Review by Monica O'Rourke

NO REST FOR THE WICKED by Brian Keene Vox13 Limited Edition HC $40 HC $30 Trade Paperback $20 ISBN 1-930595-11-5

Brian Keene may very well be the PT Barnum of the Horror world. A great showman, a proficient ringleader – words that can be used to describe either man. Keene knows what the audience wants, and more importantly, he knows how to deliver.

In NO REST FOR THE WICKED, Keene offers up a collection of stories that are, quite frankly, unrelenting, and as addictive as a bag of potato chips, with that same elusive quality where one is never quite sufficient. Once you’ve started reading a story, you find that you’re compelled to finish. Not an easy task when the majority of my reading is done on the subway during my commute to and from work. But Keene’s collection managed to do one thing: it made me read it over the course of two days, and it made me read it at home, where it cut into my writing time, as well as time set aside to read through piles of short stories for various magazines. The ultimate compliment, at least where I’m concerned.

I think I could pick out the earlier stories – the ones with a handful of bizarrely structured passages, even occasional poor word choices. What beginning writer hasn’t suffered through a cliché or two? But I can also see the improvement, the development of the writer, and of the writing, and now we're graced with strong writing, riveting plots, amazing creatures and monsters. “Earthworm Gods” is a truly terrifying story. Compelling, action-packed – as is most of his work – certainly my favorite story in the collection.

The afterword is an interesting peek into the author’s creative process, an explanation of that age-old question, “Where do you get your ideas?” The foreword is a wonderful accounting, by the great horror author Richard Laymon, of Keene’s writing and his vast and varied contributions to the Horror field.

Keene’s collection is well worth the money and is destined to become a collector’s item. He’s already deeply enmeshed in the Horror culture and has become a pagan leader of sorts. As mentioned earlier, he’s the Horror Barnum, and he knows how to sell it all in one neatly bundled package.

5 Bookwyrms

This review copyright 2001 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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