Richard Laymon Same Vein






RATING:

Date of Release: 1974

Publisher: Granada

Review Source:

LET'S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS by Mendal Johnson

We break with tradition here to bring you a book that is not a new release - in fact, it was released in 1974 by Granada Publishing in the UK and has scarcely been heard of since. But it's an unknown classic and we're going to do our best to get more people to read it.

In fact, this book is very hard to find now - it's out of print and your best bet will be to search Bibliofind.com to see if you can track down a second hand bookstore for copies. But it's worth the hunt - it's a true classic and very *very* gritty.

Barbara, a twenty-year-old babysitter has the job of watching the Adams' kids while they go away for a week. An easy enough prospect, she needs the money during summer break at university and they need a babysitter. It's a simple job too. Look after two kids for 7 days, feed them, take them swimming, keep them entertained, take them to church, get them to bed. Simple.

Then, one day Barbara wakes up bound and gagged to her bed. The kids are going to have some fun. After all, it's just a game. What harm can kids do? But this is more than a game and when more kids come over to play at the Adams' the game gets very very serious indeed.

We can find no information on the author, Mendal Johnson - other than he lived in Maryland. This was his first novel and, as far as we can tell, his only novel. Rumors have it that he died mysteriously soon after writing the book - but we can't confirm them.

This is one of the most harrowing and gritting novels you will ever read. It burns its afterimage onto your brain and you are still thinking about the story and the characters for weeks afterwards. Not unlike, John Fowles' The Collector, this novel has no happy ending, no light fluffy moments, no tie-up-the-loose-ends. This is one of the most harrowing, frightening and gritty novels you will ever read. Forget Stephen King's Gerald's Game - that's playschool compared to this! Not for the fainthearted, Johnson turns a week of babysitting into one of the most shocking experiences of your life. The characters are real - and so is the violence. Told in a matter-of-fact style, almost literary, you won't be able to sleep after reading this.

Beg, borrow or steal a copy if you can find it. Do it, and do it now!


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