayberry sets out at a good pace and then falters along the way. Actually he doesn't so much as falter, as begin to insert more and more space between moments of dramatic tension. All the elements are there in this story. You have some whacked-out crazies, Evil vampire spirits, scary scenes, violent scenes, good people struggling against bad people, etc. but the tension didn't escalate at the end of the book, it slowed down, took a deep breath and obviously began to prepare for the sequel. This really threw me off and I didn't enjoy it.

The other problem I had was that the "Evil" spirit just didn't come off any nastier than humans. Frankly, one of the human characters seemed nastier and came with a bigger body count than the vampire spirit. The goal of the vampire spirit seems to be to wipe out the town. In an age of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dachau, Auschwitz and other modern horrors the goal of wiping out a town seems like small potatoes. With humans being so accomlished at horror all by themselves you'd think that supernatural Evil would try to set a new standard, yet it came across as something of an underachiever.

In all honesty my feeling at the end of the book was that it was OK but not worth the bother of investing enough time to read two more books. The characters never really developed into truly complex, three dimensional beings, the tension ratcheted down rather than up, and my feeling was that I had read much better, much scarier, and much more enjoyable books. I'd recommend John Dies at the End as an example of five star horror. The supernatural Evil in that one makes humans look like wanna-be evildoers and it is a tremendous book. Try that one and then tell me that Ghost Road Blues deserves the same rating; it doesn't. Or try Infected: A Novel for an example of almost palpably painful escalating tension and five star horror. So while this isn't a horrible book it does have flaws which make me reserve higher ratings for books that I feel are much better.

Halloween is early this year
Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry is a wonderful read, though it is not a book one would ideally read in the dead of night. It is extremely frightening at times.

I found this at our library in Columbia (SC) and was enchanted by the cover illustration. Though my horror reading tastes seldom venture beyond Mary Higgens Clark, I thought I would give this a try, and I was extremely surprised to find that the novel has taste, sensitivity and well-rounded characters. The dialogue is on the money, and the story is the kind of complex, intricate weaving of plotlines that I find most challenging and rewarding.

I will put Jonathan Maberry's on my "must have" list from now on.

This book is superb
I don't know how Amazon became a debating society, but I was looking at a few of the recent reviews and when one person commented that they thought that the author was soliciting reviews, I thought...what a shockingly rude thing to suggest. He uses as his "argument" (and I use this term loosely since it is based on supposition rather than any actual facts) that many of the reviewers had not posted before. I spent a little time wandering through Amazon and found that most of the folks who review a book are first timers. I was when I reviewed my first book online, but that does not mean that I was cajoled or coerced by the author. And just for the record -no I don't know Mr. Maberry, though I have seen his name listed in stores for book signings.

All of that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Ghost Road Blues, and can understand the comparisons with some of the more established writers, such as Stephen King; but his approach is not a copycat method. He uses an almost Gothic approach to building tension slowly, letting it creep up on you, and then jumping out unexpectedly.

This is fresh writing, and I will certainly be referring the book to my friends. Living at the seaside as I do, I certainly undertsand the value of a good beach read, and this one thoroughly satisfies.