Book of the Dead

by John Tigges

Book of the Dead by John Tigges

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Fantasy

358 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Tigges began his career as an author and writer in 1973. He wrote more than thirty-eight books under his own name and pen names "Ned Stone" and "William Essex."

In 1976 Tigges was commissioned to write Jean Marie Cardinal, an historical novel. Teaming with James Shaffer, he wrote Dubuque: The 19th Century, Dubuque: The 20th Century, Iowa’s Last Narrow-Gauge Railroad, and Railroads of Dubuque, Iowa. Tigges wrote such novels as Garden of the Incubus, Unto the Altar, Kiss Not the Child, Evil Dreams, The Immortal, Hand of Lucifer, As Evil Does, Vessel, Comes the Wraith, Venom, and Book of the Dead. Under the pen name William Essex he wrote The Pack, Slime, and From Below. He wrote Mountain Massacre, and Rails to Hades using the name Ned Stone. Tigges founded the Sinipee Writers Workshop and taught writing seminars in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Tigges made many contributions locally to the field of music. He established the Dubuque "Pops" orchestra and co-founded the DUBUQUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA in 1956. Tigges served as business manager of the symphony for ten years and played violin with it from 1958 to 1968 and again from 1971 to 1973. In 1972 Tigges founded the Julien Strings, a society string orchestra. He led the group and played violin.

Reviews

[Mehmet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just after reading the Odd Thomas series, i needed a break to get through the massive pile of books I need to read. I felt like something trashy, maybe 80s. Well after reading venom by same author a while back, i came across this book. Brilliant cover, sounds great but overall just ok.

You see the biggest problem with the book, is characters. The main guy we are suppose to cheer for, Rob is not that nice. Especially in the beginning. His Wife Sherry comes across even meaner, but that was done on purpose. The story was set up so Rob can use the power of the Book of the dead. Which gives you wealth, power and revenge. You get a huge back story on how the book came into the family hands. Much like Venom though the author builds up much excitement, then fizzles out near the end. Also he makes it quite obvious that he loves big Boobs ! Scenes which describe the females boobs for no reason, or baths scenes just to describe water dripping between them.
Yet the book was fun, the author does create a lovely set up and delivers it. I would only read it once though.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

remember reading this years ago. can't remember the story exactly, but there are a few things I remember very clearly, especially the man being beaten to dust by invisible hands.
I couldn't even remember the name of the book, just it was book of something... & I just stumbled over it on a local book buy & sell page! recognised the cover immediately!

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this a few times many many years ago. I loved it back then. Want to read it again but lost my copy. Wish it was on digital but it's old and not horribly popular. As I remember it was good book but most characters were not likable. May edit this if I can get my hands on a copy again.

[Ethan’s Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out ok but it got boring pretty quickly. I also don’t like it when authors fill pages with needless information or repetitiveness. If you don’t have anything to say that’s fine. There is no need to fill the pages to make a word count. If it’s a short story then it’s a short story.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, I got at an antiquarian. It has very 80s B horror movie vibe

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters all kind of sound and think the same way.
Spiralling thoughts, although accurate and human, are boring to read for the fifth time.
I liked the idea and the effects of the book of the dead (in the novel) but this isn't anything special.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast read because it had characters that were both shallow and interesting at the same time. Also had a lot of sex, which helps sell the shallow characters.

I’m not giving any plot away, because this is told in the prologue. But the book in the title was written by the devil and is all-powerful. Anyone who owns the book can do anything that comes into their head. Catch is that all the things done by the book are evil.

The protagonist, Rob LaMotte, finds that he doesn’t want the book to do evil things. But the author could not figure out how to resolve the conflict. As a result, the resolution just falls apart.

[ozzluc · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5*

Síce by to mala byť horrorová knižka, mne akurátne padla na “odpočinutie si”. Dej sa točí okolo knihy smrti a jej dvoch vlastníkoch. Páčilo sa mi ako kniha smrti vznikla, ako sa dostala do rúk Emilovi a neskôr jejo vnukovi Robovi. Páčilo aa mi rozdelenie deju na minulosť a prítomnosť.. bohužiaľ to trvalo len do polovice a odtiaľ to pokračovalo prítomnosťou v ktorej boli veľmi nesympatické postavy a o dosť slabší dej. Ale aj cez to sa mi kniha veľmi rýchlo čítala.

Za 2,50€ z antikvariatu som predsa iba spokojná lebo aj keby knihu neotvorim, tak tá obálka je perfetkná.

[Matthew Germain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a teen, and recently got another copy. If it weren't for the several passages of sex and gore, this could almost pass for a young adult book or perhaps a tv movie from the 70s, as it is a fairly easy read that plays out without very much description or character development. That said, i still enjoyed it because it kept me entertained for what it is.

[Annette Vecellio · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got bored with this book, started skimming it, and then decided to give up on it. Not worth finishing.

[Lee-Anne Veage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this many years ago, and couldn't put this down. A well written book that will keep you up at night. Great storyteller.

[Korrie Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

You must read this book!

[Rhiannon Otto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my kind of book.