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Just Pretend
Teenage clairvoyant Clay Brannon races against time to protect a little girl from the lethal madman who is after her, after the child calls into a radio show about the killer and the police dismiss the call as a prank.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 12, 2011
This was surprisingly decent. I wasn't sure what to expect, I've heard so much about YA genre fiction, I wanted to check one out for myself. Pretty decent read, more of a mystery than horror, pretty sad for a young adult fiction, I thought, but at no time was my intelligence insulted and I didn't roll my eyes at either plot or dialogue, so solid 3 stars it is.
June 26, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for GR.
It won't really be a spoiler if you look on the copyright page but J.V. Lewton is a pen name for author Stephen Gresham. If you know your Paperbacks From Hell then it is the same guy who wrote Abracadabra with that zombie rabbit on the Zebra Horror book cover.
The same guy wrote this YA Horror novel and I have not become acquainted with his more adult output but Just Pretend is now one of my favorites.
The blurb on the back is semi-misleading to what is actually within these pages but it is more than you would expect from your average Z-Fave if you judge it against a Scream series or Nightmare Club book which are what the last two Z-Fave books I read happen to be.
We are focused on a sixteen year old named Clay Bannon who does have a gift to see things after a person has been there. Even the least terrifying things take a lot out of him to use this talent but Clay doesn't think it is a gift: just another curse in his life.
He lives in Alabama and he could have a future in writing but his family have no means to send him to college and he doesn't have the grades to receive one. Not just because Clay's dad ran off claiming to look for better work have ends been tight but also the medical bills for his eight year old sister, Molly.
She has leukemia and it does not look good.
Molly, however, is still bright and feisty and charming. She and Clay have a lot in common and he has been there every day to visit...his mother not emotionally able to handle being so close to her youngest child who is bedridden.
There are posters all about the 1960s on Molly's walls and a mixtape with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Jim Morrison close at hand. Clay wears the other peace sign earring in his own ear while Molly wears hers with a headband or a wig of wild hair on her head. The siblings also listen to the same radio program, Just Pretend.
The host of the show is one of Clay's classmates, Hillary Garrett. Hillary might as well live on a different planet than Clay because she is rich with a family house on the lake, good grades and prestige to get into any school she wants and she has her own show on the radio.
It has hooked not only kids but also adults with not talking down to kids about safety and the last segment, the titular Just Pretend part of the show, has kids call in to share. What do kids pretend to do, what to be and some of the answers are more profound than immature...until one call in particular starts a chain of events.
The voice of a little girl: "I pretended a bad man...and he's going to kill me."
On Hillary's end, she is shocked and tries to have the police figure out just where the call came from when her switchboard operator can not give a clue. Worried sick, Hillary is afraid she might be her only hope and yet feels so powerless. It rattles her core and we learn that Hillary doesn't have as perfect a life as others may think.
Her father is a workaholic and her mother an alcoholic...neither one have time for each other let alone their teenage daughter. Once the call comes in, parents are not happy that their own children had to hear another child say such a horrible thing and want the segment pulled for now.
Hillary, lover of children, knows she can't compromise and tells the head of the network to pull her show.
When Molly and Clay hear the call, Molly believes that if Clay uses his gift that he could find the girl but Clay isn't interested. People in town have heard he has a gift but the police in this small town wouldn't be interested in dealing with a "kid" probably dealing with the impending death of his sister.
That all changes once the body of a little girl is found out near the mines, strangled to death and drowned near the lake. Clay goes as far as the police tape will let him go and is able to see the crime even though he can't see a face...it is enough to leave him shaken.
The paths of these two teenagers are about to cross when Molly calls Hillary and tells her that her brother Clay can help find out who killed the little girl and see if she and the caller into her show were one and the same.
Twisted into this story of heartfelt emotion is the life of a small town where most of the people are just pretending and what lies behind those masks are dark and deep secrets...
You get a few glimpses into the mind of just whomever is behind all of these horrifying atrocities towards children and quite a few characters who just maybe responsible. The mystery is all but revealed with a twist that will leave you shell-shocked but even when the climax has come to pass...you don't really get a happy ending.
Bittersweet in some aspect but a downright tragedy.
It won't really be a spoiler if you look on the copyright page but J.V. Lewton is a pen name for author Stephen Gresham. If you know your Paperbacks From Hell then it is the same guy who wrote Abracadabra with that zombie rabbit on the Zebra Horror book cover.
The same guy wrote this YA Horror novel and I have not become acquainted with his more adult output but Just Pretend is now one of my favorites.
The blurb on the back is semi-misleading to what is actually within these pages but it is more than you would expect from your average Z-Fave if you judge it against a Scream series or Nightmare Club book which are what the last two Z-Fave books I read happen to be.
We are focused on a sixteen year old named Clay Bannon who does have a gift to see things after a person has been there. Even the least terrifying things take a lot out of him to use this talent but Clay doesn't think it is a gift: just another curse in his life.
He lives in Alabama and he could have a future in writing but his family have no means to send him to college and he doesn't have the grades to receive one. Not just because Clay's dad ran off claiming to look for better work have ends been tight but also the medical bills for his eight year old sister, Molly.
She has leukemia and it does not look good.
Molly, however, is still bright and feisty and charming. She and Clay have a lot in common and he has been there every day to visit...his mother not emotionally able to handle being so close to her youngest child who is bedridden.
There are posters all about the 1960s on Molly's walls and a mixtape with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Jim Morrison close at hand. Clay wears the other peace sign earring in his own ear while Molly wears hers with a headband or a wig of wild hair on her head. The siblings also listen to the same radio program, Just Pretend.
The host of the show is one of Clay's classmates, Hillary Garrett. Hillary might as well live on a different planet than Clay because she is rich with a family house on the lake, good grades and prestige to get into any school she wants and she has her own show on the radio.
It has hooked not only kids but also adults with not talking down to kids about safety and the last segment, the titular Just Pretend part of the show, has kids call in to share. What do kids pretend to do, what to be and some of the answers are more profound than immature...until one call in particular starts a chain of events.
The voice of a little girl: "I pretended a bad man...and he's going to kill me."
On Hillary's end, she is shocked and tries to have the police figure out just where the call came from when her switchboard operator can not give a clue. Worried sick, Hillary is afraid she might be her only hope and yet feels so powerless. It rattles her core and we learn that Hillary doesn't have as perfect a life as others may think.
Her father is a workaholic and her mother an alcoholic...neither one have time for each other let alone their teenage daughter. Once the call comes in, parents are not happy that their own children had to hear another child say such a horrible thing and want the segment pulled for now.
Hillary, lover of children, knows she can't compromise and tells the head of the network to pull her show.
When Molly and Clay hear the call, Molly believes that if Clay uses his gift that he could find the girl but Clay isn't interested. People in town have heard he has a gift but the police in this small town wouldn't be interested in dealing with a "kid" probably dealing with the impending death of his sister.
That all changes once the body of a little girl is found out near the mines, strangled to death and drowned near the lake. Clay goes as far as the police tape will let him go and is able to see the crime even though he can't see a face...it is enough to leave him shaken.
The paths of these two teenagers are about to cross when Molly calls Hillary and tells her that her brother Clay can help find out who killed the little girl and see if she and the caller into her show were one and the same.
Twisted into this story of heartfelt emotion is the life of a small town where most of the people are just pretending and what lies behind those masks are dark and deep secrets...
You get a few glimpses into the mind of just whomever is behind all of these horrifying atrocities towards children and quite a few characters who just maybe responsible. The mystery is all but revealed with a twist that will leave you shell-shocked but even when the climax has come to pass...you don't really get a happy ending.
Bittersweet in some aspect but a downright tragedy.
October 17, 2021
Just Pretend.
When I first picked up Just Pretend which had been gathering dust on my bookshelves for several years, which wasn’t bad because it added to the horror element. I met Molly a little girl bed ridden with a grownups illness that had her seeing her demise many, many years before her time and her protective, big brother Clay gifted with a special ability, I thought to myself that this was going to be a 5 star review for sure. I loved the banter between Clay and Molly, it reminded me of everything I didn’t have but wanted with my own sister. I also liked the rich girl, poor boy relationship that blossoms between Clay and the radio show hostess Hillary and how Molly’s innocence brings them together.
Then on the inauguration of the Just Pretend segment on Holly’s radio show goes live a little girl’s cries for help are heard and broadcasted through the town and everyone panics. A few days later a little girls body is found in the lake and this once quiet idyllic lakeside down goes to hell. Being a fan of 80’s horror film and book my interests are not only peaked they are convulsing, I live for this shit.
So, what really annoys me, what really grates my gears is how suddenly this amazing set up for a great, not good, but great horror narrative just ends before it has properly finished. I mean honestly, you have a lakeside town, the death of a little girl, another child missing, a conspiracy that the local authorities don’t want to touch and two teenagers that are willing to go several rounds with the devil itself. Just Pretend had all the right ingredients to be amazing, it should have had the stamina to go on further, fleshed out the characters a bit more, spoke about the town’s creepy history and given a satisfying conclusion.
3/5 Stars
When I first picked up Just Pretend which had been gathering dust on my bookshelves for several years, which wasn’t bad because it added to the horror element. I met Molly a little girl bed ridden with a grownups illness that had her seeing her demise many, many years before her time and her protective, big brother Clay gifted with a special ability, I thought to myself that this was going to be a 5 star review for sure. I loved the banter between Clay and Molly, it reminded me of everything I didn’t have but wanted with my own sister. I also liked the rich girl, poor boy relationship that blossoms between Clay and the radio show hostess Hillary and how Molly’s innocence brings them together.
Then on the inauguration of the Just Pretend segment on Holly’s radio show goes live a little girl’s cries for help are heard and broadcasted through the town and everyone panics. A few days later a little girls body is found in the lake and this once quiet idyllic lakeside down goes to hell. Being a fan of 80’s horror film and book my interests are not only peaked they are convulsing, I live for this shit.
So, what really annoys me, what really grates my gears is how suddenly this amazing set up for a great, not good, but great horror narrative just ends before it has properly finished. I mean honestly, you have a lakeside town, the death of a little girl, another child missing, a conspiracy that the local authorities don’t want to touch and two teenagers that are willing to go several rounds with the devil itself. Just Pretend had all the right ingredients to be amazing, it should have had the stamina to go on further, fleshed out the characters a bit more, spoke about the town’s creepy history and given a satisfying conclusion.
3/5 Stars
August 15, 2024
i picked this up from a used book store and it seemed interesting. i read it in 2 days because it’s quite short and i just wanted to get it over with lol. but to me atleast it wasn’t interesting in the least. fine story, just didn’t really enjoy it as much as i thought i would when i picked it up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews