Cover [Hardcover]

Jack Ketchum has been hailed as a writer whose unflinching gaze at man's darkness is disturbingly thought-provoking. Consistently, he's displayed a knack for taking readers to uncomfortable places, daring them to stare harsh reality in the eye. Originally published by Gauntlet Press, "Cover" still finds relevance in today's world. In these pages, Ketchum captures the horrors of war, after a soldier has returned home, a supposedly "safe" place forever tainted by the violence he's endured.

The Vietnam War has left Lee Moravian a hollowed-out shell. A bundle of nothing more than trained impulses, Lee struggles for normalcy. The simplest emotions are atrophied muscles he doesn't remember how to use. When his wife finally leaves him, fearing for her and their son's safety, Lee is left alone to grapple with his ghosts, deep in the quiet forest he calls sanctuary.

A chance arrival of celebrity campers intrudes upon Lee's delicately strung-together world. The stress of solitude warps his mind, dredging horrifying flashbacks to the surface. Reality twists into a haunting reflection of the jungles of 'Nam, and as Lee slowly fades from the present into the past, he prepares to wage bloody war upon his newfound "enemies".

Though reflecting upon Vietnam, "Cover" is still relevant today. Ketchum aptly portrays the fragmented perspective of a man torn by a violence beyond most humans' understanding. It's a complicated work. It's hard to blame Lee, especially as Ketchum interweaves the veteran's terrible war experiences into the present-day narrative. It's an excellent re-printing choice by Leisure, because in this time of war and strife, amid political and military campaigns driven by agendas and "goals", it's important to consider the broken human lives that are often dismissed afterward.

It's kind of hard to lump this book into the horror section - I would consider it more of a horrifying thriller. A vietnam vet has determined that he is too dangerous to live in society and has removed himself far into the wilderness. He lives secluded from society with his wife and dog. His wife helps him to keep his last grip on his sanity - but when she leaves to go stay with family, his last grasp is gone.

Meanwhile we have a pack of well to do upper crust individuals, and author, a playwrite, a model, an agent and a photographer who are all planning on a camping trip. Their intermingled dramas are very realistic and border on annoying (much like real people). Unfortunately when they select their camping spot they may find themselves mistaken for a couple of Uncle Ho's minions by a man who has long ago left his sanity behind him.

The chapters from the vet's eyes are disturbing and all too real - frightening. Ketchum did a fantastic job of building him and making us care about him even though we are utterly terrified of him.

Although this is no "Girl Next Door" this is a wonderfully written book that will shock the casual reader, and be loved by the avid horror/thriller fan.

Jack Ketchum has written some of the best horror/suspense titles of the '80's and '90's--check out OFF SEASON, JOYRIDE, HIDE AND SEEK, and (if you've got the nerve for it), THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. He can probably be compared in some ways with Richard Laymon or Joe R. Lansdale in that he usually tells a very stripped-down, bare bones story. None of the self-indulgent bloat and needless flashbacks that mar most of the horror genres bestselling writers. COVER has a very exciting premise: A group of people on a weekend outing in the woods are hunted down by a psychotic Vietnam vet. And had Ketchum used his usual bare-knuckled formula of throwing you right into the story, right into the action, this would have been very good. Unfortunately, it takes a good hundred pages before ANYTHING happens. His characters don't work here, either. The Viet vet is very good, a very comendable portrayal of the suffering and needless horror of war. But the others characters, particularly the egotistic has-been writer Kelsey, are not believable nor exactly likeable. As an example of how ridiculous this gets, Kelsey has a beautiful, rich and powerful wife who is friends with Kelsey's ultra-beautiful, rich and powerful supermodel mistress. They both go on the weekend campout, happily. Yeah, right! (...) As it is, this one just doesn't work. You almost get the feeling that Ketchum was trying to write a mainstream literary work here, but at the last moment knew it wouldn't sell, so he through in some horror elements. Read his other books, though, you won't be disappointed.