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Deathwalker
After a century of buried silence, in Avallon, Washington, a fissure opens to the light and a creature awakens from a stony sleep. Driven by Indian spirits, it is the Witiko...gatherer of power, harvester of human flesh and blood...
On the Maine coast, hired assassins search for their target; John Winter, a former government hit man-one of their own. Winter is dying of cancer even while he's marked for death. Heading west in his station wagon, he hopes to slip beyond the reach of the hired killers, but they follow close behind all the way across the country...
In the vast, majestic Northwest, the citizens of Avallon are also being pursued-by a more unearthly, insatiable force. A charred tribe of blackened corpses, the newly dead are descending from the mountains, threatening the town and its determined young police chief, Erin O'Donnell. For her, for John Winter, for everyone, the truth will soon be revealed. Living death, the ghastly legacy of the Witiko, is their only chance for survival...
On the Maine coast, hired assassins search for their target; John Winter, a former government hit man-one of their own. Winter is dying of cancer even while he's marked for death. Heading west in his station wagon, he hopes to slip beyond the reach of the hired killers, but they follow close behind all the way across the country...
In the vast, majestic Northwest, the citizens of Avallon are also being pursued-by a more unearthly, insatiable force. A charred tribe of blackened corpses, the newly dead are descending from the mountains, threatening the town and its determined young police chief, Erin O'Donnell. For her, for John Winter, for everyone, the truth will soon be revealed. Living death, the ghastly legacy of the Witiko, is their only chance for survival...
- GenresHorror
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1992
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60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 9, 2023
Nice slice of pulp horror by Whalen! While most of this takes place in the small resort town of Avallon (in Oregon or Washington), the prologue features our main protagonist, John Winter, escaping from some covert government assassins in Maine. John apparently worked for some clandestine agency as a hit man for years, even training others, but obviously, he is the one hunted now. John makes his escape, along with his big dog Buddha, and drives across country to (eventually) Avallon on a whim. Meanwhile, we have some half Indian in Seattle having nightmares and remembering what his grandfather, the last shaman of his tribe, told him about the Deathwalker...
What Whalen does here is nothing really novel, but he animates the story of old Indian legends coming back to plague the modern era well, and the Deathwalker is a nasty creature! Apparently, the Deathwalker had been imprisoned for centuries in a cave on a huge mountain, but some recent earthquakes associated with the mountain (really a volcano) becoming active freed him. Now, he walks at night and takes peoples souls, then has their dead, reanimated bodies follow him around. John, we quickly learn, has some nasty, fatal disease and only months to live and is really just looking for a place to hole up and die in peace. Unfortunately, he came to Avallon at the wrong time!
What made this so fun, besides the OTT plot and story in general, is how Whalen paced the story while including judicious amounts of gory foo. The romance between John and the police chief was campy, but it fit the novel. Looking for some pulp? You could do a lot worse. 3.5 deathwalkers, rounding up!
What Whalen does here is nothing really novel, but he animates the story of old Indian legends coming back to plague the modern era well, and the Deathwalker is a nasty creature! Apparently, the Deathwalker had been imprisoned for centuries in a cave on a huge mountain, but some recent earthquakes associated with the mountain (really a volcano) becoming active freed him. Now, he walks at night and takes peoples souls, then has their dead, reanimated bodies follow him around. John, we quickly learn, has some nasty, fatal disease and only months to live and is really just looking for a place to hole up and die in peace. Unfortunately, he came to Avallon at the wrong time!
What made this so fun, besides the OTT plot and story in general, is how Whalen paced the story while including judicious amounts of gory foo. The romance between John and the police chief was campy, but it fit the novel. Looking for some pulp? You could do a lot worse. 3.5 deathwalkers, rounding up!
May 9, 2021
Outstanding
This is one of my favorite books. It moves quickly, driving you towards the climax yet is able to flesh out the characters along the way. It is intense, unrelenting, very well thought out, clever, with an outstanding background setting. I don't like giving away too many details so I'll simply say, if you like well written well developed horror, buy it, read it all the way to the end. Its a great ride.
This is one of my favorite books. It moves quickly, driving you towards the climax yet is able to flesh out the characters along the way. It is intense, unrelenting, very well thought out, clever, with an outstanding background setting. I don't like giving away too many details so I'll simply say, if you like well written well developed horror, buy it, read it all the way to the end. Its a great ride.
March 2, 2018
Another winner From a great author . Keeps you reading from start to finish . You want to see what happens and the end is not predictable.
February 6, 2022
Absolutely loved this book. Didn't like the ending. Patrick Whalen can sure write. Wish I knew more about this author!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews