Take a Walk on the Wild Side (Walkers - Graham Masterton)

Member Name: Ophelia

Product:	Walkers - Graham Masterton
Date:	05/08/03 (291 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scary

Disadvantages: Hard to believe, not particularly likeable characters

This was only the second Graham Masterton that I had read and having voraciously devoured the first, was I to enjoy an equal feast on this occasion or was I to find the flavour less appetising?

THE STORY

Jack Reed is driving home one day and has taken the scenic route. What appears to be a child runs out in front of him and he swerves to avoid it. After crashing into a tree he takes a detour from the road and heads out into the undergrowth in search of the child. What he discovers is a huge old gothic mansion, which grabs his attention and inspires his imagination and he forms dreams of leaving his job at Reed Muffler and Tire (which I assumed to be a firm of solicitors or some such but, of course, was actually his own company manufacturing and fitting car mufflers and tyres/tires!) and converting the house into a hotel and country club.

He finds out who owns the house and is taken on a viewing by the real estate agent. His son, Randy, and his mistress and secretary, Karen, accompany him on the viewing. Randy alone in a room comes across a man in a wall (yes, really) who talks to him and tells him that they can be friends but that there are others there who are dangerous.

When Randy later recounts meeting a strange man in the building Jack decides to return to the building in search of this assumed paedophile or pervert and drags both Randy and Karen along with him in the middle of the night (our hero obviously isn?t the brightest!) Karen and Jack pop off for a quick fumble and when they return they discover that Randy has disappeared.

This is where their nightmare begins.

It transpires that the building used to be an asylum for the criminally insane but one night, 60 years previously, all 137 patients just vanished. Jack suspects that they are now all living within the walls of the building and that Randy has been kidnapped by them. He must now fight against supernaturally strong psychopaths who are de
termined to escape from the building and take thousands of human lives in order that they may then return to the real world.

Jack must stop them and rescue his son, all the time avoiding being dragged into a wall by a superhuman loony ? what a task!

CHARACTERS

Jack Reed is a simple man. He is not rich and not supremely intelligent but he works hard and wants to provide for his son and has dreams of an easier and happier life. His marriage disintegrates near the start of the book and he is given custody of their son (rather inadvisably as it transpires ? fancy letting your son be absorbed into the wall of a mental asylum!)

In certain respects Jack strikes me as being a rather selfish man. He seems to expect others, such as the caretaker of the building and a priest to name but two, to risk their own lives for no reward in order to attempt what seems an impossible rescue of his son. He does not even seem to be grateful when they lend their assistance and when they come to extremely grisly ends he seems far from racked by guilt. Even when the psychopaths break free (because of his actions) and start a wide scale killing spree, sucking unsuspecting people (including innocent brownies on a camping trip) into the ground, he does not seem suitably chastened.

Due to this incomprehensible blasé approach I found it hard to sympathise with him. However, I was still fascinated by the story and needed to discover whether the entirely innocent Randy would be saved and how many people would be killed in graphically unpleasant ways before the end of the book.

The other main character in the book is Karen. I am afraid that I felt little sympathy for her either. She is of below average intelligence, wears very short skirts, unsuitably high stiletto heels, too much jewellery and is happy to abandon her young child to the babysitter while having sex with her boss and traipsing around abandoned houses in the middle of the n
ight.

Nevertheless Karen seems to have a kind side; that?s right ? she?s the tart with the heart. She is certainly not an entirely unlikeable character and she goes beyond the call of duty to help Jack (I?m sure fighting murderous nutters wasn?t in her job description). Once again, Jack shows his selfish side and ultimately lets her down, even after all she has done for him.

I actually found myself hoping that Jack would meet a horrible and painful end. Despite the fact that I wasn?t enamoured with the hero, this didn?t detract from my enjoyment of the book as I was still gripped by the story and by Masterton?s smooth and flowing writing style.

SCARE FACTOR

The plot itself is rather hard to believe. It is not everyday that you see human but concrete-looking arms emerging from the floor desperate to drag you down into the solid floor below! However, if you can put reality and your knowledge of physics to one side and accept the facts as presented on face value, the concept becomes truly terrifying.

Wherever you go, wherever you are, whatever the time you must be wary; a strong hand might suddenly grip your ankle and you will find yourself in a life and death struggle. Nowhere is safe.

I certainly found the book absolutely gripping and there are some nice little touches in the telling of the tale, which make you smirk or add extra colour to the main story; such as the elderly priest who still berates his long dead father for christening him Bill Bell!

I found it almost impossible to put the book down and had Mr Ophelia begging me to turn of my reading light at 12.20 am on Saturday night. I grudgingly did so but was hoping that I would wake early so that I could recommence the tale of horror.

Masterton is without doubt a talented writer and his skills make up for an incredible story line and unendearing characters. As long as you are prepared to willingly suspend your disbelief for the
duration of the book you will find a gripping and ghoulish read.



OTHER INFO
Publisher: Warner Books, Little Brown & Co, Lancaster Place, London
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 0-7515-0731-8

Summary: