23rd out of 34 books
—
42 voters
The Caretaker of Lorne Field: A Novel
by
Dave Zeltserman (Goodreads Author)
Jack Durkin is the ninth generation of Durkins who have for nearly 300 years weeded Lorne Field. It's an important job, though no one else seems to realize it. For, if the field is left untended, a horrific monster called an Aukowie will grow.
Short listed by the American Library Association for best horror novel of 2010. Black Quill nominee for best dark genre book of the...more
Short listed by the American Library Association for best horror novel of 2010. Black Quill nominee for best dark genre book of the...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
August 26th 2010
by Overlook Hardcover
(first published February 4th 2010)
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short and sweet, with a classic horror feel to it.
this reads like an episode of the twilight zone - one of the old classic ones, not one where kiefer sutherland flies a plane which i am realizing as i am typing this was actually an episode of amazing stories but i'm not even going to go back and fix it - it will be like you and i are having a conversation together over wine instead of this remove - this barrier of a review between us. cuz we are BFFAE.
so this book is about killer plants. so it m...more
this reads like an episode of the twilight zone - one of the old classic ones, not one where kiefer sutherland flies a plane which i am realizing as i am typing this was actually an episode of amazing stories but i'm not even going to go back and fix it - it will be like you and i are having a conversation together over wine instead of this remove - this barrier of a review between us. cuz we are BFFAE.
so this book is about killer plants. so it m...more
There was a time when the position as the Caretaker of Lorne Field was a high honor. A position of respect that came with a small cottage, a decent salary and freebies given by the local residents out of appreciation for the very difficult job held by the Durkin family. After all, only due to the diligent weeding by the Caretaker were the relentless Aukowie held back from rampaging across the world.
But 300 years have passed and in these modern times, few have any respect for the position, the f...more
But 300 years have passed and in these modern times, few have any respect for the position, the f...more
Dave Zeltserman’s The Caretaker of Lorne Field is not really a horror story. I mean, I’m reading and reading and thinking to myself, when does the scary stuff happen? It’s not even particularly thrilling or suspenseful. It is, however, interesting and darkly humorous.
Jack Durkin is the nth generation of Durkins to weed Lorne Field of Aukowies. According to Durkin, the contract signed with the Durkin family 300 years ago, and the Book of Aukowies that only the Durkins have read, Aukowies are the...more
Jack Durkin is the nth generation of Durkins to weed Lorne Field of Aukowies. According to Durkin, the contract signed with the Durkin family 300 years ago, and the Book of Aukowies that only the Durkins have read, Aukowies are the...more
I realize once again, I deviate from my fellow readers. I read a highly favourable review of this little book and thought it sounded utterly fascinating; and so, I grabbed it from the library when I saw it.
I'm glad I didn't buy it: It would have been a waste for me.
Essentially, you DO have a 'Twilight Zone' plot. Man weeds all day every day. Weeds are bad killer creatures. Everyone things man is insane. Bad things happen to man. Luck is against man. Man is accused of hurting son who went weeding...more
I'm glad I didn't buy it: It would have been a waste for me.
Essentially, you DO have a 'Twilight Zone' plot. Man weeds all day every day. Weeds are bad killer creatures. Everyone things man is insane. Bad things happen to man. Luck is against man. Man is accused of hurting son who went weeding...more
for those of you who read my blog, you'll remember that Blood Crimes by Dave Zeltserman, was in my opinion a bloody good read. So how will I take to this my second exposure to Zeltserman, have I got the Zeltserman bug?
Caretaker tells the tale of Jack Durkin, who along with the previous eight generations of Durkins have protected the world from the all consuming threat of the Aukowie, ravenous plant creature that will destroy the world within days. That's if Durkin doesn't full fill his contract...more
Caretaker tells the tale of Jack Durkin, who along with the previous eight generations of Durkins have protected the world from the all consuming threat of the Aukowie, ravenous plant creature that will destroy the world within days. That's if Durkin doesn't full fill his contract...more
Zeltserman is best known for his Boston area noirs like Pariah and Small Crimes, but he throws a bit of a curveball here, moving into Stephen King like psychological horror. From time immemorial, the eldest son of the Durkin family became the caretaker of a large field near a small New England town. The caretaker was responsible for weeding the Aukowies, vicious weeds which, if left unchecked, would grow into monsters and set forth on a path of world domination. Jack Durkin dutifully goes about...more
Jul 25, 2011
Larry Hoffer
added it
What a strange and bleak little book this was.
Jack Durkin has a great responsibility. Every day until first frost, he must weed Lorne Field in its entirety, purging it of Aukowies, bloodthirsty plants that could overrun the world in weeks if not attended to. He is the ninth generation of Durkins to serve as caretaker; the eldest son of each generation has been contracted with since 1710. In exchange, the caretaker gets an $8,000 annual salary and he and his family can live rent-free in a cottag...more
Jack Durkin has a great responsibility. Every day until first frost, he must weed Lorne Field in its entirety, purging it of Aukowies, bloodthirsty plants that could overrun the world in weeks if not attended to. He is the ninth generation of Durkins to serve as caretaker; the eldest son of each generation has been contracted with since 1710. In exchange, the caretaker gets an $8,000 annual salary and he and his family can live rent-free in a cottag...more
I got this book based on the following premise: There’s a man who weeds the same field every day. What if what he was weeding were monsters instead of weeds? And though I believe that the story is well told, I found the ambiguity to be the most trying part. I would have expected to read a 237 page book in under four hours, but it took me longer than that and I think it’s because of the ambiguity. Are the weeds really monsters or is this just a story of a man who is thoroughly deluded? That quest...more
I enjoyed this book. It is short and dances between small town noir and horror. The titular care taker is the most recent in a long line (300 years long) line of men tasked with pulling weeds from Lorne Field. Should he shirk his duties, the world will be destroyed by aukowies, the fully formed version of the weeds he pulls. Time was, his position was respected, but now his family and most of the town think he is a deluded fool. The current taker looks around town for his few allies as his wife...more
I struggle mightily to find good modern horror. (If you have recommendations, please, share them.) So the "shortlisted for best horror novel of 2010" sucked me in ... but I gotta dispute the assertion.
Caretaker would've made a great short story. And it's not exactly like I was bored or felt there were swathes to chop (ah, pun if you've read it!), but I have no idea why it took 244 pages to tell the tale. (Had to look up the printed length, as it's awfully hard to judge on a Kindle.)
Anyway. Inter...more
Caretaker would've made a great short story. And it's not exactly like I was bored or felt there were swathes to chop (ah, pun if you've read it!), but I have no idea why it took 244 pages to tell the tale. (Had to look up the printed length, as it's awfully hard to judge on a Kindle.)
Anyway. Inter...more
Balancing delusion with duty, Zeltersman's protagonist is the victim of scorn and savour of man. Jack Durkin is honor bound by a 300 year old multi generational contract handed down from eldest son to eldest son to rid Lorne Field from weed-like monstrosities known as Aukowies. Every day from sun up to sun down and them some, Durkin is out on that field ensuring the townsfolk live another day, fore if he let the Aukowies reach their full potential, the rivers would soon run red with human blood....more
May 16, 2011
Gef
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
borrowed-from-library,
personal-favorites
Some small towns, particularly the ones with a long history, tend to have some lingering traditions and legends that border on the bizarre. In Dave Zeltserman's The Caretaker of Lorne Field, a groundskeeper tends a field in the middle of the woods, pulling what appear to be weeds, from the spring thaw until the first frost--every single day. His name is Jack Durkin, the Caretaker of Lorne Field, a hallowed position in town that was his birthright and has been the responsibility of every eldest s...more
Sep 04, 2011
Jessi
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction,
horror
First Line: "Jack Durkin let out a groan as his wife, Lydia, dropped a bowl of corn flakes in front of him."
This is not the blood-and-guts type of horror. In fact, the author is quite crafty at making the reader wonder if it is in fact horror or the ravings of a delusional man up until the last moment of the book. Jack Durkin and his ancestors for the last 300 years have worked themselves to the bone digging up carnivorous plants that can grow into giant man-eating monsters if allowed to go unch...more
This is not the blood-and-guts type of horror. In fact, the author is quite crafty at making the reader wonder if it is in fact horror or the ravings of a delusional man up until the last moment of the book. Jack Durkin and his ancestors for the last 300 years have worked themselves to the bone digging up carnivorous plants that can grow into giant man-eating monsters if allowed to go unch...more
Jack Durkin has inherited the job of clearing Lorne Field from his father, who in turn inherited it from his father, who in turn inherited it from his father, and so on and son going back 300 years. You see the weeds of Lorne Field aren’t just any weeds but maelvelont, intelligent, vicious creatures that if left to grow will destroy the world in days. Or so Durkin believes much to the chagrin of his wife and children who endure his claims that he is saving the world every day, while being forced...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I gotta say I really liked this book. It had a lot of the elements that reminded me of Stephen King in his heyday, and didn't come off heavy-handed or convoluted. I wish the ending would've been a TAD different, but I'm always looking for the Deus Ex Machina Hollywood ending anyway (I'm a sap like that). But hey, when someone warns you about something and they choose to ignore it or laugh it off, that's on them....or IS IT? Great book, worth a read! High recommend!
The Caretaker of Lorne Field is a wonderfully weird, gritty, and pitch-dark legend, perfect for New England. Weaved in the compulsively readable narrative is a heavy dose of our current society's meanness, unease, and ambiguity: kind of a nightmare-noir zeitgeist. The thing of it is, the reader is never safe in Dave Zeltserman's hands. I love that. You should too.
This was a quick read and a great little story. It wasn't as scary as I hoped it would be, but left me thinking a little at the end. If you wanted, you could take this tale lightly just like any old legend, or you could spend some time wondering about the many ways our minds can decieve us. I would like to officially give it 3.5 stars if I could here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Aug 11, 2011
Sage Streck
added it
This was an eerie, odd little book, but I really enjoyed it. It was more of a short story, and an homage to classical horror novels. There were no serial killers or gruesome murder scenes, just some great psychological manipulation that kept you guessing. I am interested to check out some of Zeltserman's other work.
This is a book I really enjoyed and really struggle to describe to people. Is it a satire? A black comedy? Noir? Horror? All of the above. Zeltserman balances everything on the head of a pin and keeps you guessing right till the last page where he'll land. Recommended for folks who like off beat fiction.
borders on 4.5, so i'll just round up. i thought the premise sounded interesting, but jumped ahead and read the last two pages. after that, i sat down and read the whole thing. good story, excellent finish. and at around 230 pages, a quick read too. would make a great "twilight zone" episode or similar.
Why when I add things to currently reading does goodreads immediately demand a ruling on it?
The book clunks especially at the beginning, but it does manage to conjure an effective ending. I wasn't sure how it was going to end, or how I'd end it, so it was a bit of a surprise Dave pulled it off.
--Brian.
The book clunks especially at the beginning, but it does manage to conjure an effective ending. I wasn't sure how it was going to end, or how I'd end it, so it was a bit of a surprise Dave pulled it off.
--Brian.
Feb 22, 2011
RUSA CODES
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reading-list-2011
This was a Reading List Short List honor title in the Horror category for 2011. For the complete list, go to http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/aw...
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| What's The Name o...: Short story about killer plants/weeds [s] | 3 | 40 | Jul 16, 2012 05:46pm |
Shamus Award winner for Julius Katz. Ellery Queen's Readers Choice Award winner for 'Archie's Been Framed'. Small Crimes named by NPR as one of the 5 best crime and mystery novels of 2008, Washington Post naming it also as one of the best novels of 2008. Pariah named by the Washington Post as one of the best books of 2009. The Caretaker of Lorne Field (2010) shortlisted by American Library Associa...more
More about Dave Zeltserman...
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