Some books are not for
everyone.
But some books are
exceptional in their sub-genre.
Children of the Dark is one of those books.
Now...how to go about
explaining myself...
If you’re familiar with
Richard Laymon’s body of work and you like it, Children of the Dark is a novel you do
not want to pass by because it is one of the best “out there” novels I’ve read
in what I can only refer to as the “Laymon sub-genre.”
How would ordinary
people react in an abnormal situation? And how abnormal can a situation become?
These are two questions you’re going to have to ask yourself when reading Children of the Dark.
I so want to include a
mini-spoiler here, but I’m holding back because I want you to read this book if
you’re a Laymon fan or a fan of splatterpunk
fiction.
Did I like it? No, I
didn’t. I don’t like books with characters who don’t act like I would act in
the same situation. I don’t like a lot of Laymon’s
books for the same reason. Nobody acts like Richard Laymon’s
characters act.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Why? Because the characters don’t act like I
would act in the same situation.
Does this make sense? Dunno. Makes sense to me.
How would you act if a
guy you know turned into a subterranean creature while you were in a jail cell
and you couldn’t get the deputy to look at him despite your screaming “Look at
him!!”? (Okay--mini spoiler).
When you go this far “out
there” in a novel, like Jonathan Janz did in Children of the Dark you’re looking at
two options: people are going to love it or people are going to hate it.
I’m the third option.
I think you should read
it whether I liked it or not and THAT’S the reason for the 3 stars.
If you can put yourself
in the mindset of the completely unbelievable situations the characters find
themselves in, you’ll have a glorious ride. If you can’t, you’ll hate it.
I straddled the fence.
Sometimes I could do it; other times I was saying, “Oh, c’mon, man...”
I’m being as honest as I
can be here.
I do not know what I
think about this book.
But I think it’s well worth a read.