What do you think?
Rate this book
Stained
A madman. A secret, generations old. Another missing boy. They called the sadistic killer The River Rat, and he'd struck again. In a desperate search for his neighbor's son, Ted Lewis came face to face with the killer and survived, but his life was irrevocably altered. The residents of Marchand, Louisiana believed they were safe. The murderer had been captured and was behind bars. But the nightmare wasn't over yet. Because on that summer night, something passed between the two men.
Memories of brutality and phantoms of countless victims torment Ted. His normal life is shattered, and he struggles to fight a growing presence that threatens to leave his soul stained forever.
Memories of brutality and phantoms of countless victims torment Ted. His normal life is shattered, and he struggles to fight a growing presence that threatens to leave his soul stained forever.
Audible Audio
First published April 20, 2004
21 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Lee Thomas
166 books87 followersLEE THOMAS is the Bram Stoker Award and the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of
STAINED
,
ASH STREET
,
THE DUST OF WONDERLAND
, and
THE GERMAN
. Recent and forthcoming titles include
LIKE LIGHT FOR FLIES
, and
BUTCHER’S ROAD
. Forthcoming titles include DOWN ON YOUR KNEES (Oct 2016), and DISTORTION (May 2017).
ADDITIONAL TITLES:
TORN
IN THE CLOSET, UNDER THE BED
FOCUS
THE BLACK SUN SET
CRISIS
PARISH DAMNED
ADDITIONAL TITLES:
TORN
IN THE CLOSET, UNDER THE BED
FOCUS
THE BLACK SUN SET
CRISIS
PARISH DAMNED
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 13, 2015
A stranger can lurk behind the eyes of someone you know.
The mask of a friendly face can hide a serial killer.
In a small Louisiana town, when the killer known as the River Rat is finally captured, that fact will rock a community.
But what lurks behind the mask of a serial killer?
For the terror has not ended. Something is loose out there. Something that can hide in plain sight. Something old. Something with a hunger for blood and screams.
Thomas' debut novel, and Bram Stoker Award winner, is a taut, fast-paced supernatural tale that expands on a concept from the classic short story by Robert Bloch: "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper", and deftly surpasses the source material, creating an excellent example of small town horror/thriller that delivers it's share of both thrills and chills.
Highly recommended.
The mask of a friendly face can hide a serial killer.
In a small Louisiana town, when the killer known as the River Rat is finally captured, that fact will rock a community.
But what lurks behind the mask of a serial killer?
For the terror has not ended. Something is loose out there. Something that can hide in plain sight. Something old. Something with a hunger for blood and screams.
Thomas' debut novel, and Bram Stoker Award winner, is a taut, fast-paced supernatural tale that expands on a concept from the classic short story by Robert Bloch: "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper", and deftly surpasses the source material, creating an excellent example of small town horror/thriller that delivers it's share of both thrills and chills.
Highly recommended.
August 7, 2017
"Stained" is a book that dives into some pretty dark landscapes. The concept is quite entertaining - whether it be an infection or virus or actual entity possessing people, murderers have "caught" this disease.
I really enjoyed the set-up and character development for the first part of the novel, but for me somewhere along the ride the train sort of derailed. The book loses its identity, trying to decide what it wants to be -- an outright horror show? A "who-dunnit" mystery (that's poorly tacked together)? A character-driven suspense tale, but one that loses its way beneath the pulling tide of the plot? Unfortunately the combination was less than cohesive.
That being said, it's still a book I enjoyed and maybe even more so for what it tried to accomplish. Ultimately I think it fell short of the final draft needed to pull the threads together into what could have been quite a masterpiece, but it's still worth the price of admission.
I really enjoyed the set-up and character development for the first part of the novel, but for me somewhere along the ride the train sort of derailed. The book loses its identity, trying to decide what it wants to be -- an outright horror show? A "who-dunnit" mystery (that's poorly tacked together)? A character-driven suspense tale, but one that loses its way beneath the pulling tide of the plot? Unfortunately the combination was less than cohesive.
That being said, it's still a book I enjoyed and maybe even more so for what it tried to accomplish. Ultimately I think it fell short of the final draft needed to pull the threads together into what could have been quite a masterpiece, but it's still worth the price of admission.
June 29, 2015
At last the River Rat killer has been captured, and so a town can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Except, nothing is quite so straightforward. Contact with the Rat will leave you Stained!
Something ancient lurks, but victims aren't so much possessed as they are 'stained', their souls darkened, tainted by evil. It is an excellent premise for a novel, although the pacing is a bit skewed; everything moves slowly for 200 pages and then a breakneck finale. The edition I had was also littered with typos, which was somewhat distracting.
Overall, a darkly disturbing and entertaining read.
Something ancient lurks, but victims aren't so much possessed as they are 'stained', their souls darkened, tainted by evil. It is an excellent premise for a novel, although the pacing is a bit skewed; everything moves slowly for 200 pages and then a breakneck finale. The edition I had was also littered with typos, which was somewhat distracting.
Overall, a darkly disturbing and entertaining read.
August 1, 2017
Review to come.
June 15, 2015
"The Jack didn't change a person: it stained them, darkening their desires, their vices and their souls."
Bam! Intriguing, right? For sure. I don't know what I was expecting, but I knew it was going to be awesome!
The River Rat, a serial killer, has been captured. But during the scuffle one of the officers, Ted, has been stained by his contact with the murderer.
Hallucinations, doubts, and darkness are driving poor Ted down a dark road he doesn't think he can turn off of. Can he cleanse his body and mind? Will The Jack let him?
The written story did NOT do the idea justice. At about the halfway point the story went a little wild and was not reigned in. One minute Drew was Ted's best mate, the next he doesn't want him near his sister, Linda. Then, at the next turn he leaves the two alone to copulate or whatever.
Linda was just looking for a fling, no real commitments. She was really adamant about that due to her recent separation. A couple of chapters down the road and she is riding Ted so hard about commitment that I thought about going back and seeing if I had missed some scenes.
The whole "lock me up" scenario had me shaking my head. Drew, hell, all of the characters needed some real work. They were all over the place.
Not to be funny, but I would have been really pissed if I had paid the $9.99 it cost because, in my opinion, it was not worth it.
2 Disappointed Stars
Bam! Intriguing, right? For sure. I don't know what I was expecting, but I knew it was going to be awesome!
The River Rat, a serial killer, has been captured. But during the scuffle one of the officers, Ted, has been stained by his contact with the murderer.
Hallucinations, doubts, and darkness are driving poor Ted down a dark road he doesn't think he can turn off of. Can he cleanse his body and mind? Will The Jack let him?
The written story did NOT do the idea justice. At about the halfway point the story went a little wild and was not reigned in. One minute Drew was Ted's best mate, the next he doesn't want him near his sister, Linda. Then, at the next turn he leaves the two alone to copulate or whatever.
Linda was just looking for a fling, no real commitments. She was really adamant about that due to her recent separation. A couple of chapters down the road and she is riding Ted so hard about commitment that I thought about going back and seeing if I had missed some scenes.
The whole "lock me up" scenario had me shaking my head. Drew, hell, all of the characters needed some real work. They were all over the place.
Not to be funny, but I would have been really pissed if I had paid the $9.99 it cost because, in my opinion, it was not worth it.
2 Disappointed Stars
February 7, 2016
I loved this gory, suspenseful, intense, supernatural, chiller that’ll leave you with goose bumps and gasping in awe. Lee Thomas wrote such a mind-blowing fantastic novel that it is no wonder he won such a deserving award for it. The story is a combination of the serial killer mystery Silence of the Lambs, with the possession of The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose, with the drastic bloodshed of the Saw and Hellraiser movies, with the creepy fright of … [insert the scariest movie you’ve ever seen, that keeps you up at night for a week with nightmares, and multiply that by 10]. I’m astounded and at times blown away at the disturbing brutalities that Lee Thomas imagined and created for these stained murders, making me feel secure in my own sanity.
The story takes the reader along with Ted, who has returned to his hometown in Marchand, Louisiana to a small town life. When the River Rat serial sex killer is caught by Drew, the bloody nightmare doesn’t end. Eventually Ted’s past catches up with him to his new start when he dates Drew’s niece, and as Drew is drawn into investigating both him and the captured River Rat killer.
The killers aren’t just possessed but their souls are stained by what they call The Jack which manipulates their desires, passions, and cravings into something ugly and violent. For those who transmit The Jack, the nightmare isn’t over. Once twisted and with the vivid memories of The Jack’s past experiences, their violent cravings can continue.
With such a powerful driving force that Lee Thomas has masterfully created, you cannot put this book down. He keeps you turning the page. I really enjoyed this true to the word horror novel, and I highly recommend it to horror lovers everywhere.
The story takes the reader along with Ted, who has returned to his hometown in Marchand, Louisiana to a small town life. When the River Rat serial sex killer is caught by Drew, the bloody nightmare doesn’t end. Eventually Ted’s past catches up with him to his new start when he dates Drew’s niece, and as Drew is drawn into investigating both him and the captured River Rat killer.
The killers aren’t just possessed but their souls are stained by what they call The Jack which manipulates their desires, passions, and cravings into something ugly and violent. For those who transmit The Jack, the nightmare isn’t over. Once twisted and with the vivid memories of The Jack’s past experiences, their violent cravings can continue.
With such a powerful driving force that Lee Thomas has masterfully created, you cannot put this book down. He keeps you turning the page. I really enjoyed this true to the word horror novel, and I highly recommend it to horror lovers everywhere.
June 19, 2015
Probably a notch above standard horror fare--the story was intriguing, especially for a debut novel, but suffered from stock characters and pacing. Almost nothing happens for the first 200 pages, and then too much happens in the last 100. Some of the prose is cringeworthy, but Thomas takes an original concept and pairs it with a high and bloody body count, which makes the bad writing palatable.
I read the 10th anniversary print edition, which I do not recommend, because it is riddled with typos.
This was a June 2015 selection for the Horror Aficionados group.
I read the 10th anniversary print edition, which I do not recommend, because it is riddled with typos.
This was a June 2015 selection for the Horror Aficionados group.
August 14, 2012
Bram Stoker and Lambda award winning author. Pretty good novel. Very graphic but had a really interesting premise. It makes me want to search out more of his books.
April 18, 2021
How many times have you had an awful thought that just flitted away after a moment? What if that thought wasn't your own but was a centuries-old entity that could take your deepest and darkest side and control it and force you to act on it. That is exactly what "The Jack" is in Stained.
While this idea has been explored before, it feels new and original in this book. From the way "The Jack" is transmitted like a disease to how Lee Thomas keeps you guessing throughout, this book gives me vibes of John Carpenters' "The Thing". A fantastic read.
While this idea has been explored before, it feels new and original in this book. From the way "The Jack" is transmitted like a disease to how Lee Thomas keeps you guessing throughout, this book gives me vibes of John Carpenters' "The Thing". A fantastic read.
April 20, 2020
An excellent read. The author really knows how to weave a great story and he's a master of phrasing and lyrical prose. If you love psychological horror, you'll love this book. While the story is horrific, it doesn't rely on cheap trick, cliche, or gore, rather on truly wonderful storytelling. It took me forever to find a copy of this book to read and the search was well-worth the effort. One of the best I've read all year.
August 21, 2018
Psychological Thriller
The beginning of this book, a kind of explanation of its birth, mentions the movie Fallen. After reading the book, the parallel is clear. However, Stained is even more twisted. A deep psychological and paranormal thriller. This well written, horrific tale is spellbinding yet terrifying. You might want to keep the lights on.
The beginning of this book, a kind of explanation of its birth, mentions the movie Fallen. After reading the book, the parallel is clear. However, Stained is even more twisted. A deep psychological and paranormal thriller. This well written, horrific tale is spellbinding yet terrifying. You might want to keep the lights on.
May 30, 2016
An excellent page turner! What's more, Thomas really understands the intricacies and peculiarities of Louisiana culture.
Not just another police procedural, though--at the heart of this story is a chilling idea about where evil comes from, how it is passed on. One hell of a metaphor for the cycle of violence.
I read the 10th anniversary edition, which includes an afterword by the publisher, and I agree with what he says there: in a sense, the book is The Jack, itself, and you can put the book down, but you won't forget it. Recommended.
Not just another police procedural, though--at the heart of this story is a chilling idea about where evil comes from, how it is passed on. One hell of a metaphor for the cycle of violence.
I read the 10th anniversary edition, which includes an afterword by the publisher, and I agree with what he says there: in a sense, the book is The Jack, itself, and you can put the book down, but you won't forget it. Recommended.
August 13, 2014
There's a serial killer of young men loose in Marchand, Louisiana, and the town has been seized by fear and paranoia. Ted Lewis, recently returned to town, accidentally helps being the killer to justice but the deaths don't stop there. Has the evil spread to Ted and is it forcing him to commit atrocities against his friends and neighbors, and if so is there any way to stop it? Lee Thomas has created another well written mix of serial killer mystery and supernatural horror. Recommended
March 11, 2016
This mystery grabs you right off. Then just as sudden, the bad guy is caught. Or is he? Can evil transfer from one person to another with each being more cruel and vicious? But who has it transferred to, and can it be stopped. As the first book in a series, you won't find all of the answers and take little pleasure in being right about the answers you do find.
May 28, 2016
Have to share
This book was wonderful except I didn't care for how it ended or I would have given it five stars. I'm sure many of you will love the ending as well so if you love sick, twisted stories, this one is for you.
This book was wonderful except I didn't care for how it ended or I would have given it five stars. I'm sure many of you will love the ending as well so if you love sick, twisted stories, this one is for you.
Read
February 4, 2023Total Crap
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews