The Night Boat

by Robert McCammon, Colin Sullivan, Rowena Morrill (Cover Artist)

From the living hell of her watery grave she rises again...
THE NIGHT BOAT

Deep under the calm water of a Caribbean lagoon, salvage diver David Moore discovers a sunken Nazi U-boat entombed in the sand. A mysterious relic from the last war. Slowly, the U-boat rises from the depths laden with a long-dead crew, cancerous with rot, mummified for eternity.

Or so Moore thought.

UNTIL HE HEARD THE DEEP HOLLOW BOOM OF SOMETHING HAMMERING WITH FEVERISH INTENSITY...SOMETHING DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET OUT!

Beneath the waves she will seduce the living and devour the dead...
THE NIGHT BOAT

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Zombies, Supernatural, Audiobook, Fantasy, Thriller

284 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1980

About the author

Pseudonyms: Robert R. McCammon; Robert Rick McCammon

Robert McCammon was a full-time horror writer for many years. Among his many popular novels were the classics Boy's Life and Swan Song. After taking a hiatus for his family, he returned to writing with an interest in historical fiction.

His newest book, Leviathan, is the tenth and final book in the Matthew Corbett series. It was published in trade hardcover (Lividian Publications), ebook (Open Road), and audiobook (Audible) formats on December 3, 2024.

McCammon resides in Birmingham, Alabama.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another early classic by McCammon. I really like this tough horror story set on an exotic Caribbean island named Coquina. David Moore, the main character, finds the wreck of a submarine at the bottom of the sea. Things are getting interesting when the wreck comes like by magic on the surface. What is the story behind that ship? What about its mission, nationality and crew? It was a German submarine sinking freight ships during WW2 in that area. As soon as the ship swims the tide again strange deaths happen. The submarine is towed to the shipyard and then the real horror begins for the main characters and the inhabitants of the little town. Who made the crew to something ghastly and unspeakable? What is the role of Boniface the Cathololic priest often seen practising Voodoo? This is fascinating early 80s horror at its very best. You don't want to meet the Night Boat, risen from its tomb at the bottom of the see and its uncanny crew. Gosh, this was an extremely compelling book. Did David Moore succeed in getting rid of the Night Boat? Nail biting suspense and horror up to the last page. Absolutely recommended to every 80s horror fan (like me), what a tale!

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before we begin the review proper, I just want to thank Dawn for buddy reading this with me. While not the best McCammon book, I'm glad we did this and enjoyed hearing your thoughts as well!

What's the plot of this one? My friends, I have a one sentence pitch for you: Nazi zombies on a U-Boat.

Really, that's all you really need to know about this book. From one sentence you know if this is a must read or something to completely avoid for you. If that doesn't sound appealing, glad I could help you make up your mind fast. For those who do think "that sounds amazing" please read on.

I want to say first off that while I'm giving it a two star review, the book was a lot of fun, and if that plot description sounded appealing, by all means check it out, but I want to set you up here for what you're getting into.

Is the book fun? Yes, but disregard most of your notions of who Robert McCammon is as an author. Of all of his books that I've read (all of which I've enjoyed on at least some levels) this is easily his worst. Why? Because it's a mess. It really feels like he wrote the book, read it, said "Oh, I should probably put this one back" and then his publisher said that they needed a new book right now and he threw it to them because... well, why not?

The book is extremely uneven. McCammon's usual attention to detail and multiple characters starts up, and quickly gets disregarded. The book is both slow paced and extremely rushed all at the same time. A character is introduced in the prologue to only not show up again until over halfway through the book. Important characters aren't introduced until about 3/4s (maybe farther) of the way through. They're quickly given backstory and then we act as if they've been there the entire time. Characters seem to be set up for something only to be quickly dismissed... It just feels like McCammon had a different book planned and then decided to cut it down from say 500 pages to 340. Sometimes less is more... this time less is just less.

I liked the island setting but have a bit of an issue with how McCammon writes it. He’s a very talented author, but does he have a description other than skin tone here? Given that this book takes place in the Caribbean, it’s awkward that he only seems to be able to describe the characters as “the black”. Even when Moore (our only white character for a good portion of the book) is not around, he usually says things like “he stood beside the black” rather than naming characters or talking about any feature other than skin tone. I know this was an early book of his, but it feels less than just a modern reader issue with the writing, but more like an editing issue (again, this feels like incomplete writing).

The characters also make stupid decisions. I mean, like slasher movie "I heard a noise in the basement of the murder-house and I'm going down there without anything weapons or source of light and calling out 'anyone there?' shortly after doing drugs and telling my friends 'I'll be right back'" sort of stupid. (Slasher fans get that, I know you do.)

I won't go into all of them (it would take quite a while to do so) but my Favorite example is the constable who repeatedly goes into dangerous situations (including a crime scene that has most assuredly not been cleared) without backup or a weapon... MULTIPLE TIMES. He even points out he should have brought a gun on one of them. No kidding? No reason is given for him not taking one ever. He just doesn't.

Honestly my biggest issue with the book isn't even a dumb character moments, but how McCammon decides to use one character. Schiller was a wasted character and could have been removed with zero impact to the story. He was the only survivor of the U-Boat in WWII and here he comes back to the island with the crew zombies. He was introduced in the prologue and doesn't show up again until over the halfway point. I truly thought McCammon was going to do something special here. A former Nazi crewman having to confront his past (literally) with the undead crew. What happens to him? He gives a moment of exposition which we already pretty much knew and gets killed immediately upon seeing his crew. It even almost looked like there was going to be a moment between him and the old captain, but nope, completely disregard that.

While Schiller was the worst in my opinion as it could have been fascinating, Kip was another one. His entire backstory, the fact that the reverend thought he might be able to do something, the hints that he too had some sort of power... nope, he jumps off a boat and that is pretty much his entire addition to the final confrontation.

Alright, I've practically ranted about this book. Surely people are sitting there going "guess I should skip it."

...

I honestly wouldn't fully say that. Don't get me wrong, this book is EXTREMELY problematic in so many ways, but come on... *said extremely quietly as if providing self justification, but slightly grudgingly as if it should be self evident without it being presented again* Nazi zombies on a U-Boat. I mean really, I'll get through a lot of problems for that sort of entertainment, and it IS entertaining. It's just McCammon at his worst (and seemingly indifferent). While casual horror fans and those who hate cheesy horror should skip it, others will find it hilarious or at the very least pretty entertaining. I personally debated on a 2 or 3 star rating, but feel I can't quite justify that extra star, and really, when we get down to it, while some will see a gem, it's really just kind of okay. 2/5 stars

[Dave Edmunds · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Night Boat is about the merging of dream and nightmare, confinement and escape, and what I think of as the whirlpool of Fate. " - Robert R McCammon

Initial Thoughts

You know I'm a big fan of Robert McCammon. Quite simply one of the finest authors to ever write in the horror genre. Second only to Stephen King, and then it's a close second. I absolutely love his style.. After reading a number of his stellar books I'm now making my way through his remaining body of work in chronological order.

So why am I reading the Night Boat straight after Baal (McCammon's first book) when it was his third book published? Well as it happens it was the second book that he wrote but he delayed releasing it until after Bethany's Sin was published. Since one of the biggest things I'm getting from these early books is seeing how McCammon progressed as a writer, my logic is to try and read them in the order they were written in. Mental hey?

The Story

The Night Boat is a story of a past that refuses to remain in the grave and seeks to resurface to wreak havoc once again on those who had escaped. The main protagonist, David Moore, stumbles across a submarine that has been buried under an underwater landslide, while diving in the waters off the Caribbean island of Coquina. It's a beautiful location with crystal clear water and swaying palm trees and used to be a haven for British naval ships during World War II.

Well Moore unwittingly sets off a depth charge that releases the derelict sub, causing it to surface. Despite being beneath those waters for decades it's in almost perfect condition. But that's not the strangest thing. Not by a long way. It what's inside the vessel that's the strangest and most terrifying secret. A secret that the island's inhabitants will soon discover to their absolute horror, horror, horror!



The Writing

I love Robert McCammon and I love his writing. Although he was not as good back when he wrote this book as he is now, he was clearly a good writer who possessed talent. What stands out for me is his ability to create some horrifying and genuinely scary scenes with real atmosphere. Trust me, the scary parts in this book are really good and reminded me a lot of John Carpenter's The Fog.

"And each morning the debris washed in, parts of ships and men. Frozen bodies with twisted, terror-struck faces; sometimes only a tide of blood or of arms and legs.” He drew in his breath. “That… is the Night Boat, risen from its tomb at the bottom of the sea.”

McCammon is good with his description, adding quality action and gore into the narrative and he really cranks up the tension in the second half of the novel. In the afterword, he talks about how he wrote this novel in a cramped, roach infested apartment in Southside Birmingham, Alabama, and he incorporates that claustrophobic atmosphere into a number of scenes in this book.

There was also a great deal of research in this one done around the Carribbean and in particular submarines. McCammon clearly has a passion for their construction and design and it certainly shows throughout the book in the way he describes them. I really enjoyed that aspect.

But this early piece does have a few problems. As McCammon himself admits:

"I always hear about writers who've written four books that end up in a drawer, and their fifth book is the one that gets published. The first book I ever wrote was published, flaws and all. For better or worse, I was allowed to learn to write in public. I think those books are simply early efforts. You have to take them as they are. I don't think they're very deep or anything; I think they're okay, but they simply represent where I was at that particular time."

Bob McCammon has a habit of repeating words at the end of a sentence for dramatic effect. "She ran, ran, ran!". Only he does it a lot. We're talking double figures in this fairly short book. Yes, it does get repetitive, repetitive, repetitive!

Also, the point of view changes without warning a number of times and sometimes it does feel awkward. It can be quite jarring and take you out of the story as your brain readjusts. In fact all the main issues in this one related to its characters...

The Characters

Ok so here's my main issue with the Night Boat and that's it's characters. Probably the most important aspect of a novel for me. I always quote Stephen King here, in that what a reader wants is interesting believable characters forced into difficult situations. This book definitely has some difficult situations, in spades. But it is certainly lacking in the character department.

The main character, David Moore has a decent bit of backstory relating to the death of his family. Which creates a fair bit of sympathy for him. He's a decent character and I was starting to get invested in him. But he disappears after the first act in the novel and doesn't really have an active part when the main action kicks off in the middle.

"He was desperately trying to convince himself that the answer was logical, something he could put his finger on, but the more he brooded over it the more the answer seemed to elude him. It led him into a place of darkness, a cramped passage moving him inexorably toward a closed iron hatch.”

We then follow Steven Kip, the local police constable. He really should have been the main character, as he then becomes the focus of the novel. He's the one who's getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the Night Board and making waves with the key characters in the town. But we don't have any significant character development with him and he ends up being a bystander at the climax.

There's some crazy villains that have a lot of potential, that he chooses not to explore, and a woman carrying out historical research that shows up at the mid-point, looking like Moore's love interest, that just doesn't go anywhere. An ex-nazi, that has plenty of intrigue, comes and goes without much impact. The list goes on.



I think part of the problem is that McCammon has too many characters and rather than focusing on one, he bounces around a number of them. As a result, we don't get any significant development and I didn't get invested in anyone. Jesus, how miserable am I?

Final Thoughts

Wow! I only gave this book three stars and I've spent an hour reviewing. I mean it's an ok book...not a bad one anyway. It had a lot of fun, intense, visceral horror moments but it certainly isn't going set the world alight.

So is it worth a read? If you're a McCammon fan, yes. If you're a fan of pulpy horror, yes. If you're starting you're McCammon journey, most certainly not. Pick one of his standout books. For me, you can't go wrong with Swan Song or Boys Life.

So an entertaining, if not spectacular, read from a writer that was still honing his skills. Is it McCammon's worst book? I've got six more to go but I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes, it is.

Read it for yourself and tell me if I'm wrong. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

"You saw the place of eternal torture and damnation. And yet you are a fool to think it was a nightmare, to think you are safe because the things you fail to understand cannot reach you. But I tell you they can!”

[Jakob J. 🎃]

I continue to live in shame, yet to read any McCammon, (the time I’d have to set aside for Swan Song is too daunting at the moment), but floating across a beautiful, signed, numbered Subterranean Press copy like this for a measly dollar at a discarded library sale? I live for this shit. Sometimes I almost feel guilty for making out with something like this, but better it come back to my horror loving home than languish in a bin and wind up on eBay at an exorbitant price.

[TheNeverendingTBR · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a slog to get through, it's well-written but it's poorly plotted and lacks solid characters.

The first half of the book is completely void of action, all the action happened like 40 pages before the end of the book and by that time I just wanted it to end.

Could have been superb but there's too much talking and not enough action.

[Argent Talonn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Night Boat
Author: Robert McCammon
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Publication year: 1980

Review: The Night Boat was the second McCammon book I read after reading They Thirst way back in high school, when I fell in love with McCammon's writing. This is McCammon's take on the zombie subgenre, which pretty much ably demonstrates (like he did with They Thirst and vampires, Wolf's Hour and werewolves, and Swan Song and the apocalypse) fresh perspective and mastery of whatever horror trope he explores.

David Moore is a diver that makes his living on the salvage he finds from the Caribbean waters around the fictional island of Coquina. During one of his excursions, he finds an intact submarine, but while considering how to go about salvaging the museum piece, he accidently sets off a booby trap that would have destroyed it. Instead, it is freed from the bottom and appears just off the Coquina shore.

Moore inadvertently revives a curse that should have lay the sub to rest, and the superstitious indigenous people want the submarine returned to the depths, but the zombie crew that lay dormant have now been set free. They don't want to go back. They just want to feed. If you like horror with a splash or two or three of gore and other reddish bodily fluids, you might like this one as much as I do.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Night Boat by Robert McCammon is a horror novel that harkens back to the early zombie tales (like White Zombie, 1932) where the walking dead were a consequence of a voodoo curse. When a diver, David Moore, finds an intact submarine in the waters off of a Caribbean island called Coquina. Moore accidentally dislodges a live explosive that causes the sub to surface. The vessel is brought by tug into an isolated quay in the harbor, but from the moment it is attached to the island, a quiet pall hovers over the inhabitants.

A curse that should have been laid to rest at the bottom of the ocean has been raised, and the indigenous peoples of Coquina want it to be sent back to where it came from. The problem is, as usual, a museum will pay a tidy sum for the salvage. The things that walk Coquina at night are horrific and incredible. A really terrific read.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCammon tells us in the afterword (of the 1988 Pocket edition) that TNB was his second novel, but the third he published. While not nearly as developed as, as Swan Song or The Wolf's Hour, TNB still displays his almost poetic prose and has to be the shortest novel of his I have read. We know from the cover blurb that this will be a Nazi zombie story, and McCammon does not let us down!

The story is set on lovely Coquina, a sparsely populated island in the Bahamas whose claim to fame if you will was the construction of a British ship repair facility during WWII. In 1942, a U-boat shelled Coquina and burned down the town around it; a few days later it came back to finish the job and got trapped by some British destroyers. Although they depth-charged for days, they never found the U-boat.

In the present day, the owner of the islands only hotel went diving off the bay (where he had found some artifacts before) and found the U-boat buried in sand on a ledge. While exploring it, he also found an unexploded depth charge that decided the time was right to explode. The ensuing explosion cleared the tons of sand off the U-boat and it floated to the surface.

Amazed that the U-boat floats, and even more so that it looks relatively undamaged from its decades beneath the sea, town locals tow it to the dry dock of the old British ship repair facility to clear it from the harbor. One greedy man, dreaming about hidden Nazi gold bars, cuts open a hatch to the sub late at night and then things start to happen on the island...

OK, so a Nazi zombie story, complete with a WWII U-boat, is probably not for everyone, and definitely not considered a work of high fiction, but it is still is a lot of fun. It turns out that a local voodoo man put a curse on the boat when it shelled the island in 1942-- that and the hate of the Nazis drives them to take revenge in their half-dead state. These are not Romero zombies, but something new and novel. Add the story to the great cover art by Rowena Morrill and you have a nice little book! 4 stars!

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this one has mixed reviews and it was an early novel for McCammon, but I was thoroughly entertained, even if I wasn't really sure what the "monsters" were.😆

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise and idea of this is fascinating - there were over 700 sunken German submarines, and to have one submerged in sand and released with a monstrous crew? Epic idea for a horror story set on an island. Throw in some doses of voodoo, a creepy thing underdone that I adore? Even better formula in the mixing. Unfortunately all these didn't combine well. I kept thinking when reading The Night Boat that it would have rocked as a short story or slim novella, but just wasn't packing enough punch for a book.

While not long at under 300 pages, The Night Boat still dragged its anchor around too much to stay interesting. A story like this should fascinate, but I kept growing bored. I like the slow and steadily building ominous pace as much as any horror fan, and that's where the book worked its strongest magic. Still, when things finally happen it wasn't up to McCammon's usual flair of writing. Dare I say some of the scenes were actually written poorly? Much more could have been done with the sea's naturally chilling setting. There were some slightly eerie scenes, but the potential this book had just wasn't met.

It didn't help characterization fell short too. I couldn't care about anyone much. They sort of blended together with the dialogue of capital letters when people emphasized or shouted. No true traits of individualism breached the hull of this book.

I'm a fan of McCammon but ultimately this one was flat. The air was let out of the story way too soon. And yes, I enjoy making cheesy water-related jokes in my reviews; don't shoot me over it. I read it was his second book - not published, but written - so this is perhaps why. Some editing to inject life and color into it would bring it afloat again.

[Adam Light · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to anything post "They Thirst" McCammon, this is certainly an inferior book but it should be judged on its strengths and weaknesses. Setting aside the inevitable comparisons to his later work, I rate this as a very satisfactory horror novel.
It isn't profound, but there is a WWII Uboat, nazi zombies, voodoo, and gore aplenty.
Good, fun, and action packed.

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like the movie Shock Waves read this. Very good. It moves at a good pace the characters are likeable. What more do I gotta say then there's a submarine full of nazi voodoo zombies. If that doesn't get you wanting to read this then its just not your kind of book. but It does the schlockiness well without going over your span of disbelief. Yes you get to see inside the submarine and its creepy and great. If you can find a copy buy it!

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite McCammon book I’ve read so far! Fast paced and scary!

*Read with my dad.

[Jon Recluse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember when almost every horror novel and thriller had Nazis in them?
Well, this is the book they were all trying to be.
A fast, fun horror tale featuring a cursed U-boat and undead Nazis, with a dash of voodoo to give it that authentic island flavor.

[Ethan’s Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original review:

This would be a good movie, but the book is slow.
It’s enjoyable, but some parts are too long and I felt like time was wasted.
Loved the premise though. Interesting.

Newest review: 2.5 stars rounded up.

Ok…so not much has changed on my view of Night Boat. It’s definitely an interesting premise. I loved the island vibes and the searching of an eerie submarine U-boat that resurfaces like a ghost ship. But the story just felt super long for a short book…
I expected more action as well. I don’t want to deter anyone from reading McCammon, because I’m enjoying myself on my rereads through McCammon books. Maybe don’t start with this one if you’re a curious first time reader of McCammon. Even though the cover is outstanding and spooky. It was just really hard to connect with this book in my humble opinion.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't a bad horror novel, but it's a pretty forgettable one, which is probably why McCammon pulled it from circulation. I think that judgement a bit too severe, given it's genre writing in the first place (lighten up McCammon). But hey, it's his call. The book actually starts out well, with McCammon effectively mixing some exotic elements (Nazis, voodoo, zombies), into some decent dread. The problem is that once the zombies (or more appropriately, flesh eating mummies) show up, the wheels start to come off. Like so many horror novels of this period, there's a rush toward apocalypse, which, to my mind, often moved such novels out of the horror box and into some sort of sci-fi/fantasy/adventure zone. In any event, the sense of horror quickly evaporates, and you have an ending that borrows heavily on Moby Dick and Jaws. (The last 50 pages felt like a 100.) One of the major problems with the novel is that the main character, David Moore, is bland and uninteresting. McCammon attempts to make him a haunted and fated type, but as the novel draws to an end, you can't help but feel that most of the secondary characters are more interesting (and many of them ARE interesting). McCammon can write, and it's clear he did some research here (especially with U-boats). The dialogue (at least until the by-the-numbers ending), was also pretty good. Given that much of dialogue comes from Caribbean characters, that's no small feat (especially for a young writer). Recommended only for fans of 1980s horror (which I am), and McCammon completists. (Good cheesy cover art.) If you're just a casual reader of RM, his later books are better. 2 1/2 stars, which I'm rounding down since the author has such low regard for it. I think he's wrong, but whatever.

Cover Art: 3 Stars.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I could say that my edition has a striking cover by Rowena or point out that this appeared years before Brian Keene rose or Robert Kirkman walked, but....

Dude, it's Nazi submarine zombies! Grab some beer and pizza and read it! Submarine zombie Nazis!

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

For this review, I thought I try get a few pictures in here - I know, I know - it's nothing like the ones looking like small movies in themselves like the reviewing pro's on here do, but you can always get to them later on.

This book is kinda like if you took Baron Samedi, say from Live and let die: and had him go crazy on a sub:
.

Sound good? Well it's not fantastic. But if it sounds fun - that's closer to the truth!

To be perfectly honest, this did not warm me towards McCammon. I stand by my top score for 'Boy's Life' - I adored that book! - but I start to think that was a lucky bulls-eye for this writer.

This one is kind of fun in parts, but there were way too many silly and b-movie flavored situations and dialog to work all the way. To complete the mixture; take a pinch of Fulci voodoo zombies:
...

and a huge helping of "Dead Snow"-nazi-living dead!



Should you want to know more about the actual book - visit the one and only Edward's take. He was kind enough to read this with me and I'm sure he'll write a better review...

[Benji's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, spooky tale, perfect for the month of October. This isn't on the level of Robert McCammon's "the Wolf's Hour" or "Boy's Life", but then again, what is? (Don't actually answer because I can name a few myself).

The climactic ending was insanely good and made you feel like you were right there on...you guessed it, THE NIGHT BOAT. But don't expect a whole lot of character development to come out of it. It has about the same as a fun, 1980s horror flick. So pull up a seat, turn the lights down low, make yourself up something to drink and enjoy.

Best enjoyed if you can get your hands on a 1988 copy of the novel, with a wonderful cover by Rowena Morrill. This particular edition also has a nice afterword by the author.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

“But Marge, Night Boat! The crime SOLVING boat!”

I wish. This one’s a yawner. Least favorite McCammon.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
A German U-boat resurfaces after forty years thanks to a salvage attempt by a man running from his past.
The book has one of the longest set ups I have ever read - almost one third of this book. That is bit too long. The prologue is perfect. It takes place during the WWII when that U-boat had sunk a freighter and was sunk in return. Only one man survived.
Forty years later David Moore accidentally releases the submarine and with it its terrible cargo.

It takes quite some time for the story to move forward. Parts of the story are extraordinary and others are unnecessary slow. The parts of the book about the threat, the islanders' memories of war and the attacks in the present are what is making this book great. Childhood memories of voodoo make add to the mystique of the story. On the other hand, since I don't know anything about boats and their parts, it was a bit tedious reading about it. It took me out of the story. The constant reminders of skin colour don't help either. He didn't miss a lot of characters.

Still, Robert McCammon is a great writer. He even managed to make me feel sorry for them. That and I can't remember ever reading a description of a real Nazi officer (not the ones with conscience as in other books) that wasn't an attempt of finding the monster in his outward features. The man, before he died, was attractive. Somehow I don't think the author planned that, but there you go.

My reading of this book was a combination of ups and downs. One moment I was thinking how slow everything is going, the next I was almost overwhelmed in a good way. I don't even have to say the latter are parts of this book with zombies and they overcome the ones I didn't really care for.

I still can't decide on the role one particular female character has in this book. The woman appeared in the middle of the book, ended up being in the middle of everything and all that being completely unimportant.

Overall, The Night Boat is a great zombie story once it lets you see the monsters.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much. Not only does McCammon deliver on a fun premise--undead Nazi submarine crew goes ape-shit in a sleepy Caribbean village--he complements the genre goodies with characters whose own stories invited my interest and my sympathies. McCammon even introduces the makings for some genre staples and then neatly sidesteps these cliches, offering up situations and relationships that belong to the tone and texture of the story.

The balance between plot and character depth in this zombie tale is just right, and I give McCammon major props for this achievement. I loved the zombie attack scenes, and I craved more of them in the book's final act--which I submit as proof-positive that McCammon nailed this book's composition with precision. Too many other horror books have lost me due to boring verbosity that aims to add flesh--and ends up piling on pound after pound of fat. Those books I skimmed; this one I devoured in one day of reading that was pure pleasure.

[Alaina]

rtc

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, especially that Ray Porter is an excellent narrator, but it's McCammon's second book. Not as good or immersive as his other works. Still entertaining.

[Boz Reacher · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is problematic as hell, but that's not necessarily a "deal-breaker".

I got started down McCammon's trail many years ago, as a young child - in the late '80s/early '90s it wasn't at all uncommon to find, in an otherwise normal and successful adult's house, large collections of paperback horror novels. (Now I guess it would just be like life-size Star Wars figurines, so.)

To an devoted R.L. Stine/Christopher Pike enthusiast these shelves proved irresistible; they represented a future where I didn't have to stop liking something that gave me great pleasure but which already registered as a very self-indulgent and weird way to spend large chunks of time. Also the covers were really cool.

You could (and I did) spend hours just picking books up and staring at the chillingly rendered grotesqueries adorning them. And Bob McCammon had the best covers, hands down. The covers of McCammon's books were so cool, and suggested such a richly foreboding and mysterious adult terror, that I never worked up the nerve to actually try reading one.

Thirty or forty years later, some time down the road, Gib Gobs posts a four star review on this website of something called Stinger with a cover, and name attached to it, that look awfully familiar. And I mean "awfully"!

So I started reading these stupid things in order - The Night Boat is the third one, in publishing order, but legendarily (mythically?) it's actually the second that McCammon wrote, after Baal (which was so bad it gave me a stomachache for three days after I devoured it in three hours outside of a Texaco station on Dessau, right by Walnut Creek, w/ two extra large coffees and half a pack of Marlboro Smooths) and before Bethany's Sin (which, we can never let the feminists find out about this book).

All three are bad, and for a while McCammon legendarily (mythically??) deliberately kept them out of print. I think he had the right idea; each is, to varying degrees, thematically problematic, strangely/poorly paced, and embarrassingly over-written. But Baal and Bethany's Sin are pretty fucking hard to put down once you decide (for whatever reason) to pick them up.

The Night Boat is a turgid slog. Its action relegated to a small Caribbean island, the locale provides McCammon a good excuse to do lots and lots of bad dialect, and indulge in flatly racist voodoo caricatures. The plot involves a long-submerged U-boat risen to the surface and the undead Nazis who have been waiting for forty years to just get out of this watery grave and get a plate of knockwurst and resume WWII exactly where they left off.

Lots of nautical action and of course McCammon rises to the challenge, the writing still self-consciously muscly but actually less redundant and overheated than similarly situated material in Bethany's Sin (which, again, is a better book, and we can never, ever allow the feminists to discover its existence), but the characters in the water don't ever come to life, and the book drifts into a truly lazy white savior ending that retroactively negates any goodwill the author earns with the sequences where boats are fighting.

I'm not giving up on Bob McCammon, at least not until I get to the iconic stuff that tantalized my pre-pubescent imagination, but the Night Boat, which every time I referred to by the title in the review here I first typed it as "the Ghost Boat" and then had to backspace it up and retype it correctly as "the Night Boat," is a terrible novel.

There's a moment in the story when a character - who actually is the best, most likable character in the book but still lazily rendered and ultimately just acting in service to the most boring character in the entire book, The One White Guy In This Story Who Isn't An Actual Nazi; this character is representative of the book's most serious failing, that McCammon introduces a lot of potentially interesting shit and then fails to develop the material or deliver any payoff whatsoever - but he drops to his knees after failing in his pursuit of the Night Boat (goddamnit, I did it again, I typed "the Ghost Boat") and says "The Night Boat - nooooooo!!".

This is really a status update on my McCammon quest. I felt compelled to condemn this novel on the public record before I continued along my private path. Not good at all. McCammon was going through some stuff as a young man. I wouldn't care to speculate on the specifics. They say that, with ebooks and all this, novels delivered directly to your digital devices, every book eventually gets the cover that it deserves. This definitely is (currently) true of the Ghost Boat.

[Peter Ruys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nazi ghost ship rises from beyond the grave, it’s inmates hungry for revenge. Very hungry...


This was my second Robert McCammon read, the first being Boy’s Life which was great, so I was hoping for more quality with this one but wasn’t really expecting it given the premise, but for the most part it delivers!
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I loved the atmosphere of the book. The setting of the quiet island paradise off the coast of Jamaica in the Caribbean was well written and had a dreamlike, surreal quality.
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The horror sequences were fantastic, some of the best I’ve read, as were the eerie descriptions of the boat itself. I felt McCammon’s writing allowed for a suspension of disbelief that others could not pull off, and this is only the second book he wrote.
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This book had that little bit of extra depth that I’m always going on about wanting. The main characters developed, with pieces of back story slowly revealed, although unfortunately some things never eventuated and some of the characters introduced ended up seeming a bit pointless.
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At around two thirds into this book I was thinking it could either head into 5 star territory with a great ending I couldn’t see coming, or unravel. Unfortunately I felt it went downhill slightly in that it felt like a Hollywood action movie ending. It wasn’t bad but definitely wasn’t mind blowing. I am not easily pleased with endings.
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Overall though i felt it was a bit of an unexpected, hidden gem! I’m looking forward to reading more from McCammon!

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Obviously more early McCammon and not quite the perfection he attains in later volumes, this book will still suffice for all your horror needs. I'm not a big fan of zombie novels, but the zombie aspects of The Night Boat kick total ass. The brutality is intense and told without flinching. (Read without flinching? I think not.)

Typical McCammon heart is also found here, with one helluva satisfying ending. The Night Boat itself is a true terror, and the story of WWII, the Nazis, and the Caribbean Islands is an intriguing juxtaposition. This was a perfect slice of summer reading delight.

[Daniel Volpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's McCammon, so you know it's gonna be good. Not his best and it seemed to done on during the middle section. Still an excellent read.

[Seon Ji (Dawn) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Tim for buddy-reading this one with me. Your thoughts and insights were in line with mine. 2.5 stars.

In McCammon's afterword, he says The Night Boat is his second book, and his third published. Although not as good as Baal,(his first), I enjoyed this one. Unlike Baal, The Night Boat showed evidence that the author was new. Or maybe he had a mediocre editor, because there were a lot of continuity problems, and it seemed rush. It was as if McCammon was trying to beat a deadline. As Tim pointed out, it seems it was meant to be longer. I agree! Back in those days, (1980) people didn't want to read a 1,000 page novel. Maybe his editor was edit happy and told him to cut out too much. IDK.

As I said, I believed it was published in 1980, when Stephen King was also up and coming and horror was all the rage. It definitely shows the time period in his style of writing. I kept thinking about the film "Jaws," except the monster was a submarine instead of a shark. There was a lot of "shock" violence and gore, typical of that era. Too much makes one desensitized IMHO.

That's how I felt reading The Night Boat. Desensitized. I didn't feel shock, I didn't feel on the edge of my seat with fear for the characters, and I suppose it's because the characters were not fleshed out enough for me to care.

I know it sounds all negative, but it's not. The above is just my observations.

It was very well researched, the world building really good, and the concept unique. My opinion is that I enjoyed it, but felt there were a lot of missed opportunities in the storyline. I would have liked to have seenKip do some Voodoo or the preacher get more involved with the destruction of the U boat. but instead we get something totally different, which was not what I was expecting.

The ending was very intense, but it went too fast. The first 80% was all build up, finishing with the last 5% whipping by as all hell broke loose.

Overall, it is not one of his best, nor his worst. I would not recommend this to someone who has never read his work. His writing has clearly matured and evolved since Night Boat, but I can appreciate that this was written when he was very young, and struggling during the late 70's early 80's.

Summary:

David Moore discovers( and inadvertently releases) a sunken, intact, German U Boat, hovering over an ocean abyss 150 feet beneath Caribbean waters. Unfortunately, it is more than just a sunken relic he has released. An evil has risen with the U Boat and it is taking it's rage out on the islanders. With the help of constable Kip, an island Chieftain, and a female who explores oceanic ship wrecks, can David destroy the evil plagued German souls and The Night Boat?

Content concerns: Strong violence, blood and gore. Cursing, sexual themes. Voodoo, prostitution, alcohol references. Animals get killed (pigs). Romance: No romance. David is a widower and has sex with a prostitute. Kip is faithfully married.

[Checkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

An early effort by Robert R. McCammon. The third of his novels to be published, but (according to Wikipedia) the second novel that he wrote. A promising idea - Nazi Zombies in the Caribbean. But the execution left something to be desired. Not very suspenseful and not very scary. The whole thing comes across as rather flat. It reminded me of the "horror" and "suspense" movies that were made for television in the 1970's, only with a bit more gore and sex. Start off with a little mystery, amp up to the monster(s) being revealed and then have the exciting climax in which our handful of heroes take out the evil on a wing and a prayer.

An early effort by a writer who was still learning and honing his craft. Not terrible and it might have had more punch in 1980, but in 2013 (Zombies are now just part of the establishment) it doesn't have much zip. I read it mainly out of historical curiosity. I shall now return to it my favorite used bookstore.