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Crimson
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message 1:
by
Jason
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Feb 27, 2009 02:30PM
I've been really enjoying this novel. Feel free to discuss it here and if you have not picked it up, I recommend doing so.
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Has anyone else had a chance to check it out?
Yes I've read it.. I posted my review, but I'd be more than happy to discuss it with you.
deleted user wrote: "I just got done reading Crimson this past week and i loved it! I thought it was better than Jigsaw Man which is saying alot because i loved that book too. I loved the King Spider---very scary and R..."What happened to Rebecca???
Deleted? I was wondering about that earlier...
Kristen wrote: "Deleted? I was wondering about that earlier..."I saw that too. I don't know what's up with that. I hope there is not a glitch that deletes our accounts and we lose all our data!!!!!!
Maybe she was being naughty elsewhere
I saw that too. I don't have very many fans and I didn't want to lose her - lol! Hope she is fine and this is just a temp thing.Oh, and Kristen, if you get this, thank you for the kind review and the interview. I liked both! Still not sure about the part of me naming all my character with the same letter though - can't think of more than two. No worries though. I could be wrong:)
Gord
David, Douglas, and Davison I think... the third one was a last name that the character was called by :) I mailed the book to my cousin to read so now I can't double check who they were.I only notice because for some reason I find myself only reading the first 2 letters of a characters name once I know them... so I was trying to figure out which one had become a cop and it took a second for my mind to slow down and realize it was someone new. I tend to read too fast for my own good.
Ahh, I see. Som of the minor characters; the cops and prison guards and such. I was wondering becuase I knew themajor characters weren't all starting with a D. All I could think of was David, and I knew his mother was Donna, but that was it. It's been so long since I read it now, I can't remember the cops names either - lol!Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read and review the book.
Cheers,
Gord
Okay warning to anyone who hasn't read it SPOILERS AHOY!What I found most interesting was that although they were all utterly terrified of the critter - it never actually killed any of them, which made me wonder if the creature actually had the power to harm them at all? I have to admit that it left me pondering for a while - good job on that Gord.
Just got my copy today. Will read it as quickly as possible so I can come back and discuss. Looking forward to it!
The story starts off with a bang, that's for sure. Fat men with axes dripping blood scare me more than monsters. What he did to his family is horrible. Sawing off the baby's wrist...nice touch, Gord. I like how the monster is awakened from his sleep by people entering the house. The spider who scares the young intruder made for a nice image, especially when he stuck a leg out from behind the heating unit to smash the smaller spider.
It's funny how the boy explains away what happened to him at the house--a little bit of alcohol. I never had conjured up anything like that when I was tipsy. Anything to keep ourselves sane.
No. I'm so tired by the time I go to bed and start reading that I fall asleep after 30 mins. of reading. I'm to the part where one of the boys comes home in shock. I didn't reach the part that explained why he was in shock but I'm sure it's something pretty dreadful.
Tressa wrote: "No. I'm so tired by the time I go to bed and start reading that I fall asleep after 30 mins. of reading. I'm to the part where one of the boys comes home in shock. I didn't reach the part that expl..."I think we are about neck in neck.
I've made some good progress in my Crimson reading. I must say that the horror in Crimson shows its face early in the book--a lot of horror doesn't give us a glimpse of the monster until halfway in. Mr. Crimson certainly is mobile and relentless. He doesn't even give the boys time to show their respects at Pete's funeral before he's terrorizing them again.
That scene where the worker sneaks into Mr. Harrison's office and sees what he's having for lunch is great. And the image of the roasted baby with the pacifier still in her mouth is a nice touch, Gord. And I'm usually not scared of giant spiders in most horror books, but this King Spider is giving me the willies.
I've become complacent while reading horror stories with children as the main focus because 9 times out of 10 I know no matter what trials the kids are put through, they're going to survive. I don't get that with Crimson. The kids are very vulnerable and I don't know which ones going to survive in any given chapter.
This book sounds so good!!!! I have to read it!
Hope you didn't read too many spoilers here, Kathy.I was a little surprised to see the interlude about the three grown boys. I thought the story about Dave and the pretty blonde was going to turn into "and years went by and they got married..." Color me shocked when that's wasn't the case. Five years with no nightmares and now they start back up again. And what plans does Crimson have for Johnny?
Can't wait to read some more tonight.
Tressa wrote: "Hope you didn't read too many spoilers here, Kathy.I was a little surprised to see the interlude about the three grown boys. I thought the story about Dave and the pretty blonde was going to turn..."
No, I read enough to get me hooked and then I quickly stopped! I work for a bookstore and I just ordered myself Crimson and Jigsaw Man. You guys sold me! :)
Gord Rollo is a good writer. I really liked Jigsaw Man. That book manages to be horrible and poignant at the same time.
Tressa wrote: "Hope you didn't read too many spoilers here, Kathy.I was a little surprised to see the interlude about the three grown boys. I thought the story about Dave and the pretty blonde was going to turn..."
Hurry up Tressa. We were neck and neck and I finished it last night.
I'm going to stay up tonight and finish it. Wait for me!
I'm looking forward to discussing it some more.
OK. I finished Crimson. It actually got better towards the middle and end when I realized it wasn't going to be another group-of-kids-band-together-to-kill-the-monster. A lot of horror books end this way and it's getting old for me.I have a question. I could believe in a real Crimson before I could believe that Canada would ever get the death penalty again, especially that fast. Unless Crimson was forcing the votes?
I kept wondering why Crimson would choose this group of boys to terrorize for decades, and I enjoyed the story of Crimson's history, death, and visit to hell and back again.
I thought I had guessed correctly that Shadowman was Crimson, so I was thrown for a loop when it was the warden. Maybe others saw it coming but I sure didn't.
Would someone like Shadowman really be assigned to share a bunk with someone else? And the midnight fights is something I just can't believe would be allowed to go on in a prison, or hard to keep secret if someone tried. Am I being too naive about this?
I was thrown for another loop when David was given the ring. I thought for sure that he would put it on and not executed.
Hi folks,I'll jump in and comment soon. I just want you guys to have a chance to mull it over before I butt it. Feel free to comment about anything, good or bad, because trust me I know Crimson isn't perfect by any stretch. Thanks to all of you who have given my books a try.
Gord
Not many books are perfect, and that's not what I look for to entertain me.Someone, I think it might have been Kristen, mentioned that she felt so bad for David. I think I was still reading the first part of the book when she posted that and I didn't know what she meant by the statement. I do now. With the exception of ten years (?), David's life consists of terrifying nightmares, the possibility of nightmares, real confrontations with Crimson, and being placed in prison for life. He never had a chance to go to college, get married, have kids, go on vacation, or do any of the things we take for granted.
Gord, what I like about Crimson and the same thing I like about Jigsaw Man is that you infuse humanity into your horror stories without hitting us up side the head with it. These are "just" horror novels, but I found myself thinking about the two main characters from these books long after I finished the books, the same way I have done with characters from classic novels I read and love.
Another job well done, Gord.
The thing I found the most interesting is that in reality, the critter didn't kill anyone (other than possibly the real warden but that was never shown). It left me wondering if the boys had been stronger and able to ignore what they were seeing, would they all still have been alive and the creature doomed to keep trying to find victims until he found a weaker willed person?
Kristen wrote: "The thing I found the most interesting is that in reality, the critter didn't kill anyone (other than possibly the real warden but that was never shown). It left me wondering if the boys had been ..."Unless I read it wrong I don't think the creature killed anyone. I think it was a mind control deal and that the deaths were unfortunate accidents (pete and the cop in the old factory) or were the subject of mind control. Didn't the warden kill himself with a letter opener to the eye?
Overall I enjoyed the book Crimson better than Jigsaw Man. There was too much liberty taken with medical facts in Jigsaw Man to please me.
Being caught up in the story it didn't dawn on me that Crimson didn't outright kill any of them. But he did make the warden kill himself and he made Johnny kill all those people. And Pete killed the cop thinking it was Crimson.Oh, and one of the worst deaths was Tommy's when he was grabbed around the torso by the King Spider. I've been afraid of hairy spiders since watching a re-run of The Incredible Shrinking Man when I was a kid.
I've never had a problem with spiders - snakes are my thing.
I think the story flowed along very smooth but hit a bump at the early prison scenes but flowed along smooth again after that and then came the exciting race to the end (my favorite parts). The background of the creature was great and it wasn't until the end that I realized that the creature never physically killed anyone. Is it me or did David's character at times feel a little bit like the main character in Jigsaw Man?
I never thought David was like the main character in Jigsaw Man. Most horror books have a good, moral character put into harrowing circumstances beyond his control, and for that reason I guess the same could be said of any horror writer's characters.The best part of the book for me was when the story shifted to the grown David and his life in prison; I liked finally learning the answers to some questions as Crimson put the puzzle pieces in place.
Crimson seemed almost human when he showed embarrassment at being given the job of jewelry maker in hell and warned David not to laugh.
I sort of liked David, and I hated the main character in Jigsaw man so I never connected the two. The only thing I didn't care for in Crimson was that Crimson sat down and told his life story... I would rather have had it dispersed through the whole book, bit by bit. But that's just personal preferance.But the monster not killing anyone directly... I picked up on that fairly quickly and kept wondering if there was anyone who would be able to withstand his "charms" and just ignore him.
Just skimming this thread for general opinions, as I haven't read the book...It actually got better towards the middle and end when I realized it wasn't going to be another group-of-kids-band-together-to-kill-the-monster.
That's good to know, because it's exactly for that impression I put the book back on the shelf after looking at it. Maybe I will get it after all.
You tired of that same plot, too? I think you'll enjoy Crimson, Scott. There were a lot of original ideas in the book.
Well, it's just that when I'm looking at books, and the back cover description sounds like something I've seen so many times before, I tend to look for something else. Not that it can't still be a good story--in fact, the three examples I can think of off the top of my head that I've read were ones I quite enjoyed--but life is short, y'know?I guess that in this case the publisher was hoping to cash in on people who loved It, but for me that kind of strategy usually has the opposite effect. I want to see things I've never seen before.
I'll check this out again. The Jigsaw Man looked intriguing as well.
Reviews comparing this to Summer Of Night made me decide I had to have it. So now it is sitting on the "to read" pile, with it probably getting it's turn in a week or so. The reviews have helped it get pushed to the front of the line! It's actually pretty hard not grabbing it right away, as I keep reading more and more good stuff about it.
