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| Ghost Walk (Leisure Fiction) | 
 enlarge | Author: Brian Keene
Publisher: Leisure
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.24
You Save: $4.75 (59%)
New (28) Used (10) from $3.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 49745
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 275
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0843956453
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780843956450
ASIN: 0843956453
Publication Date: July 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Needed another 20 pages! August 8, 2008
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
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.
 Good but not great August 2, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I've recently become a huge Brian Keene fan. After reading The Rising and City of the dead, i had to get dark hollow, his newest offering at the time. Dark hollow is a great horror novel filled with realistic likeable characters that I actually cared about. The plot is fast paced and thoroughly entertaining. After i found out his next book was a continuation of the dark hollow story, a continuation of sorts anyway, i knew i had to grab the book as soon as it went on sale.
Well i just got done with it and i have to say i'm a bit dissappointed. There wasn't enough action and the antagonist in the book is pretty thin. The idea of a creature trying to force its way into our world is cool but the threat wasn't as personal as it was in dark hollow, thus making it a bit less interesting for me. I loved the fact that Brian Keene is trying to tie all of his books together into a cohesive world unto itself. Very cool. I can't wait to see how that grows and becomes more complex over the next few books. The characters in Ghost Walk are all great and I look forward to them, especially Levi, popping up in his future works. There just wasn't enough meat on this book's bone.
Ultimately, i feel that Ghost Walk is a pretty good book for fans, but if you're new to keene, check out Dark Hollow and The Rising first. They're much stronger efforts.
 Keene connects mythos into something tangible. July 28, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Having read all things Keene, I am very happy that GHOST WALK ties up a bunch of storylines...adds some more...and wrote a beautiful novel of terror that will answer more questions then it asks.
Characters that are real...act real...think real...talk real.
A plot that is steep in the Keene mythos but not enough for newbies to pick this up and rock and roll with it.
Overall another terrific book by the master of personal terror...buy one more for your friend.
4.5 Stars! Another dose of darkness from Mr. Keene. July 29, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Ghost Walk has everything you could want in a horror novel (or any novel for that matter) -- realistic characters, spot-on dialogue, a great premise and plot and a lot of Autumnal creepiness. You can almost smell Halloween oozing out of the pages as you're reading. And if you love Halloween and/or the fall, it's a treat.
I was expecting a bit more of a climax but as always Keene leaves us with more questions and intrigue than answers (although we get a bit of those as well). Keene's Labyrinth mythos and Nodens take center stage as the villain here. And fans of his past work will recognize more than a few characters and locales mentioned throughout.
Highly enjoyable. Very dark. Very thought-provoking. Buy a copy as soon as you can. There's really no better way to spend $7 bucks.
entertaining horror thriller August 3, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
He Who Must Not Be Named begins a plan to return from the other side to destroy the world. In LeHorn's Hollow, Pennsylvania widower Adam Senft knows first hand how deadly and evil a supernatural beast can be. When Adam caught his wife in bed with a satyr, he killed his spouse; other women were also frolicking with this malevolent creature (see DARK HOLLOW).
Standing along side with Adam in what is expected to be a deadly last stand is mage Levi Stoltzfus, who the Amish excommunicated for his dabbling with dark forbidden forces; and reporter Maria Nasr, who was seeking a good story, but never considered becoming a real modern day Kolchek. Levi says with Halloween approaching the veil will be at its thinnest and most vulnerable for Nodens, the real name of He Who Must Not Be Named, to cross to the mortal realm. Inadvertently enabling the chances of this wickedness achieving his objective to cross over and obliterate the planet is promoter Ken Ripple's holiday attraction set in a place known for its evil legends.
The return to eerie LeHorn's Hollow is an entertaining horror thriller starring a nasty malevolence and the overwhelmed mortal opposition. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action and plenty of gloom and doom atmosphere. However, partially because the victims of DARK HOLLOW were loved ones of the hero, the plot is not quite as frightening. Still no one provides as scary a tale as Brian Keene does when he showcases how isolated small town rural America remains even in the information age.
Harriet Klausner
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