Holy Terror

by Alan Blackwood, Graham Masterton

A hot summer day in New York City gives Conor O'Neil no warning of the nightmare which is about to engulf him. After witnessing a fatal robbery, Conor is wrongfully arrested for the crime by a bent cop and immediately goes on the run, fearing for his life. He discovers that an eerie pair of stage hypnotists, a fervent Southern Baptist, and a very sinister televangelist are involved in the heist, the proceeds of which are to fund something unthinkable yet all too possible. Conor's desperate need to clear his name takes him on a terrifying trip to a distant and hostile land, where he must use all of his remaining strength to survive the most deadly weapon of all...

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller

410 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 2, 1999

About the author

Pseudonym of Graham Masterton

Reviews

[Tracy P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Holy Terror' is the perfect title for this Graham Masterton novel. After Ex cop Conor O'Neil is framed for a crime he did not commit and then falsely arrested by a crooked cop, he finds himself - literally - running for his life. Determined to find those culpable for the crime so he clear his name he quickly discovers this is not going to be easy or without serious consequences to himself and the small group of loyal friends he has acquired in his search. O'Neil finds out the crime was committed by a pair of well trained hypnotists. (Very early on hypnotism is established as a major part of the plot). When Conor realizes that the hypnotists were hired by a demented narcissistic televangelist named Dennis Evelyn Branch - who thinks he has been called by God to be the next Messiah - his course of action quickly changes. Branch used the services of the hypnotists to steal millions of dollars which will help fund his goal of accessing the Spanish flu, and deadliest natural disaster (1918) the world has ever seen. His goal is to unleash it worldwide if all religious leaders everywhere do not forgo their faiths and join as one under his leadership in the "Global Message Movement." This is to be the Universal religion. No negotiations.
Once this established the plot quickly picks up with some seriously gruesome and disturbing scenes. For example: "There was a deafening bang and (---'s) head turned into a muslin bag full of crushed strawberries." - What a fabulously ghastly and creative description.
Some reviewers mention the hypnotism seemed farfetched and a bit much. However, if you read to the end of the book the author makes a point of noting the following:
"All of the hypnotic induction techniques described in this book are genuine and most of them are based on transcriptions of real case histories."
In my humble opinion, Graham Masterton has provided us with a remarkably suspenseful, horrifying, educational* and character driven novel.
See highlights.*

[Plum-crazy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fancied re-reading one of my Masterton collection & this is the one I picked. No demons or supernatural beings in this tale but an interesting take on the abilities of hypnotists & a sinister evangelist intending to let a deadly virus loose on the world. A great read, even if the plot is a bit too close for comfort at the moment....

[Fred Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, but, like most of Masterton's non-horror thrillers, it's completely implausible. Lots of characters and plotlines are woven together in an attempt to set up what is supposed to be a complex conspiracy, but is really just a silly action-movie story about hypnotists and religious fanatics. You won't be bored, but you may shake your head a lot.

[Daniel DeLappe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think this author has ever written a bad story. Fascinating characters make for a good, quick read

[Magda Beret · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Niestety bardzo tanie i trochę szkoda czasu.

[Joe Stamber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading Graham Masterton's novels since the 1980s and I'm a big fan, from his early horror stories up to and including his more recent Katie Maguire series. Holy Terror is neither a horror novel nor one of Masterton's best books. The story is that former police captain Conor gets embroiled in a heist at the place where he is now the security chief and ends up a fugitive. What started off as an unusual robbery turns out to be something far greater in scope. The main problem is that as a former captain in the police, Conor is expected to have a certain level of intelligence. Unfortunately, most of the major plot points centre on him doing incredibly stupid things to keep the story going. The book also drags on far too long and I longed for it to finish. One of Masterton's few weak novels.

[mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

męczyłam ją przez 5 miesiecy, przeczytałam 300stron i nie zniosę tego dluzej. najwidoczniej nie jest to książka dla mnie bo nawet nie pamiętam połowy co się tam działo

[Brenda]

It was one of those books that drives you to keep reading it to see what is going to happen next...and plenty does!

[Tony Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great read, laboured a bit towards the end. Struggled to finish it.

[Karolina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It gathered lots of motives that I love in literature, however I suppose it must have been the ending, that didn't amuse me.

[Brett]

Horror

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really nor my cup of tea.