In the Dark - Richard Laymon > Reviews > You wont want to read this in the dark........

Author's product rating:   

Would you listen to it again?	No, never
Story	Good
Characters	Very ordinary
Listenability	A good listen when you've got the time
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?	Poor

Advantages:	A bit of suspense and thriller
Disadvantages:	Poorly written and a but far fetched sometimes

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I bought this book after a friend at work had raved about Richard Layman time and time again. We both like the same sorts of books from great authors such as James Patterson and Stephen King so I thought 'If she likes him then surely I must aswel?' so I bought the book and although my friend hadn't read this one she assured me I would not be dissappointed. I had to disagree with her a little though.

The general story line of the book is actually very good and does start off quite well. It begins with the main character who has just moved to a new town and gets a job in the local Library. She feels her life is very mundane and boring and she will not be able to meet new people but then an envelope appears on her desk in the library with her name on it. She opens it to find $50 and a note with a clue which leads her upstairs to a book where she finds another envelope with a note but this time with $100. The notes are signed MOG (Master of Games) and each note has another clue which leads her to a place and tells her she must do something in order to get the next envelope, each containing twice as much money as before.

I started off really enjoying this book and thought the suspense was quite good and 'where will she be sent and what will she have to do next?' but then I thought the book started to get a little far fetched. First of all she is being sent to stranger and stranger places and being asked to do horrible things (such as walk into an abandoned house, go upstairs to an open empty coffin, strip naked and lay inside for 30 mins?! and another time she is sent to another house where she discovers people eating themselves?!) I also realise that some people may do anything for money but I think there becomes a limit.

I also don't think Layman's writing was that good - he kept going off tangent a bit and kept bringing sexual references into the story (particularly her breasts) for no apparent reason at all.

I was also dissappointed with the ending. All the way through the book I was trying to work out how MOG was and kept thinking it must be someone she knows (and of course I wont let on who it was incase you wish to read it) but I was a bit dissappointed and think he could have finished it in another way.

I may read another Layman book as my friend is still raving about him but as first impressions go, I wasn't that impressed!