Winner of the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for Best NovelEnter the mind of a serial killer who believes he is the rightful son and heir to an ancient dynasty of flesh-eating monsters. Follow the frantic journey of a mother whose daughter is infected with the stuff of nightmare, and look through the eyes of Bo Mulvey, a man upon whom the fate and survival of the entire human race depends. Conrad Williams, who is the future of horror, sets this apocalyptic novel in London. It's an epic tale of history and destiny, desperation and desire, and atrocity and atonement. Like Clive Barker before him, Williams' impact on both readers and the horror genre will be astounding. Indeed, his work 'rivals the nastiest imagery of Edgar Allan Poe,' said Maxim.
The Unblemished
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. British Fantasy Award–winner Williams describes his virtuoso, grotesque nightmare of a book as a "paean to the novels I grew up on in the 1980s." It's an unnecessary observation: readers will immediately recognize the influence of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub and Ramsey Campbell. Playing on humanity's deepest fears and taboos, Williams plunges the reader deep into a hellish near-future where creatures banished five centuries ago rise again to lay eggs in the few people they don't consume alive, turning London into a cross between hive and abattoir. Caught up in the grisly madness are photographer Bo Mulvey, who goes looking for excitement and gets more than he bargained for; Sarah Hickman and her beautiful, disturbed daughter, Claire, on the run from a hit man with an amputation fetish; and Gyorsi Salavaria, a cannibalistic child killer determined to become the mate of the invaders' new queen. Williams (Use Once, Then Destroy) is so good at what he does that he probably shouldn't be allowed to do it anymore, for the sake of everyone's sanity. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Readers will immediately recognize the influence of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub and Ramsey Campbell . . . Williams is so good at what he does that he probably shouldn't be allowed to do it anymore, for the sake of everyone's sanity." —Publishers Weekly starred review
"Building relentlessly from intense, intimate terror to something on another scale altogether . . . this stark, gripping novel will stay with you a long time." —Guardian
"Reminiscent of Poe and the early stories of Clive Barker . . . no fan of literary horror should miss it." —Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
8 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great.
Jan 24 2007
By Jon D. Warren
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
It's ridiculous no one's reviewed this yet. The Unblemished is the kind of book that doesn't much get made anymore, as the author notes in the afterward: it's a homage to the 80's horror novel.
There's some old quote, 98% or 99% of what's published is terrible. In Horror, 99.9% of what's published is terrible. This is not.
I do sense the book wanted to be bigger, longed for the author to show the sympathetic side of his characters, that they, the flawed heroes, the flawed monsters, wanted to show a kinder, gentler side between the unrelenting pages.
Go out and buy it and read it. Just be forewarned when you end up in a bar, and everyone is just pretending to drink, and instead of natural conversation, the dialogue of your fellow drinkers seems planned out, artificial, and every time you look away, they look at you. Just hold up the book and hope they nod and wait for the next meal.
There's some old quote, 98% or 99% of what's published is terrible. In Horror, 99.9% of what's published is terrible. This is not.
I do sense the book wanted to be bigger, longed for the author to show the sympathetic side of his characters, that they, the flawed heroes, the flawed monsters, wanted to show a kinder, gentler side between the unrelenting pages.
Go out and buy it and read it. Just be forewarned when you end up in a bar, and everyone is just pretending to drink, and instead of natural conversation, the dialogue of your fellow drinkers seems planned out, artificial, and every time you look away, they look at you. Just hold up the book and hope they nod and wait for the next meal.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ambitious, Hallucinatory, Horrific
Sep 18 2008
By Marc Laidlaw
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ambitious, beautifully written, wearing its influences proudly on its surface but with an energy and intensity that is purely original. Barker, King, Cronenberg, Thomas Harris, Ramsey Campbell...all seem to peek out of the text at times. But it also reads like a horrific, hallucinatory take on one of John Wyndham's apocalypses, or Keith Roberts's The Furies. It's not completely successful...some parts of the basic premise never clicked, and London's relation to the global picture felt thinly sketched, but it's still the most entertaining big horror novel I've read in quite a while.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not alot of books make you feel so empty in the end.
May 24 2011
By AJ
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I finished the book feeling empty, but in a good way!
The whole novel is a roller coaster ride and Williams paints a vivid mural of terror from it. The characters are realistic. It seems like all he could do was just run after them and hope to keep up quick enough to jot down their actions and thoughts. At the end, you feel as helpless and drained as the main character Bo - and I don't think I've ever closed a horror novel feeling so distraught for a character before.
Some of scenes are graphic. Really, really graphic. So I don't recommend it for the squeamish.
The novel had potential to be more, but what Williams gives you, I'm convinced, is much more than enough.
The whole novel is a roller coaster ride and Williams paints a vivid mural of terror from it. The characters are realistic. It seems like all he could do was just run after them and hope to keep up quick enough to jot down their actions and thoughts. At the end, you feel as helpless and drained as the main character Bo - and I don't think I've ever closed a horror novel feeling so distraught for a character before.
Some of scenes are graphic. Really, really graphic. So I don't recommend it for the squeamish.
The novel had potential to be more, but what Williams gives you, I'm convinced, is much more than enough.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
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