Just Finished Reading: The Grey Ones by John Lymington
After his wife walks out on him for another man, Jim decides to kill himself by jumping off a nearby cliff. Ironically at the very edge he slips and almost falls to his death. In that moment he realises he wants to live. On returning to his home he finds the village completely devoid of life. In a panic he searches house after house to find them all abandoned. Thinking he’s either going mad or is actually dead Jim is relieved when the population return – but only for a moment. Quickly Jim discovers that the entire population of the village have changed, becoming more animalistic and devoid of any morality. It’s not long before he discovers that this has something to do with the mysterious new tenant of the great hall and heads that way to solve the mystery.
This was in all honesty a truly appalling book. The only reason I managed to finish it was because of its thankfully short length – 126 pages. The plot (such as it was) was terrible. Characterisation was feeble (at best). Dialogue was worse than anything George Lucas could come up with and the ending was frankly pathetic. I’ve read a few of Lymington’s books over the years and, although he writes in a particular genre – kind of a poor man’s John Wyndham – he’s normally quite entertaining. Not in this instance however. One of the worst books I’ve managed to finish in years. Avoid.
2 comments:
That review was awesome! Much better, I imagine, than the book itself. I love it when a critic occasionally just blasts a movie or a book, especially with humor.
It's rare that I read a book I don't like. Life is just too damned short for that shit.
This one was particularly disapointing, especially from an author who has been at least half-decent in the past. If it'd been more than 200 pages long I'd never have finished it.
At least I have some good books in the review pile coming up!
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