Survivor [Mass Market Paperback]

In its first half, "Survivor" uses the universal fear of a woman kidnapped and the subversive, taboo aura of snuff films to great effect. Our main character, Lisa, is separated from her husband in an unlikely ruse. Her kidnapper takes her to a cabin with the intent of filming her being raped and killed. Her life is briefly spared when an innocent walks in on the scene and the men involved -- her kidnapper, a cameraman and the "performer," a guy who calls himself Animal -- make a movie with her first.

This opening sequence is scary, horrific and suspenseful. And what Lisa does to get out of this horrible situation is just as shocking.

We get wrapped up in Lisa's survival, the stunning thing she does to save her own life, and her sweaty life-or-death predicament. But when it's over the novel jogs in place for a long time. Only to kick back into action with more violence that feels utterly empty.

Lisa's turmoil is affecting, but it never goes beyond the obvious weeping, and that's a big problem with the book -- we never get a glimpse into any of the characters. We never learn why people want to watch snuff films, and we never get to know why people get off on hurting others. Animal rambles on for ten pages, but it felt like a lame explanation. If you're going to tackle this subject, you have to come up with something better than the old "power trip" line of thought.

The book gets a little wacky in the end, as a cartoonish character enters the scene and does something fairly impossible, and overall where this novel ends up is rather unsatisfying and even a little boring.

I really wish Gonzalez had stayed away from the obvious course this book takes. Because its first third is so good -- a matter-of-factly terrifying situation you dread but can't stop reading that ends with a moral twist that makes you question what you would do in the same circumstances -- and then just sort of fades into the oblivion of cliches and bad revenge movies.

Gonzalez had a lot he could have explored in this novel, but in the end "Survivor" doesn't live up to the promise of its opening.

This is the first Gonzalez book I've read and I'm pretty happy with it. I'm used to reading Edward Lee and Ketchum, etc.. and am no stranger to anything gross. What makes this book GROSSER than Edward Lee is the fact that it takes place in the real world. No strange creatures, aliens, or demons. The real evil is human sadism. That being said, yes, I agree with one reviewer who said it borrows a little bit from that movie 8MM. I'm not sure why the author did this (did he think that movie is obscure?) but even so, the book elaborates on the subject and really does disturb even a hardened reader like myself. He really touches on some things that I'm surprised that the publisher allowed it (the whole baby thing). This is a VERY quick read.. not because it's short but because it's suspenseful. You even get to see things from some of the "bad" guys' perspectives. As for the sloppy writing that one of the reveiwers mentioned, I'm sure that there might have been.. but with mass market pulp horror paperback, I'm sure we're all not looking for Hemingway.. just a good story to entertain us.

Many of the poor reviews for this book are based on its graphic content. Yes, it does portray some disgusting events, but nothing that would shock a reader of extreme horror authors like Edward Lee, or authors like Jack Ketchum on the darker edges of the genre.

No, the real problem with this book is that it's abysmally written. Amateurish doesn't begin to describe the level of incompetence Gonzalez demonstrates in this novel. It gives the impression of having been written at great haste by a writer who was barely paying attention to what was going onto the page. I'm pretty certain that this book received absolutely no editing apart from running it through Microsoft Word's spell checker. We see everything from basic grammar errors to clumsy stylistic goofs to the kind of storytelling gaffes that can only be made by a fumbling hack with only the dimmest grasp of characterization or suspense.

Readers with delicate sensibilities should obviously stay away from this book, which features graphic descriptions of atrocities such as rape, necrophilia, and the gruesome murder of infants. But the danger in describing these details is that they might attract fans of extreme horror to this book, creating the impression that they're in for a good old splatterfest. You're not.

If you're looking for kinky horror thrills, you're unlikely to find them here, unless your standards are low enough that you're content with the mere description of horrific acts, staged with absolutely no imagination or style, and in fact rendered with such hamfisted dullness that this book might turn you off of horror for good.

What separates enjoyable extreme horror writers like Edward Lee from wannabes like Gonzalez is that guys like Lee revel in their dark subject matter. They love slogging through the rivers of gore and dredging up bloody treats to dangle before their repulsed, yet fascinated audience. Gonzalez, on the other hand, is an opportunistic hack, and it shows. Gonzalez doesn't understand the genre (s)he is playing at. The way the violence is depicted in this book, it's like a novel about marijuana written by the creators of Reefer Madness. When you have characters who are purveyors of "hardcore S&M porn" actually (and repetitively) using phrases like "the hardcore S&M scene" in casual conversations, you know this author knows nothing about the "hardcore S&M scene" or anyone associated with it.

If you're looking for extreme horror, please stay far away from this book. It's not what you think it is. Read "Bighead" or "The House" by Edward Lee. Read "This Symbiotic Fascination" and "Haunter" by Charlee Jacob. Read something by competent authors who have more knowledge and interest in extreme horror than some pretender dabbling in the field. This book is a ridiculous bore, an absolute waste of any real horror fan's time and money.

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