Customer Reviews

In Silent Graves

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When I cracked the cover of Gary Braunbeck's "In Silent Graves" and read roughly the first 100 pages, my blood ran as cold as ice. Not from the increasing sense of doom and gloom, although there is plenty of that going on initially, but from the disturbingly eerie resemblence between the opening chapters of this book and the novels of horror author Tom Piccirilli. If you've read Piccirilli's books, you know what I'm talking about. He's the guy who takes an interesting idea and derails it by burdening the plot with over the top surrealism. I've read two of Piccirilli's horror books, "The Night Class" and "The Deceased," and felt as though I'd stepped into a world created by a crazed Salvador Dali. These two books made no sense whatsoever yet fans around the world lauded them as the best new thing in horror. I feared Gary Braunbeck's book was going to be a retread of Piccirilli's style. How wrong I was! Stick with "In Silent Graves" even if you feel as though you will never understand what is going on. By the time the book wraps up, not only will you completely comprehend every aspect of the narrative, you'll realize this book is one of the best novels you've read in ages. I can't believe I haven't heard of this guy before now.

"In Silent Graves" tells the unique story of one Robert Londrigan, a local television news reporter in a town called Cedar Hill. Robert and his wife Denise are happily expecting the birth of their first child, a birth that, if everything goes well, will be their first after several disappointing attempts. Unfortunately, the Londrigans get into a nasty fray on Halloween night that results in Robert storming out of the house in a huff. Too mad to return home right away, Londrigan strolls down to the local park where he soon undergoes a most curious experience. He runs into an enigmatic figure, a quite horrific one actually, and one that changes forever his conceptions of reality and humanity as he knows it. When he finally returns home, Denise is collapsed on the bedroom floor, an ambulance arrives, and Robert soon learns that he must face the prospect of a bitter and lonely life. Or will he? It turns out that Londrigan must experience the deepest depths of despair and tragedy before hope and redemption will allow him to bask in the light of eternal love. For once, and this is a big deal considering how I love to write lengthy, in depth reviews, I refuse to give away further plot details. The story is simply too good to risk ruining it for others.

I will say that Braunbeck takes a fairy tale story everyone has heard about at some point in their childhood yet reworks it in a way you could never imagine. "In Silent Graves" toys with the idea of reality, time, and space in exciting ways; it calls into question memory and indicts the human race for its treatment of children. The children especially form a central part of the story of Robert Londrigan, who must learn to understand the true meaning of despair if he is to ever escape the torment his life has become since the demise of his wife. If Robert can do this, if he can succeed in attaining a higher level of understanding, what is ugly and tragic will become beautiful and sublime. It's a big task for one man, but fortunately he has some powerful allies on his side pulling for him to make it. The fate of tens of thousands rests on him doing so.

Braunbeck's realizes his vision largely due to his fetching prose style, which eschews verbosity in favor of concisely language imbued with heartfelt emotion. I can't remember the last time I read a book categorized as a horror novel that brought tears to my eyes. Yes, "In Silent Graves" brought a mist to my eyes not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions. It's not the gore or violence that caused me to choke up, but rather the lengthy passages on how humanity abandons its children to the mindless cruelty of this mortal coil. Of course, if all Braunbeck could do is write emotionally charged paragraphs, he wouldn't be all that different from many other writers. Thankfully, the author's imagination is as good as his writing abilities. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this book, but am I glad I decided to read it. I don't know how the mechanics involved in awarding the Bram Stoker prize for best novel in the horror genre works, but Gary Braunbeck should certainly win one for this novel if there is any justice in the world.

Horror author Michael Marano wrote a most enlightening introduction for "In Silent Graves" that in and of itself is worth reading. He laments the decline of publishing houses willing to take a chance on books that set up camp outside the paint by number formulas so readily accepted by the masses today. It's a quite amusing introduction-he calls one mystery book he read "retina-scrapingly bad"-that paints an ugly picture of what passes for literature today. Gary Braunbeck's book stands in stark opposition to these formulaic atrocities; his is a work that will stay with me long after I return the book to the library. Speaking of which, I'm angry I checked this out instead of buying a copy because I should have supported the author with my dollars. I've rambled long enough. What you need to do is get out there and pick this one up immediately. You won't be disappointed.

I picked this up because it sounded like a good horror read, but it's much more than that. The first little bit of this novel convinced me that it was going to be a gore novel - hardly my favorite type of story. But I pressed on, and those tendrils of gore wormed their way into an incredibly in-depth plot that had me caring about the characters and story to a level that few stories have achieved with me. Do yourself a favor and read this.

Braunbeck does a fantastic job with what he sets out to do in this book. The fairy-tale presentation of the back story really is a unique, fresh method.

One never knows until the end, if the mysterious forces behind the action are good or evil, and one struggles along with the protagonist.

If I have one criticism of this book, it's that it doesn't give me enough of the mythological background hinted at in the story. It wets my appetite, but doesn't go all the way.

Still, it's a fantastic read and definitely worth the money.

I've read thousands of books, of all types, and rarely has one moved me so deeply. I'm not entirely sure why this book is categorized in horror, it does have some gore albeit not gratuitous, but it was not "scary" in the typical way. What is scary about it are the parts that are all too true in our world today, knowing that our beautiful children are sometimes (if not often) abused in the ways put forth in this novel, is truly frightening.

This book though can't really be classified in any one way. It is so unique as to need a classification all it's own. Yes, the editing could've been better. There were misplaced words and some mispellings which can sometimes ruin a book for me. But this book went beyond a "reading" and was an "experience" I will be forever thankful for, in spite of the editing sometimes being poor.

An excerpt from the introduction by Michael Marano: You feel this book, and you're made to feel in new ways because of it. It exists to be read and experienced and it exists to take you into those deep places within us most books are too afraid to let us acknowledge even exist.

I cannot recommend this book more highly, it is a MUST read!

Yes, I despair......

I have read thousands of books and this one place amoung the best. So powerful in it's depth of emotions. Tragedy and redeption have rarely been more eloquently fleshed out. I'm not ashamed to admit this book brought me to tears more than once. An amazing blend of horror, drama, soft science, philosophy and theology. Wonderful, and must read.

This is exactly the kind of book horror fans thirst for. Almost poetic prose weaves a tale that is as gruesome as it is loving. I read about 100 horror books a year and this one tops the list. It's encouraging to see writers like Braunbeck doing their part to elevate the genre. This one's a keeper!

In Silent Graves is a sad and darkly macabre tale of regret, isolation, and the spirit of the human heart. Needless to say, it's not your typical horror novel. This is my first time reading Gary Braunbeck's work, and it won't be the last. Every page of this novel is so utterly original that other authors should be embarrassed. Mr. Braunbeck has definitely raised the bar in the field of dark fiction... notice I didn't say horror fiction. The scare factor wasn't quite there, but I still loved the ride he took me on. Mr. Braunbeck obviously put a lot of effort into this book and it was well worth it. I am a fan for life. Thank you Don D'Auria (Leisure's horror editor) for bringing Gary A. Braunbeck on board. I see a Bram Stoker Award in the near future for this man.

Written with brutal honesty and a pain that runs so deep, it reveals a part of the author that incites both revulsion and hope.Is he horror's best-kept secret? Maybe. Is he the future of Horror? Definitely.

The plot was well developed, unique and exceptionally clever. Taking a story so commonly over-looked, Braunbeck adds a cup of terror, a pinch of the supernatural and a spoonful of spirituality with ease. Though it seems the writer chose the pace in the book to be deliberately slow, it soon begins to grate and annoy. The atmosphere is mournful and depressing, only occasionally letting up for those brief moments of humor; they are few and far between.

Written realistically, with flaws and distinctive aspects, the characters actually seem to be materializing right in front of you as you read. They style of writing is graceful, direct and cultivated. Now, I like pop culture right along with the next guy, but I felt Braunbeck took too many liberties in their usage. Also, the editing needed another once over.

don't take critic blurbs on a back cover of a paperback seriously. But when a critic says the book is "not for the squimish" it piques my interest. So when In Silent Graves came in the mail thru my Leisure Book Club I decided to read it first.

The foreward was an interesting take on the modern publishing world. The writer compares Mr Braunbeck's writing as more then just a novel but a classic all readers should read. I 100% agree w/ him!

In Silent Graves is about a man's journey thru grief, societies views on children born less then perfect, true love and soul mates, the Caballah, Gnosticism and a little bit of Greek Philosphy thrown in.

Robert is a man who had a troubled childhood. On Halloween his wife Denise dies and his stillborn severly deformed daughter Emily is born. In the morgue Robert is attacked and Emily's body is stolen. The attacker asks Robert "Do you despair?".

He must cope with his grief and try to keep his sanity as he slowly finds out the world as he knows it may not be what it seems to be.

Somewhere else a child is born unloved and abused, another severly deformed, another thrown away like trash...

I will not go further and spoil the plot but I gotta say following Robert thru his journey of self realization is an enjoyable jouney.

I do have to warn those who are easily upset to be aware there are some graphic scenes of child abuse,child murder and desecration of childen's corpses. Not to mention a psuedo incestual sex scene but it isn't what it seems.

And as weird as it sounds this whole book isn't what it seems. Yes it is a horror story, yes there is some gore (but all plot driven and not thrown in for gore's sake) but it is also a love story, a fairy tale(as a matter of fact some of the plot twists come from a very specific fairy tale) and a story about redemption. Maybe even redemption of society.

So, Do You Despair?

...very, very close, to being something special, but it falls short of the classic mark by a visible margin. Robert Londrigan, a television news anchorman, has worked hard building a happy life for himself and his pregnant wife, Denise. Then comes the Halloween night when he does the story on the baby born without a brain...and, returning home from a cooling off period after a fight about the story, Robert plunges into a nightmare where reality and myth become one. While In Silent Graves is undoubtedly a literate piece of dark fantasy writing (the layering of stories and literary references reminded me of Peter Straub's work), the book just wasn't that scary or unsettling to me. I think the author will go on to write more impressive fiction in the future.