A new Richard Matheson novel is a literary happening. Especially when it is his first new novel in seven years. Hunted Past Reason marks the return of the most influential horror writer of the 20th century.For those new to this grandmaster—How I envy you; oh, to be able to read his works again for the first time!—Richard Matheson is the author of some of the seminal works of horror/dark suspense including I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, Stir of Echoes, Hell House, Bid Time Return, What Dreams May Come, and others. Several of those titles will resonate with movie buffs, as many were made into successful films. But don't just take my word for his skills; Matheson has received the Edgar, Stoker, World Fantasy, Spur, and the Writers Guild Award. Did I mention his work on Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, and both Nightstalker films? It is not hyperbole to say that without Richard Matheson, there would be no Stephen King or Dean Koontz.Hunted Past Reason is the story of Bob Hansen, a screenwriter researching his next film, and his friend Doug, an out of work actor and consummate outdoorsman, spending what is suppose to be two days in the California wilderness hiking and camping. The plan is for Doug to share the experience of the outdoors with Bob. He does that and so much more.Turns out Doug has a criminal past and is insanely jealous of Bob and his success. His writing career, his beautiful wife, his wonderful children. Doug is a struggling actor, a failed husband, the father of a suicide victim. He is also crazy.Eventually the novel becomes "The Most Dangerous Game" (Richard Connell's classic short story of man vs. man). This is not a bad thing; Matheson is a master of suspense. The tension was there. I was riveted. So much so that I was dreaming the story at night. And let met tell you, they weren't pleasant dreams.Matheson uses his strengths. Hunted Past Reason is a slim book with a taut, crisp style. Unlike his literary descendant, Stephen King, Matheson's prose has become, if nothing else, leaner as his career has progressed. Just above him, he saw the ledge he'd picked out when he'd mapped his climbing route before starting out. Thank God, he thought. A chance to rest. He reached up eagerly to pull himself onto the ledge. Moving too fast, he started losing his balance. "No!" he cried out, panicked, pressing himself against the rock face as tightly as he could, wavering between balance and loss of it. Gasping for breath, he clutched as hard as he could at a rocky outcrop on the ledge. Don't fall, don't fall, he told himself, jamming both feet in their holds as rigidly as he could. Don't fall!This is a men's adventure novel in the best sense of the word. Is it harsh? Yes. Horrific? In places. Is it well written? Absolutely.All this leads to the disappointment at the end. Sadly, the ending is every thing you'd come to expect from a lesser writer: Stereotypical and sappy. Matheson really needed to return to his roots and give us a Twilight Zone ending. It's all too clean and pat at the end. I'm almost surprised that it doesn't end with "...and they lived happily ever after." Though it is close.While flawed, Hunted Past Reason is the best Matheson novel since the Spur award winner Journal of the Gun Years. This is an author at the peak of his skills, who forgot that a great story needs a great ending. Matheson was this close to creating another masterpiece. Hunted Past Reason is what I call a train ride book, a story that has a exciting journey—but when you get where you are going, the station is a disappointment.(This review originally appeared at RevolutionSF)Link: [http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.h...]
This book was picked for my 2015 First Quarter Pick-It-For-Me pick over in Bookworm Buddies. I'd picked it up on a bookhunting trip somewhere along the line after I had read and really enjoyed I Am Legend & Hell House and The Box: Uncanny Stories by the author. My start and end read dates here make it seem like it took forever to get through, but that's just because I'd started it, got a couple chapters in, and then got interrupted by real life. It wasn't because the book was bad, just to get that out there.It was an ok story, really. It wasn't great, though. Just ok. The writing was fine, no complaints there. The action, though, never really got action-y enough for me, and the suspenseful, thrill-type parts came almost too late, and not enough at that. The main character, Bob, was an ok guy, I liked him well enough. Doug, the baddy, was a little much. I wanted Bob to fight back more than what he did, stand up for himself a little better, especially in the beginning before things escalated, when it was just verbal pokes and jibes. Doug was a character who was just begging for me to club him in the face. I didn't like his attitude, his way of seeing things... anything about him. I was glad when he got what he needed.Like I said, the action of the story doesn't even really begin until well past the halfway mark. Before that, it was getting to know Bob, and getting to see how annoying Doug's personality was. Also, learning little bits of stuff about backpacking and being in the wilderness. That was somewhat interesting, potentially informative.Once the 'game' started, then the pace was faster, but it still didn't really satisfy me. I wanted more action, more danger, more... something.By the time the story was over, I was glad to be done. I was content with the ending, for the most part, and I liked how Bob's wife was there too. Left me just a little curious as to what was going to happen to Doug, too. All in all, it was an alright read. I'm glad I tried it, and I'll most definitely, beyond doubt read more by Matheson in the future.
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Do not read this book. I really loved hell house, but weirdly didn't like the protagonist in that book. And right from the beginning I did not like bob, protagonist in this book. He is whiney and pathetic. He is in a race for his life, and stops to eat a cheese sandwich and make coffee. He's irritating, and I almost wanted him to die. This book weirdly focuses on afterlife and religious beliefs, a bizarre animal protection and doctor Doolittle sort of thing, and also a weird fixation with bowel movements. I'm not sure why I finished it. If you want to read about two characters who are totally unrelateable, this is your book.
—Audrey
Two men enter the woods. But only one emerge alive. That's the blurb on the cover, and pretty much sums up the story. Ok, given that's not the most accurate synopsis, but that's basically the bare-bones version of this novella. You've probably read a version of this already, it's been re-hashed so many times since the biblical depiction of Cain and Abel.What should have been left better as a short story, Matheson somehow manages to expand it to a novella that uncovers the psyché of two very different men. Doug - the Alpha-male - Matheson's version of 'Cain, is a down-and-out actor, a very outdoor-sy person, and a testosterone crazy bloke just coming off a broken relationship. Bob - the writer - is 'Abel', the quiet articulate happily married man who seems to have everything going right for him. And for the purpose of the story, everything that Doug is not.As "research" for Bob's next book, and using Doug's expert know-how, they plan a hiking trip into the wilderness. Although the trip seems to be going well at first, it doesn't take long before things go south pretty quickly.Simmering tensions, jealousy and rage all rear their ugly heads and turn the second half of this story into a gripping tale of survival. Matheson does well to keep the pace intense, even managing to add some metaphysical dialogue about life between the two leading characters without bogging down the story.Matheson does push the boundary a little, getting out a of his comfort-zone with a more added violence. Some scenes may be a little far-fetched and harsh, but at least it's not as brutal as some other writers out there currently.However, it's an ending that you can predict. The same one that's done to death, literally, in plenty of B-movies. Fortunately, the only thing that keeps this a head above the rest is Matheson's brilliant writing. His hiking knowledge is top-notch and good enough to be used as a Survival-101 course, and the dialogue is as sharp as always.Pick this up if you can. This is one author that I already miss.~ Shob
—Shob
James Dickey would be rolling in his grave if he had read such a blatant (and unfortunately poorly written) rip-off of Deliverance. There's many reasons this is a book to avoid, but let's start with the three key scenes that jump straight from the pages of Dickey's brilliant novel:1. The Rape Scene: All that's missing here is the "Squeal like a pig" line. What made the scene from Deliverance so disturbing was the fact that the atrocity was being committed by a complete stranger. What makes this scene disturbing? The in-depth description of the act. Designed to shock the audience, rather than make them question decency, Matheson fails us right of the bat when the first twist of the novel occurs.2. The Cliff: I almost stopped reading when the protagonist makes up his mind to scale a cliff face to escape his pursuer. Thank God the writing was light and this was the only book I had on me at the time.3. White-Water Rapids: Our hero falls into a river and is very nearly drowned. Need I say more, Deliverance fans?Don't get me wrong--I'm not entirely opposed to a very similar plot, or even a rip off, of another tale. However, Matheson characterizes his style in this book (not even comparable to the tone he achieved in I Am Legend) with mundane repetitions. There's even a list the main character creates to tell us of the injuries he's accrued. Do we really need to be reminded of this in a novel that falls a little short of 300 pages (paperback edition)?Also an unfortunate departure from Matheson's earlier efforts is the ridiculous characterization. They are perhaps "over-characterized" and fall in the realm of archetypes: that of the timid, naive writer and the utter evil antagonist, loosely glued together with lacing of a bad childhood.Final gripe: there's not one, not two, but three faux-horror movie endings that would make even the most casual fan of the genre cringe. Ultimately, the final ending comes off as ridiculous and unsatisfying. It's not that I wanted a gruesome revenge plot. If the truth be told, I don't know what I really wanted, except not to have wasted time and money on this ridiculous excuse for a novel. Please, keep away from it at all costs.
—Adam
