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Book Review of Blood Games

Blood Games
Blood Games
Author: Richard Laymon
Genre: Horror
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
lizardking avatar reviewed on + 2 more book reviews


Five young women met as freshmen in college. Although all quite different, circumstances of their initial meeting bonded them together. One thing they all had in common was they did not like injustice and wrong-doing (particularly when aimed at one of themselves). During college they have a number of wild adventures where they dole out their own brand of justice. These stories are portrayed as flashbacks throughout the book.

Just after graduation they decide to get together once a year for new adventures. Each year a different one chooses where they will go and what they will do. This time Helen, a fan of horror movies, has chosen an abandoned hunting lodge where a slaughter took place many year earlier. But things quickly turn serious when they realize that the place is not completely abandoned. But it is when they decide to cut their visit short and leave the first day that things begin to go wrong. Now the ladies must pull together and use their skills in their most serious adventure.

Unlike many other Laymon books, we do not see characters become uncontrolled when the bonds of civilization are broken. This book really focuses on characters standing up for themselves and taking the law into their own hands. Also unlike many others, this one offers better explanations as to why the characters make the decisions they do and why the police are not an option. Definitely chilling in parts with great atmosphere. Things really do proceed right to the final page. A must for Laymon fans.