Just started University and am back on the 'net after a pretty long lay off.
Just started University and am back on the 'net after a pretty long lay off.
Member since:08.02.2001
Reviews:124
Members who trust:12
Since I have an astoundingly poor memory I couldn't be 100% sure when I tell you if this was the first horror novel I read(point horror so does not count!). It was also the first book to scare me completely witless. And after a few years, I decided to go back.
The cover shown on Ciao is not the same cover on my version(it's old!) but it was the cover that initially terrified me. I then read it, and found myself even more terrified. Being a student of AS level history(don't laugh!) I found the Keep to be quite accurate in its terms(I'm not an expert though, so there may be some horrifyingly bad mistakes I missed). The book is set in 1941, mainly in the Dinu Pass, Romania. And there are Nazi's in it. And a vampire, of sorts.
There's also a guy, known as Glenn, who is the obvious earlier version of Wilson's Repairman Jack(he's just as cool though) and a girl, Magda, and her dad, erm...uh-oh...
Anyway, there's also an SS commander(booo! Hiss!) and just a normal German army commander who is having regrets about the way Germany is going. I'm doing a great job at making this sound exciting aren't I? Anyway, these Nazi's are inhabiting a place called the Keep, a myserious building studded with bronze and nickel 'crosses' and with no traceable owner. When the men began to die, Kaempffer(the SS guy) is sent in with his specialised troops to control the situation.
When threats to the local people fail to bring out the killer(an assumed terrorist) Professor Thuza, a Jew suffering a terrible disease - but is the only one with any knowledge about the keep. His daughter, his devoted nurse and aid is to accompany him to the keep, and upon their arrival, no murders occur. But it is set to change as Thuza comes into contact with something he never thought would be possible.
All the while, a mysterious stranger is making a perilous journey towards the pass, and preparing for his death.
This book had me on edge from start to finish, and despite Wilson's obvious talents, I don't feel that he has yet bettered this earlier effort. Glenn is the obvious figure mould for Reapirman Jack, but it takes nothing away from either of the characters, and from the books I have read, Wilson has yet to produce another female character with the strength and will that Magda possesses. The central villian is the gut wrenchingly scariest Wilson has written, and in fact I doubt I have yet to read about a villain as evil. Yet again, the Keep is like an infection that you can't get rid of, once you start, you'll be loathe to put it down.
It was a lot scarier when I first read it, but even some years later, and several Dean Koontz, Wilson, and Stephen King novels later, it still has the ability to make the skin crawl and the stomach grown at the thought of many of the happenings throughout the book.
If you enjoy horror fiction, and you see this, I would recommend you take a look at this.
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I heard the film was terrible, then spied it in some guide hailing it as brilliant...if it's anywhere in flying distance of the book though, I trust it would be fab. Man, now I have to find a copy :O
sue26 20.04.2001 23:01
I read this years ago, you should also watch the film as well, it`s excellent.
Spongly 20.04.2001 22:55
Being a literary type, I'm ashamed I've only seen the film version of this, which is itself very good. I'll have a poke around second hand shops and see if I can pick up the book. Thanks for a great op.
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