Jake Silver was a teenage misfit, a misunderstood genius who'd been cruelly tormented by his own sadistic father and others in his little Louisiana hometown. Jake was the perfect disciple for Them. They'd come from another world; disembodied begins who understood Jake's need for revenge. . .They would offer Jake the power to finally take it. . .All they wanted in return was his help in bringing others of their kind to Jake's world. It begins so slowly, so innocently, even Jake didn't see the danger. . .until it was too late to realize that he had helped unleash a devastating power in the universe--and opened a gateway for a horrific struggle between mere human beings and. . . Them
William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling Western writer in America and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over 50 million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father, and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before serving in the army. He went on to become known as "the Greatest Western writer of the 21st Century." Visit him online at WilliamJohnstone.net.
A very tongue and cheek schlock fest by Johnstone; if this was a movie, I would call it splatstick. Them is set in a rural parish down Louisiana way that just happens to be where the aliens land. The aliens, AKA Them, are basically disembodied brains and they are looking for a new world to colonize/conquer. They have awesome mind powers and can control humans to an extent. In any case, one of the first to land, Cag, befriends the local nerd/genius teenage Jake. Jake has a few genius friends as well, all of them outcasts and ruthlessly teased by their classmates. Further, Jake and the others are often beaten by their fathers for not being manly enough.
Cag makes a deal with Jake, telling him once the takeover is complete, he can be a ruler of sorts. Jake, however, is not just a nerd, he is loco, and wants revenge really, really bad, so you can predict things will get hairy. Further, when the 'military' branch of Cag's people land, an old rivalry takes off and the new 'brains' see little value in humans, especially the white trash rednecks of the parish. With a thought they can make a human's brain explode and proceed to do just that.
Meanwhile, the sheriff knows something is going on, but who to call for help? People report seeing glowing brains hovering around, and half the town seems to be zombies, but is this a matter for the FBI?
This was my first Johnstone novel, and I will probably check out some of his other work; the guy was prolific as all get all. Lots of snarky social commentary from our lead alien Cag (who has a strange affinity toward old Westerns) regarding our educational system, sports, politics, etc. Fun stuff if you need a laugh, but do not expect to be dazzled. 3 cheeky stars!!
Giant, glowing, tentacled brains from outer space. Johnstone brings together 50’s sci-fi and 80’s horror with a healthy mix of his own good vs. evil philosophy.
Young Jake is a teenage genius, but that doesn't make life any easier for him. Instead, it gets him brutally beaten by his father on a regular basis and bullied by his schoolmates. Angry, ostracized, and not altogether sane, Jake is stunned and amazed to find himself singled out by an extraterrestrial brain called Cag. Cag wants to use Jake in an ambitious plan to save humanity from itself, but Cag has not come to Earth alone, and his fellow aliens are not all as magnanimous as Cag is. Will Jake use the superhuman powers Cag bestows upon him for good or evil? And Will Cag's plan to help mankind save the world, or destroy it?
I happened to read this book almost back to back with another William Johnstone novel called DARKLY THE THUNDER, and it's amazing how thematically similar the two titles are. Originally published around two years apart in the early 1990s, both books deal with small towns that are overwhelmed by external paranormal powers and while neither story deals explicitly with God or Satan, the Christian worldview is implicit in both. Both books feature misunderstood teenage geniuses, and both stories deal with how mankind has a tendency to undervalue matters of greatest importance. Both books also strongly address the issues of bullying, peer pressure, and conformity and how society can ruin the individual...but, notably, without absolving that individual of responsibility for his own actions.
Unfortunately, both books are united by another factor: neither of them is especially good. Of the two, THEM is certainly the better tale, and whereas I spent much of DARKLY THE THUNDER just hoping I could make it to the end, for the most part I enjoyed reading THEM. Still, I would say THEM is only a moderately good novel.
As usual, Johnstone writes with a quick-moving, action-oriented style that moves things along at a rapid clip, but unlike DARKLY THE THUNDER this novel does have reasonable characterization. Johnstone spends some time developing Jake's personality and life, so that we understand his misery and why he might make some of the decisions he does. Likewise, Cag is a fairly believable character with an interesting personality. He starts out with a pretty low opinion of mankind, so low that he thinks the troubled Jake is the best candidate for a first contact. Over the course of the book, Cag comes to at least appreciate that people are, if not exactly better than he first thought, at least more complex. Over time Cag even picks up a few human habits and becomes a big fan of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, much to the chagrin of his alien allies. The other characters, including the evil aliens and local Sheriff, aren't nearly as well-drawn, but we are at least able to effectively identify with the main players well enough to think of them as individuals.
The plot itself is linear and would have made a great 50's sci-fi movie, as many of Cag's fellow aliens only want to conquer mankind and use us for their own selfish ends, much in the vein of classics like INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. Once the more nefarious aliens start to use their tremendous telepathic abilities to take over the lesser minds of the local townsfolk, the story takes a major turn for the horrific, including several vicious and gory murders. Will Cag and his remaining allies be willing--or even able--to fight for the survival of a race they consider to be little more than barbarians?
As a whole, THEM is pretty good in the way a lesser b-movie might be, though it clearly aspires to be a little more than that. While the plot moves fast and includes plenty of action, there are also numerous philosophical discussions between the various characters about everything from human nature to religion, art, justice, and law. But while Jake and Cag are interesting characters, most of the other players--including quite a few townspeople of various stripes--are not. The small town setting isn't drawn especially well either, and there's almost nothing in the way of local color. And while there is quite a bit of action, it's somehow not particularly exciting, and the narrative lacks the necessary tension to keep things moving with the right level of suspense. Finally, Jake himself is virtually absent for most of the final quarter of the novel, as the focus turns instead to Cag and the drama of extraterrestrial politics. After spending so much time getting to know him, Jake needed to be a much bigger part of the climax. As for that climax, it's fun but over with pretty quickly and could have been drawn a little better--which could easily have been accomplished by giving Jake a bigger role in the final proceedings.
So while THEM is a significantly better novel than DARKLY THE THUNDER, it's still a sub-par effort from the author. Johnstone has written some very effective horror novels, but this is definitely a lesser work from his catalog. It's not bad, but there are a lot of better books for a horror reader to invest in. Recommended only for serious Johnstone fans who are of a forgiving disposition.
I've been trying to figure out how to review this book and the main adjectives that come to mind are "silly" and "ridiculous", also things like "over the top" and "cheesy". This is an alien invasion story set in a small town Louisiana with one of its prominent underlying themes about the importance of intellect and education, which makes the book either funny or ironic. I wasn't sure. One of the main characters is an alien that looks like a glowing brain and quotes westerns. The points are made and then methodically hammered in throughout the book, fine literature this is not. However, if you suspend disbelief and turn off higher cognitive powers, it's a quick oddly entertaining book.
There’s just not much to say about this book without trashing it.
I’d offer qualifiers akin to It’s not bad for what it is or About what you’d expect from the Zebra Horror label or even Delivers the good if you’re willing to turn off your brain, etc… But even praise as faint as that isn't accurate.
It feels hater-ish to inventory the things wrong with “Them,” but suffice it to say that the writing is simply bad. From the prose and dialogue to pacing and allotment of details, it was all sub-par.
Aliens secretly invade a small Louisiana parish, first unveiling themselves to a high-school nerd and his friends. Eventually the aliens mind-control the residents, making them do all sorts of murderous deeds (I guess revenge is a theme too?).
What’s so disappointing is that, in different hands, this might’ve been a good story. However, the aliens are of the Kang and Kodos variety (“Foolish Earthlings!”), and there’s a running theme about how society undervalues intelligence that’s so heavy handed and grating you’re inclined to disagree with it just on principle.
That said, I’ll show “Them” a little mercy by giving it a second star, for a couple reasons. First, the sheer imagination contained in the premise is impressive, and the utter audacity with which the plot unfolds is hard not to admire on some level. Second, the events of the novel are pretty true to its cool cover.
P.S. SPOILER It feels like taking this book too seriously to suggest that it contains debate fodder, but something really bugged me… Amid Cag’s repeated admonishments of the parish citizens for not valuing intelligence sufficiently or nourishing the three boys’ intellectual gifts, I was waiting for someone to make the following points: The smart boys were jerks who seemed to taunt everyone they perceived as inferior to them, i.e., everyone. Also, said boys—or at least their leader, Jake—were revealed to be sociopaths whose ultimate fantasy was complete control over all other people and sadistic, deadly punishments for those who didn’t bow to their superiority… Cag persisted with his preachy homilies even as the unfolding events made a more convincing argument that the super-smart are actually dangerous and should be kept from attaining any power.
Them. They came from far away, another world. Not pretty to look at. Just an ugly glowing brain thing.
They have a plan. A truly horrific agenda.
Jake’s father beats him at the drop of a hat. Hates him, actually. His peers torment him. His teachers look on, smirks on their faces.
No wonder there’s something dark, demented hidden deep inside Jake. When he stumbles upon one of Them, he finds a friend. Someone he can talk to, well, telepathically he can. Someone who cares.
All it asks in return is his help to bring others to Earth. What could be the harm in that?
Well, a lot. Jake may be hiding his dark desires for revenge from Them, but they are hiding something too.
I felt sorry for Jake. His father hates him, as do his peers. He only has a few friends. They are in the same boat. Perhaps these aliens will be good for them. Or maybe not.
An evil alien invasion and psychological horror that takes you hostage.
I'd heard good things about William Johnstone's books and I know quite a few people who enjoy them. I just didn't like this one. It's probably me rather than the writer. I haven't read anything by him since, although I keep thinking I'll try one of his westerns. I hear they are good.
I know that William W. Johnstone has a cult-like following somewhere. There are some folks out there who no doubt think everything he writes is gold. And that’s fine. It’s just that I’m not one of those people.
Them is my 3rd Johnstone book, and, as the old baseball adage goes, ”3 strikes and your out”. (Though maybe it’s a full count right now since, to be honest, Black Friday wasn’t truly terrible).
Anyways, back to Them. I’ll admit it wasn’t flat out terrible or as bad as Toy Cemetery, but as far as “good” reading goes, this one isn’t even close.
A huge portion of the problem is Johnstone’s writing. It’s far from awful but it’s definitely no Stephen King. Juvenile and simplistic, he presents nothing new to the literary table, relying too much on bad jokes and bloodshed to get the story across. Dialogue is worse than a sci-fi original film and not nearly as campy.
And the story isn’t even that good either. One part The Day the Earth Stood Still another part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, there’s no real originality or even much entertainment. Johnstone’s heavy conservative message of “education” is so prevalent that it quickly becomes annoying, taking any kind of fun this book could have been and squashing it with politics. And hey, I do believe that there needs to be better investment in the education of our youth, but I don’t want that stuck in the middle of a horror novel.
I think I’m done with Johnstone for a while. Kind of tired of the disappointments.
A fast paced take of a small town being watched and judged by alien 's and they are changing some of the townspeople. Or are they just bringing out the EVIL OR GOODNESS in them! I'm either case people are dying and not in normal EVIL ways. Can it be stopped before it spreads to the next town or the next. The EVIL IS GROWING AS EACH PERSON DIES. THIS SUPERNATURAL THRILLER WILL KEEP YOU UP. I RECOMMEND!
3rd Johnstone read and I can officially say this dude has a distinctive/formulaic writing style. Not that it’s necessarily bad but all of his books, that I’ve read, sound and flow the same. This book’s premise sounded like it was going to be a home run. Not the case for me. Starts out great and fast but it loses you in the middle and the ending happens so fast that if you blink you’ll miss it. 2.5 stars but I’ll round up to 3 for Goodreads. Decent horror book but was expecting so much more.
It was readable. I didn't know it when I picked it up but I've read this book before as a teenager I remember being dissatisfied with it but couldn't figure out why. Ugh. The protagonists are like proto men's rights activists and incels.
It’s just not my cup of tea. There’s a lot of unnecessarily highly sexual scenes for no reason, there’s rampant sexist and homophobic rhetoric, and it just has very cheesy and one sided characters. It wasn’t all bad but it’s one of those books I found myself dragging my feet through reading.
Equal parts The Crazies, Invasion of The Body Snatchers, The Brain from Planet Arous, an Italian horror film from the 80s and ham-fisted social commentary. So over the top, dumb fun.
Everything you'd want from a book about extraterrestrial, earth-conquering brains--humor, shock, excitement--is missing from William W. Johnstone's "Them." The dialogue is boring, sometimes even embarrassing, and the lead, a precocious little bastard named, oh I don't even remember his name, is bland as wheat bread.
One of the little brains makes friends with this kid, picking him out from a town full of morons and jocks, a place where an intellectual mind is left to wither and die. The makeup of most of the town's residents is a caricature, and we're constantly reminded of how oafish and useless these people are. They're vicious and cruel to anyone with a brain, and that's why this outerspace brain has chosen this particular smart kid to assist him in taking over the town.
Other brains show up, though, and they aren't as nice. These brains delight in causing pain, whereas the initial arrival brain was more interested in getting in touch with more smart people and ruling over the masses. There are arguments between the brains, who speak telepathically unless they're mind-controlling a slobbering human.
When the brains speak to one another, it's always as a "thrust." He thrusts, "I'd like to eat a human now." Very weird to read this word over and over in this context. Or any context, really.
"Them" has an OK premise, and it's never fulfilled. The damn thing goes on for 350 pages, and I promise you that by the time it ends, you will want to pull your own brain out of your head and scrub clean the part responsible for remembering this novel.
Alright wing propaganda horror story. It was good until they end it started feeding to me the stuff to read the last few chapters. He has better books but it was fun