'Old Flames' by Jack Ketchum
This book will give you a double dose of Jack Ketchum. It contains two novellas: the first being 'Old Flames' and the second, 'Right to Life.' 'Old Flames' is like an appetizer; it's not the typical hardcore story I have come to expect from Mr. Ketchum. The tale is about a woman named Dora who's married to a man who ends up leaving her for a new flame. Not long after that Dora hires 'Flame Finders' to locate her high school sweetheart, Jim.
She eases her way into Jim's life before he realizes what's happening. Will he recognize what she's trying to do before it's too late?
'Old Flames" grabbed my attention from the start and didn't let go of me until the last shocking page was read.
3.5 out of 5 bloody skulls
The last page of 'Old Flames' left me shocked, but it was nothing compared to the wickedness found in the second novella, 'Right to Life.' This one was a violent, twisted tale. It reminded me a bit of one of Ketchum's most well-known novels, 'The Girl Next Door,' which was recently made into a movie.
In 'Right to Life,' the main character, Sara, finds out she's pregnant by her lover, who happens to be married to another woman. They both feel an abortion is the only solution. However, this decision leads to a more terrifying problem when a car pulls up in front of the clinic and Sara is kidnapped and driven off to hell. Will she escape the torture and mental abuse that waits for her? Will both she and the baby survive?
What makes this novella great is that the hardcore violence is not gratuitous. The story is sharply written and Ketchum makes you care about, and hate, his characters. This one is a topnotch horror tale.
4.0 out of 5 bloody skulls
by survive?
What makes this novella great is that the hardcore violence is not gratuitous. The story is sharply written and Ketchum makes you care about, and hate, his characters. This one is a topnotch horror tale.
4.0 out of 5 bloody skulls
