Books that make you go "hmmm"
Finished The Conqueror Worms Wednesday and had to think for a bit because really all I had to say after finishing it was --- "I love, love, love, love, love this book".
That seemed sort of pathetic, after all I am a writer, I should be able to come up with something more. Really though, that about sums it up. :-)
The story is about the end of the world. One day it starts raining and never stops. The world floods, civilization goes, and still it rains. The main character is Teddy, a man closer to the end of his life than the beginning (he's in his 80s) who didn't evacute when the National Guard came through to move people. One day, the need for nicotine becomes to much and he braves the rain to go to the nearest town a bit further down the mountain. It's then that he realizes just how flooded the world has become because the town isn't there anymore. Luckily he finds his friend hasn't left. Unfortunately, the soon realize the rains are doing more than just bringing all the worms up from the dirt. Really, really big worms show up -- and they seem to prefer meat to dirt for their nutrients.
This is a cool, campy, creature feature book. We also get to see something of the rest of the world when people drop in on them (literally pretty much) and tell their tale. It's not just huge worms rising to the surface.
With the Keene books I've read before (sadly, not all of them as he has some that were limited editons from smaller presses), I know to expect big problems for the main characters. He's not easy on his characters by any means. This book reaches right in and grabs you -- making it almost impossible to stop reading it before you get to the end.
It's that "must read" quality that really makes me want to be a writer. When I put down a book like this one and immediately want to read another one by the author....it renews the desire to write inside me.
I don't want to write a horror book about worms--personally, I doubt anyone could do it better than Keene -- but I do want to write a book that will make a reader finish it with a sigh of appreciation as they long for the next book by that author; that makes them eager to grab the next book on their TBR pile.
That seemed sort of pathetic, after all I am a writer, I should be able to come up with something more. Really though, that about sums it up. :-)
The story is about the end of the world. One day it starts raining and never stops. The world floods, civilization goes, and still it rains. The main character is Teddy, a man closer to the end of his life than the beginning (he's in his 80s) who didn't evacute when the National Guard came through to move people. One day, the need for nicotine becomes to much and he braves the rain to go to the nearest town a bit further down the mountain. It's then that he realizes just how flooded the world has become because the town isn't there anymore. Luckily he finds his friend hasn't left. Unfortunately, the soon realize the rains are doing more than just bringing all the worms up from the dirt. Really, really big worms show up -- and they seem to prefer meat to dirt for their nutrients.
This is a cool, campy, creature feature book. We also get to see something of the rest of the world when people drop in on them (literally pretty much) and tell their tale. It's not just huge worms rising to the surface.
With the Keene books I've read before (sadly, not all of them as he has some that were limited editons from smaller presses), I know to expect big problems for the main characters. He's not easy on his characters by any means. This book reaches right in and grabs you -- making it almost impossible to stop reading it before you get to the end.
It's that "must read" quality that really makes me want to be a writer. When I put down a book like this one and immediately want to read another one by the author....it renews the desire to write inside me.
I don't want to write a horror book about worms--personally, I doubt anyone could do it better than Keene -- but I do want to write a book that will make a reader finish it with a sigh of appreciation as they long for the next book by that author; that makes them eager to grab the next book on their TBR pile.