Friday 31 July 2009

HORROR REVIEW: Castaways - Brian Keene


BOOK BLURB:

Contestants on a Survivor-like reality TV show find the dangers are too real when they-re stranded on a deserted island with inhuman creatures out to kill them.


REVIEW:

OK, a horror book from the US that after my experience with Found You, I thought would be pretty descent. Alas the book had more flaws than Buckingham Palace. The major problem with this book was that the cast were pretty transparent, some characters were just names and the ones that had descriptions you knew were pretty much survivors. I hate that sort of approach, yes they were proverbial redshirts but hey they’re people too. Add to the mix that the ending pretty much summed up how I felt with the word Sell outs added and the author really didn’t do themselves any favours with this novel. It contains graphic rape scenes that the author in his afterward tried to validate although personally I felt that if he “had” to write the scenes like that he didn’t have to be quite so graphic. There was no substance to this offering as it’s a pretty standardized plot and a guy risking his life for a woman who five hours prior had barely any interaction with other than a brief chat after spending a couple of weeks on an island together was just a joke. I really do wonder who Keene knew to get it published. A real sorry excuse for a tale especially given the ending that went on to emphasise America’s pursuit for the Mighty Buck and lack of moral consequences for those concerned.

LE

2 comments:

Brooke Reviews said...

Ah, this sounded like it could be good and really scary. Too bad you didn't enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm surprised by this review! I thought Brian Keene usually wrote pretty decent novels... but then again, we're all allowed a dud, aren't we?

:)