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Das Auge
Sie sieht Dinge, die andere nicht sehen … grausame Dinge … Menschen, die sterben … Blut … Sie glaubt an ihre Visionen … Sie glaubt, dass diese Bilder reale Begenbenheiten zeigen...Morde...Vielleicht hat sie recht … vielleicht ist sie einfach nur wahnsinnig …Wer weiß?
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1992
14 people are currently reading
701 people want to read
About the author
Richard Laymon
216 books2,284 followersRichard Laymon was born in Chicago and grew up in California. He earned a BA in English Literature from Willamette University, Oregon and an MA from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian, and a report writer for a law firm, and was the author of more than thirty acclaimed novels.
He also published more than sixty short stories in magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cavalier, and in anthologies including Modern Masters of Horror.
He died from a massive heart attack on February 14, 2001 (Valentine's Day).
Also published under the name Richard Kelly
He also published more than sixty short stories in magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cavalier, and in anthologies including Modern Masters of Horror.
He died from a massive heart attack on February 14, 2001 (Valentine's Day).
Also published under the name Richard Kelly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
October 30, 2021
Wow, one of the most intriguing and best Laymon's I came across for a very long time. Here we even have a story! Melanie has a vision of her father being dead, driven over in a hit and run accident. She and her boyfriend Bodie drive from Phoenix to LA. Melanie's sister Pen is terrified by a mysterious caller (he want to sexually abuse her). Then we have dad's wife Joyce and Harrison, the lawyer of the family. Is something going on between Joyce and Harrison? What about Bodie and Pen? Will he finally screw her (typical Laymon, one sister isn't enough, LOL). Will dad survive at the end? The story evolves slowly but extremely gripping. You have all the voyeuristic details Laymon is so famous for (of course he also writes about breast size, but not that overdosed as in other books of his). You'll led through sexual fantasies (even a rape scene) and a very cleverly plotted crime story. This is a tight ballad of sex, violence, conspiracy and revenge if there ever was one. The end with its denouement was really shocking. What can I say. A great early 90s Laymon. Really enjoyed every single page. Highly recommended!
April 21, 2024
No author I read obtains such mixed reviews among my friends as Laymon, with some of my favorites panned by others and vice versa. Alarums presents a mild departure from 'typical' Laymon by assuming a mystery/thriller rale rather than horror but so it goes. I believe people will be mixed by this one as well, but I found it a fast, fun read.
The tale starts in Phoenix, where Bodie sits rather unentranced by his lover's violin performance, that is, until Melanie collapses on stage. Shortly thereafter, Mel tells Bodie that she has had such 'fits' before when something bad happens to members of her family. They try to call both her father and sister, who both live in L.A., and find no one home. Hence, they pile in Bodie's VW van and hightail it out to see what's what...
Bodie and Mel have a thing going on, despite his working toward his Masters degree while she has yet to finish her undergraduate work. Bodie does not know much about her family, however, but quickly gets up to speed. Mel's older sister Penelope (Pen) turns out to be a bombshell and Mel maintains a degree of hostile jealously to say the least. Pen and Mel's mom did years ago, and their father remarried a gal not much older than they are (he is pushing 60, the new wife 20 something).
In any case, turns out Mel and Pen's dad was a victim of a hit and run and now resides in a deep coma with massive head injuries. What starts as a tragedy quickly turns into a family drama and I will stop here to avoid spoilers.
At his best, Laymon can build up a nerve wracking sense of tension and he does so here, despite having his characters often make dubious decisions right and left. He can also pull you into a story, no matter how far fetched, my making seem real and believable and he does so here as well. Yet, his characters are often thin and two dimensional and yes, that proves to be the case here as well. What drives his novels are not the characters, however, but the twisty plots and surprises along the way. Alarums therefore contains all the major aspects of a Laymon novel-- tension building up to a surprising denouement. Unfortunately, this lacked the surprise factor of some of his other work. Also, like any Laymon novel, expect lovingly (or should I say letchingly (sp?)) depictions of female anatomy, especially nipples. What is it with Laymon and hot tubs/jacuzzies? 3.5 soft mounds under tight sweaters, rounding down due to the unsurprising ending.
The tale starts in Phoenix, where Bodie sits rather unentranced by his lover's violin performance, that is, until Melanie collapses on stage. Shortly thereafter, Mel tells Bodie that she has had such 'fits' before when something bad happens to members of her family. They try to call both her father and sister, who both live in L.A., and find no one home. Hence, they pile in Bodie's VW van and hightail it out to see what's what...
Bodie and Mel have a thing going on, despite his working toward his Masters degree while she has yet to finish her undergraduate work. Bodie does not know much about her family, however, but quickly gets up to speed. Mel's older sister Penelope (Pen) turns out to be a bombshell and Mel maintains a degree of hostile jealously to say the least. Pen and Mel's mom did years ago, and their father remarried a gal not much older than they are (he is pushing 60, the new wife 20 something).
In any case, turns out Mel and Pen's dad was a victim of a hit and run and now resides in a deep coma with massive head injuries. What starts as a tragedy quickly turns into a family drama and I will stop here to avoid spoilers.
At his best, Laymon can build up a nerve wracking sense of tension and he does so here, despite having his characters often make dubious decisions right and left. He can also pull you into a story, no matter how far fetched, my making seem real and believable and he does so here as well. Yet, his characters are often thin and two dimensional and yes, that proves to be the case here as well. What drives his novels are not the characters, however, but the twisty plots and surprises along the way. Alarums therefore contains all the major aspects of a Laymon novel-- tension building up to a surprising denouement. Unfortunately, this lacked the surprise factor of some of his other work. Also, like any Laymon novel, expect lovingly (or should I say letchingly (sp?)) depictions of female anatomy, especially nipples. What is it with Laymon and hot tubs/jacuzzies? 3.5 soft mounds under tight sweaters, rounding down due to the unsurprising ending.
April 16, 2020
Typical Richard Laymon books are short on plot and character development, full of violent slashing murders and sleazy voyeuristic sex. Alarums has all of these elements except of all the Laymon's I have read it is probably furthest from a horror novel. Actually more of a crime novel.
An elderly gentleman is the victim of a hit/run incident. While he lays in a hospital bed his relatives take on the police work themselves to try and find the culprit. It seems all straight forward except that this is Laymon.
The collection of detective relatives include; 2 daughters one who is stunningly beautiful and the other somewhat attractive. They have a history of mistrust. The elderly victim,s new wife who is a young bimbo some 30 years younger than her husband and disliked by both daughters. The business partner of the victim, himself about 30 years younger than his partner, has romantic history with one daughter and is possibly closer than he should be with the wife. And lastly, the main character, who is the current boyfriend of one daughter, has never met any of the others but has been drawn into the family drama.
Yes there are the characteristic Laymon violent acts but they are much fewer between than they usually are. The story is weaved around the complex relationships between the characters, the mistrust and greed.
A usual quick Laymon read, a filler of gaps or just time out from more concentrated reads.
An elderly gentleman is the victim of a hit/run incident. While he lays in a hospital bed his relatives take on the police work themselves to try and find the culprit. It seems all straight forward except that this is Laymon.
The collection of detective relatives include; 2 daughters one who is stunningly beautiful and the other somewhat attractive. They have a history of mistrust. The elderly victim,s new wife who is a young bimbo some 30 years younger than her husband and disliked by both daughters. The business partner of the victim, himself about 30 years younger than his partner, has romantic history with one daughter and is possibly closer than he should be with the wife. And lastly, the main character, who is the current boyfriend of one daughter, has never met any of the others but has been drawn into the family drama.
Yes there are the characteristic Laymon violent acts but they are much fewer between than they usually are. The story is weaved around the complex relationships between the characters, the mistrust and greed.
A usual quick Laymon read, a filler of gaps or just time out from more concentrated reads.
January 1, 2026
4.5 review soon
December 28, 2025
Fuck yeah
August 25, 2024
Crime disguised as horror with a breath of supernatural.
May 2, 2014
At no point did I consider ALARUMS a great book by any stretch, but I'll admit it was halfway decent for the most part. Decent, that is, up until the last four or five chapters, when the whole story goes completely off the rails and into Bizarro land.
ALARUMS is Laymon's obvious attempt to write something closer to Dean Koontz, whose advice he respected and whose success he admired. By Laymon standards, the book is very tame. And by "tame," I mean R-rated as opposed to NC-17. (Unlike most Laymon followers, I ONLY read the books of his that I've heard are relatively tame.) And, unlike the other Laymon novels I've read, it's the plot that's at fault here and not the writing.
In ALARUMS, Laymon introduces three pretty likable characters, then spends the whole story slowly making you hate their guts. By the end, you really couldn't care less what happens to them. Laymon also has a problem with characterizing love as simply a perpetual state of horniness... His idea of a love scene consists of frenzied groping and people shoving their tongues down each other's throats. As a matter of fact, I would say that ALARUMS has the worst romantic subplot of any book I've ever read EVER. I wish I could make myself believe that he meant it as some kind of practical joke on his readers.
Same thing applies to the "twist" ending that makes you wish Laymon was still alive just so you could track him down and throw the book at his head. Other problems with the book include a very pedestrian storyline, an important subplot with absolutely no payoff, a lack of explanation for the occurrence of telepathic dreams, and characters who make incredibly dumb decisions--like assaulting a stranger and stealing his car to go check on someone...instead of, you know, just asking to use a phone.
ALARUMS is Laymon's obvious attempt to write something closer to Dean Koontz, whose advice he respected and whose success he admired. By Laymon standards, the book is very tame. And by "tame," I mean R-rated as opposed to NC-17. (Unlike most Laymon followers, I ONLY read the books of his that I've heard are relatively tame.) And, unlike the other Laymon novels I've read, it's the plot that's at fault here and not the writing.
In ALARUMS, Laymon introduces three pretty likable characters, then spends the whole story slowly making you hate their guts. By the end, you really couldn't care less what happens to them. Laymon also has a problem with characterizing love as simply a perpetual state of horniness... His idea of a love scene consists of frenzied groping and people shoving their tongues down each other's throats. As a matter of fact, I would say that ALARUMS has the worst romantic subplot of any book I've ever read EVER. I wish I could make myself believe that he meant it as some kind of practical joke on his readers.
Same thing applies to the "twist" ending that makes you wish Laymon was still alive just so you could track him down and throw the book at his head. Other problems with the book include a very pedestrian storyline, an important subplot with absolutely no payoff, a lack of explanation for the occurrence of telepathic dreams, and characters who make incredibly dumb decisions--like assaulting a stranger and stealing his car to go check on someone...instead of, you know, just asking to use a phone.
September 16, 2017
*Rezensionsexemplar
'Das Auge‘ ist die deutsche Erstausgabe eines Werkes von Laymon, das bereits 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Ich freue mich wirklich sehr, dass nach und nach auch die Altwerke des Autors veröffentlicht werden, denn ich bin ein großer Fan seiner Geschichten.
Im Buch gebleiten wir Melanie, die in einer Vision ein Familienunglück erahnt, und ihren Freund, die sich sogleich zusammen auf den Weg Richtung Heimat machen. Dort begegnen sie Melanies Schwester, Pen, und zu dritt versuchen sie einen Unfall, in den ihr Vater verwickelt war, aufzuklären.
Die Story ist für Laymon-Verhältnisse recht übersichtlich, auch was die Anzahl der Charaktere angeht. Wir haben drei Hauptcharaktere, die Laymon wieder mal recht gut eingefangen hat, wenngleich er nie zu den Atoren für mich gehörte, die besonders tiefsinnige Charakterzeichnung betreiben. Doch gerade diesen Aspekt finde ich für seine Stories immer sehr passend. Gerade weil die Charaktere tendenziell oberflächlich beschrieben sind, nehme ich ihnen ihre dummen Entscheidungen viel besser ab. Denn unsere Charaktere machen jede Menge dumme Entscheidungen. Doch genau davon leben Laymon Geschichten, man sollte sie einfach nicht zu ernst nehmen.
Man fliegt nur so durch die Seiten des Buches, denn die Laymons Schreibstil ist sehr einfach gehalten. Die Sätze sind kurz und präzise, außerdem verwendet Laymon viel wörtliche Rede. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Büchern von Laymon ist ‚Das Auge‘ fast schon harmlos, denn wir haben gar nicht so viel rohe Gewalt und vor allem kaum Sexszenen. Natürlich lassen es sich unsere Charaktere trotzdem nicht nehmen in den unmöglichsten Momenten an Sex zu denken.
Insgesamt wieder mal eine gelungene Geschichte aus der Feder von Laymon und definitiv nicht meine letzte!
'Das Auge‘ ist die deutsche Erstausgabe eines Werkes von Laymon, das bereits 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Ich freue mich wirklich sehr, dass nach und nach auch die Altwerke des Autors veröffentlicht werden, denn ich bin ein großer Fan seiner Geschichten.
Im Buch gebleiten wir Melanie, die in einer Vision ein Familienunglück erahnt, und ihren Freund, die sich sogleich zusammen auf den Weg Richtung Heimat machen. Dort begegnen sie Melanies Schwester, Pen, und zu dritt versuchen sie einen Unfall, in den ihr Vater verwickelt war, aufzuklären.
Die Story ist für Laymon-Verhältnisse recht übersichtlich, auch was die Anzahl der Charaktere angeht. Wir haben drei Hauptcharaktere, die Laymon wieder mal recht gut eingefangen hat, wenngleich er nie zu den Atoren für mich gehörte, die besonders tiefsinnige Charakterzeichnung betreiben. Doch gerade diesen Aspekt finde ich für seine Stories immer sehr passend. Gerade weil die Charaktere tendenziell oberflächlich beschrieben sind, nehme ich ihnen ihre dummen Entscheidungen viel besser ab. Denn unsere Charaktere machen jede Menge dumme Entscheidungen. Doch genau davon leben Laymon Geschichten, man sollte sie einfach nicht zu ernst nehmen.
Man fliegt nur so durch die Seiten des Buches, denn die Laymons Schreibstil ist sehr einfach gehalten. Die Sätze sind kurz und präzise, außerdem verwendet Laymon viel wörtliche Rede. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Büchern von Laymon ist ‚Das Auge‘ fast schon harmlos, denn wir haben gar nicht so viel rohe Gewalt und vor allem kaum Sexszenen. Natürlich lassen es sich unsere Charaktere trotzdem nicht nehmen in den unmöglichsten Momenten an Sex zu denken.
Insgesamt wieder mal eine gelungene Geschichte aus der Feder von Laymon und definitiv nicht meine letzte!
March 21, 2015
This was just okay for me. It actually read more like a mystery/thriller instead of a gruesome horror that we can usually expect from Laymon. It was still fast and interesting, but definitely not one of his best novels.
September 14, 2017
Ich habe in den letzten Monaten bereits einige Bücher von Richard Laymon gelesen und war von denen meist auch begeistert, von daher war ich schon sehr auf „Das Auge“ gespannt und hatte doch recht hohe Erwartungen an die Geschichte. Diese wurden zwar nicht gänzlich erfüllt, allerdings hat mir das Buch dennoch gut gefallen und konnte mich in vielen Momenten schocken.
Richard Laymon besitzt hier wieder einmal seine oftmals saloppe, sehr direkte und einfach gehaltene Sprache, die mir schon immer sehr zugesagt hat. Das Buch liest sich recht flüssig und leicht, besitzt den ein oder anderen Schocker und auch die Figuren sind im Großen und Ganzen gut ausgearbeitet. Zwar gab es hier und da auch ein paar sehr vorhersehbare Momente, allerdings hat mich dies nur wenig gestört.
Die Geschichte ist hierbei schnell erzählt: Melanie hat den Tod ihres Vaters zu verarbeiten und bekommt als Hilfe Anti-Depressiva verschrieben, die ihr Leben erleichtern sollen. Dies ist allerdings nicht der Fall, denn nach der Einnahme sind sie und ihr Freund immer wieder in Ereignisse verwickelt, die sie in Gefahr bringen. Gleichzeitig hat sie das Problem, dass sie immer wieder Dinge sieht, die andere nicht sehen, gleichzeitig zweifelt sie aber auch an sich, als sie sterbende Menschen sieht. Doch was ist es, was mit Melanie geschieht? Paranoia oder tatsächlich ein Blick in die Zukunft?
Laymon hat hier nicht nur einen äußerst spannenden Thriller mit ordentlichen Horror-Elementen geschrieben, sondern es auch geschafft, dass man als Leser selbst erst einmal zweifelt und nicht weiß, ob man Melanie Glauben schenken soll oder nicht. Zwar ist manches auch sehr vorhersehbar, allerdings gab es auch so viele Wendungen, sodass ich dann doch ab und zu überrascht wurde.
Was ich bei "Das Auge" ebenfalls interessant finde, ist die Tatsache, dass das Buch bereits über zwanzig Jahre alt ist, man aber dennoch den Eindruck, dass diese frisch und modern wirkt. Hier wird zwar auf die neuen Medien verzichtet und nicht nachträglich vom Übersetzer eingebaut, sodass noch einiges "altmodisch" abläuft, allerdings war dies mal eine tolle Abwechslung gegenüber anderen Büchern.
Das Cover trifft meinen Geschmack zwar nicht ganz, allerdings muss ich schon sagen, dass dies gut zur Geschichte passt und somit gelungen ist. Die Kurzbeschreibung liest sich dagegen richtig spannend und fasst nur das Nötigste zusammen, sodass man auf den Verlauf der Geschichte gespannt sein darf.
Kurz gesagt: Richard Laymon hat es wieder einmal geschafft, mich mit einem oftmals saloppen, aber dennoch spannend gehaltenen Schreibstil und interessanten Figuren in den Bann zu ziehen. Wer mal wieder Lust auf einen Thriller mit Horror-Elementen hat, sollte zu "Das Auge" greifen.
Richard Laymon besitzt hier wieder einmal seine oftmals saloppe, sehr direkte und einfach gehaltene Sprache, die mir schon immer sehr zugesagt hat. Das Buch liest sich recht flüssig und leicht, besitzt den ein oder anderen Schocker und auch die Figuren sind im Großen und Ganzen gut ausgearbeitet. Zwar gab es hier und da auch ein paar sehr vorhersehbare Momente, allerdings hat mich dies nur wenig gestört.
Die Geschichte ist hierbei schnell erzählt: Melanie hat den Tod ihres Vaters zu verarbeiten und bekommt als Hilfe Anti-Depressiva verschrieben, die ihr Leben erleichtern sollen. Dies ist allerdings nicht der Fall, denn nach der Einnahme sind sie und ihr Freund immer wieder in Ereignisse verwickelt, die sie in Gefahr bringen. Gleichzeitig hat sie das Problem, dass sie immer wieder Dinge sieht, die andere nicht sehen, gleichzeitig zweifelt sie aber auch an sich, als sie sterbende Menschen sieht. Doch was ist es, was mit Melanie geschieht? Paranoia oder tatsächlich ein Blick in die Zukunft?
Laymon hat hier nicht nur einen äußerst spannenden Thriller mit ordentlichen Horror-Elementen geschrieben, sondern es auch geschafft, dass man als Leser selbst erst einmal zweifelt und nicht weiß, ob man Melanie Glauben schenken soll oder nicht. Zwar ist manches auch sehr vorhersehbar, allerdings gab es auch so viele Wendungen, sodass ich dann doch ab und zu überrascht wurde.
Was ich bei "Das Auge" ebenfalls interessant finde, ist die Tatsache, dass das Buch bereits über zwanzig Jahre alt ist, man aber dennoch den Eindruck, dass diese frisch und modern wirkt. Hier wird zwar auf die neuen Medien verzichtet und nicht nachträglich vom Übersetzer eingebaut, sodass noch einiges "altmodisch" abläuft, allerdings war dies mal eine tolle Abwechslung gegenüber anderen Büchern.
Das Cover trifft meinen Geschmack zwar nicht ganz, allerdings muss ich schon sagen, dass dies gut zur Geschichte passt und somit gelungen ist. Die Kurzbeschreibung liest sich dagegen richtig spannend und fasst nur das Nötigste zusammen, sodass man auf den Verlauf der Geschichte gespannt sein darf.
Kurz gesagt: Richard Laymon hat es wieder einmal geschafft, mich mit einem oftmals saloppen, aber dennoch spannend gehaltenen Schreibstil und interessanten Figuren in den Bann zu ziehen. Wer mal wieder Lust auf einen Thriller mit Horror-Elementen hat, sollte zu "Das Auge" greifen.
December 21, 2024
Richard Laymon is always a lot of fun. Alarums is not his best, but a goofy mix of psychic nonsense, horny twenty somethings, a mysterious car accident that puts the father of the pair of sisters in a coma for most of the book, and other nefarious characters and goings-on. A silly ride, but kept me wanting to know who did what until the very end. Not his most horror filled story but more of a mystery thriller with horror elements. Fun stuff from Laymon, as usual!
December 29, 2025
A decent if unremarkable Laymon read. The characters are questionable, even the ones that are supposed to be good guys, but that’s as expected for Laymon. The climax actually gets pretty fun, so things pick up nicely and end on a suitably crazy note.
April 5, 2013
I loved this book very good, although there was one character in this book that I was plotting their murder throughout the book :)
January 3, 2024
Melanie Conway might be psychic.
She sees visions, you understand. Only instead of premonitions that could help her change the future, Melanie sees terrible events right as they're happening. Last time it happened with this much clarity, her mother had been killed. Tonight, the vision, which always comes with what appears to be an epileptic seizure, is less-clear, but the outcome isn't: someone close to Melanie, someone she loves, has been run over by a speeding car. The victim might be her father, or it could be her sister, Penelope. Either way, she has to know for sure.
Her boyfriend Bodie, who witnessed Mel's seizure, is happy to help. Back at his apartment, Mel dials first her father, and then her sister. Neither picks up. Frantic for answers, the pair embark on an all-night, cross-country drive from their small Arizona college to Mel's home town of Los Angeles, California. They arrive to find Mel's vision was all too true: her father lies, comatose, in the hospital while his much younger wife Jodie waits at home with family friend and lawyer Harrison for news of his recovery. And while Penelope is fine physically, Bodie and Mel discover she's having problems of her own: a phone stalker who leaves perverse messages on her answering machine, explaining in graphic detail just what he'd love to do to the pretty young writer.
The longer Bodie hangs around the family, the more drawn into the tangled web which seems to weave itself all around them he becomes. Mel is convinced her step-mother was behind the hit-and-run of her father. Penelope is convinced her psycho stalker knows where she lives and plans to pay a visit soon. Jodie is strangely evasive. Harrison may be more than just the family's legal counsel. And Bodie? Well, he's feeling a familiar stirring in the loins for Melanie's damsel-in-distress sister . . . .
* * * * *
Alarums is a complete and total clusterfuck of a book -- and I don't mean that in a good way.
Billed on the cover as "a novel of psychic suspense", the truth is that Melanie's visions are a mere minor aspect of the novel: a plot device to set the story on its rails, give it a push to get it going, and that's it. They're barely mentioned afterwards, except when Laymon twists the story to make Mel look like a complete psycho bitch. She very well may be a complete psycho bitch, but while Laymon starts the story off with a bang (Mel having her seizure while performing on-stage with the college orchestra), the whole "psychic" part of the story disappears almost immediately. If the book's supposed to be a bottle rocket (which, at a mere 214 pages in my hardcover, it certainly flies by like one), the "psychic suspense" is little more than the fuse igniting the gunpowder.
Laymon's one of my favorite horror writers, but he was far from perfect, and unfortunately Alarums is one of the weakest novels in his canon. Despite being published in 1992, well over a decade after he made his splash fiction debut with 1980's The Cellar, Alarms reads like a slap-dash free-form nightmare where not even Laymon himself knew where it was going.
To be fair, an awful lot of Laymon's work was written in this way, a fact to which he freely confesses in his autobiography. And it is this style, with its roller-coaster-rhythm, anything-can-happen vibe, which makes his work so entertaining. But it's only entertaining when the destination feels worthy of the journey. Here, we're treated to a lot of back-and-forth, will-they-or-won't-they, is-the-crazy-girl-really-crazy? filler.
There's nothing wrong with filler, when it's used to slow a narrative down and let the reader catch a breath. And I've read enough of Laymon's literary output to know he can wield filler the way Jason wields a machete: slow, tense, with no doubt he's going to get his prey. But that's not how he does it here -- instead, we're treated to a B-plot involving Penelope's telephone stalker which goes absolutely nowhere and pays zero dividends by the novel's closure, two female characters so frequently in need of male rescue you'd think you were reading a 60s Gothic, and a male protagonist who should have divested himself of the entire Conway clan at about the fifty page mark.
Nobody in Alarums is the least-bit likeable. Nobody is the least-bit interesting. Neither of the plot lines Laymon juggles is at all exciting. Even Laymon's trademarks of horny male protagonist ogling the pretty girls and the amount of time they spend running around in their underwear or unclothed comes off as so much adolescent male wish fulfillment nonsense. Nobody in here behaves like a real person. There's a lot of violence, a lot of weirdness, a lot of nudity and smutty thoughts as Penelope and Bodie play the will-he-betray-Melanie-or-not head game. But there's no charm, and very little of Laymon's wit (a bit of foreshadowing to the WTF?-esque ending is all we get), to hold the project together.
There is a twist at the book's conclusion, but it's a setup that works better for a short story than a full-length novel. If Alarums was fifty pages of build-up with two pages of twist-the-knife ending, I'd applaud it; expecting a reader to slog through 212 pages of one-damn-thing-after-another for the same two-page reward is just sadistic.
Alarums was one of Laymon's two attempts at a giallo, and while I think he had the best of intentions, this one is neither memorable nor particularly well-executed. If a solid mystery story with giallo-esque elements is what you're looking for, skip Alarums and go instead to Among the Missing. He nailed it there. This is just a misfire, of interest to the Laymon completionist only.
And maybe not even then.
She sees visions, you understand. Only instead of premonitions that could help her change the future, Melanie sees terrible events right as they're happening. Last time it happened with this much clarity, her mother had been killed. Tonight, the vision, which always comes with what appears to be an epileptic seizure, is less-clear, but the outcome isn't: someone close to Melanie, someone she loves, has been run over by a speeding car. The victim might be her father, or it could be her sister, Penelope. Either way, she has to know for sure.
Her boyfriend Bodie, who witnessed Mel's seizure, is happy to help. Back at his apartment, Mel dials first her father, and then her sister. Neither picks up. Frantic for answers, the pair embark on an all-night, cross-country drive from their small Arizona college to Mel's home town of Los Angeles, California. They arrive to find Mel's vision was all too true: her father lies, comatose, in the hospital while his much younger wife Jodie waits at home with family friend and lawyer Harrison for news of his recovery. And while Penelope is fine physically, Bodie and Mel discover she's having problems of her own: a phone stalker who leaves perverse messages on her answering machine, explaining in graphic detail just what he'd love to do to the pretty young writer.
The longer Bodie hangs around the family, the more drawn into the tangled web which seems to weave itself all around them he becomes. Mel is convinced her step-mother was behind the hit-and-run of her father. Penelope is convinced her psycho stalker knows where she lives and plans to pay a visit soon. Jodie is strangely evasive. Harrison may be more than just the family's legal counsel. And Bodie? Well, he's feeling a familiar stirring in the loins for Melanie's damsel-in-distress sister . . . .
* * * * *
Alarums is a complete and total clusterfuck of a book -- and I don't mean that in a good way.
Billed on the cover as "a novel of psychic suspense", the truth is that Melanie's visions are a mere minor aspect of the novel: a plot device to set the story on its rails, give it a push to get it going, and that's it. They're barely mentioned afterwards, except when Laymon twists the story to make Mel look like a complete psycho bitch. She very well may be a complete psycho bitch, but while Laymon starts the story off with a bang (Mel having her seizure while performing on-stage with the college orchestra), the whole "psychic" part of the story disappears almost immediately. If the book's supposed to be a bottle rocket (which, at a mere 214 pages in my hardcover, it certainly flies by like one), the "psychic suspense" is little more than the fuse igniting the gunpowder.
Laymon's one of my favorite horror writers, but he was far from perfect, and unfortunately Alarums is one of the weakest novels in his canon. Despite being published in 1992, well over a decade after he made his splash fiction debut with 1980's The Cellar, Alarms reads like a slap-dash free-form nightmare where not even Laymon himself knew where it was going.
To be fair, an awful lot of Laymon's work was written in this way, a fact to which he freely confesses in his autobiography. And it is this style, with its roller-coaster-rhythm, anything-can-happen vibe, which makes his work so entertaining. But it's only entertaining when the destination feels worthy of the journey. Here, we're treated to a lot of back-and-forth, will-they-or-won't-they, is-the-crazy-girl-really-crazy? filler.
There's nothing wrong with filler, when it's used to slow a narrative down and let the reader catch a breath. And I've read enough of Laymon's literary output to know he can wield filler the way Jason wields a machete: slow, tense, with no doubt he's going to get his prey. But that's not how he does it here -- instead, we're treated to a B-plot involving Penelope's telephone stalker which goes absolutely nowhere and pays zero dividends by the novel's closure, two female characters so frequently in need of male rescue you'd think you were reading a 60s Gothic, and a male protagonist who should have divested himself of the entire Conway clan at about the fifty page mark.
Nobody in Alarums is the least-bit likeable. Nobody is the least-bit interesting. Neither of the plot lines Laymon juggles is at all exciting. Even Laymon's trademarks of horny male protagonist ogling the pretty girls and the amount of time they spend running around in their underwear or unclothed comes off as so much adolescent male wish fulfillment nonsense. Nobody in here behaves like a real person. There's a lot of violence, a lot of weirdness, a lot of nudity and smutty thoughts as Penelope and Bodie play the will-he-betray-Melanie-or-not head game. But there's no charm, and very little of Laymon's wit (a bit of foreshadowing to the WTF?-esque ending is all we get), to hold the project together.
There is a twist at the book's conclusion, but it's a setup that works better for a short story than a full-length novel. If Alarums was fifty pages of build-up with two pages of twist-the-knife ending, I'd applaud it; expecting a reader to slog through 212 pages of one-damn-thing-after-another for the same two-page reward is just sadistic.
Alarums was one of Laymon's two attempts at a giallo, and while I think he had the best of intentions, this one is neither memorable nor particularly well-executed. If a solid mystery story with giallo-esque elements is what you're looking for, skip Alarums and go instead to Among the Missing. He nailed it there. This is just a misfire, of interest to the Laymon completionist only.
And maybe not even then.
January 24, 2023
Not the worst Laymon book I've ever read but still far from his best. Really middle of the road stuff here, it never really lifts off and the author's usual flights of perverse insanity are vaguely hinted at but never delivered upon.
This book's genre isn't horror, suspense maybe? Mildly so in parts, I suppose, but no momentum is maintained, the plot just sort of moseys along.
Competently written in an 80s pulp fiction style, but several ideas are introduced but never fully fleshed out. Characters act out of such and the "twist" epilogue is executed in the most mundane way possible.
Can't really recommend anyone spend their time with this one save for perhaps hardcore Laymon completists.
This book's genre isn't horror, suspense maybe? Mildly so in parts, I suppose, but no momentum is maintained, the plot just sort of moseys along.
Competently written in an 80s pulp fiction style, but several ideas are introduced but never fully fleshed out. Characters act out of such and the "twist" epilogue is executed in the most mundane way possible.
Can't really recommend anyone spend their time with this one save for perhaps hardcore Laymon completists.
May 19, 2025
*3.5 rounded up. Change of pace for Laymon, moving more from horror into a mystery. Much slower paced than some of his other books, but oozing with malice and good old fashioned Laymon romance. Some likeable characters in this one, namely Bodie and Penelope. A little hint of supernatural abilities towards the beginning.
December 20, 2021
En svag trea. Rätt händelsefattig för att vara en Laymon. Inte samma ös och våld som man är bortskämd med. Hittills den svagaste Laymon-bok jag har läst.
November 14, 2017
Hätten wir nicht alle gerne übersinnliche Kräfte? Durch die Zeit reisen zum Beispiel, oder fliegen wie Superman, oder allwissend sein. Oder lediglich sehen können was irgendwo auf der Welt gerade passiert – das ist durch das Internet und Webcams heute natürlich schon möglich, aber dazu müssen sowohl Sender als auch Empfänger aktiv sein. Aber darum ging es Richard Laymon bei „Das Auge“ nicht, denn als dieser lebte, war das Internet für den Alltagsgebrauch höchstens in Kinderschuhen, denn die Originalausgabe von "Das Auge" erschien erstmals 1992; Laymon beschritt damals die Pfade Stephen Kings, denn in dem Buch geht es um Telepathie.
Die Hauptperson in dieser Geschichte ist Melanie. Melanie studiert, was genau, erfährt man nicht, aber da sie in einem Orchester Violine spielt, liegt der Schluss nahe, dass sie etwas künstlerisches studiert, vielleicht sogar Musik. Auch weiß man nicht, wie alt Melanie ist, nur, dass sie wesentlich jünger als ihr Freund Bodie ist – aber selbst der dürfte maximal Ende 20 sein, denn er steht kurz vor dem Abschluss seines Studiums. Was wir allerdings detailliert über die Violinistin erfahren, ist, wie ihre Brüste aussehen. Und spätestens, wenn wir das erfahren, wissen wir, dass es sich bei „Das Auge“ um einen Laymon handelt, denn solche Beschreibungen waren Laymon Steckenpferd. Was wir noch erfahren – und hier kommen wir zum Kern der Geschichte – ist, dass Melanie immer wieder mal Visionen hat. Und die aktuelle, die sich während eines Konzertes ihres Orchesters ereignete, macht ihr klar, dass irgendetwas schlimmes mit ihrem Vater passiert sein muss.
Der Clou am Stil der Geschichte ist, dass Melanie zwar die Hauptperson ist, man ihre Sicht aber weder in der ersten, noch in der dritten Person erzählt bekommt, sondern über Bodie eher aus zweiter Hand. Dadurch ahnt man zwar, dass Melanie ein ziemlich bescheidenes Selbstvertrauen hat, weil sie ihrer Schwester Pen das Aussehen neidet und deshalb eine latente Fehde gegen sie führt, aber fix ist es nicht. Pen dürfte tatsächlich unfassbar gut aussehen, hat aber ihre ganz eigene Geschichte, die man nach und nach erfährt. Generell ist „Das Auge“ vermutlich eines von Laymons tiefgründigsten Geschichten, bei denen es ausnahmsweise nicht um random Teenagers geht, die irgendetwas gemeinsam unternehmen. Auch der sexuelle Aspekt ist eher zurückhaltend. Ich würde „Das Auge“ auch nicht als Horror bezeichnen, sondern eher als unterhaltsame Geschichte, in der mehrere Genres aufeinander treffen; unter anderem Drama, Mystik und Krimi, garniert mit einer Prise Erotik – jedenfalls aber ein Buch, das ich nur schwer weglegen konnte. Was wirklich gut und zeitweise witzig geschrieben ist, sind die inneren Dialoge der Charaktere. Wenn sie mit sich selbst diskutieren, als würde auf der linken Schulter ein Engelchen und auf der rechten ein Teufelchen sitzen. Das kenne ich so und in dieser Häufigkeit nur von Laymon und macht die Geschichte auch lebensnah, denn vermutlich haben wir alle schon solche Diskussionen in unserem Kopf geführt. Der Showdown ist ziemlich actionreich und hier blitzen dann auch Horror-Elemente durch – zumindest wäre es für mich der blanke Horror, wenn ich diese Szenen verfilmt sehen würde.
Was mich verwirrt hat – und das ist tatsächlich der einzige Kritikpunkt – ist ein abrupter Szenenwechsel von Bodie zu Pen auf Seite 32. Wobei das vielleicht ein Fehler ist, der nur in den Rezensionsexemplaren ist. Viel verloren gegangen ist dabei jedenfalls nicht.
Tl,dr: „Das Auge“ ist eines der tiefgründigsten Bücher von Richard Laymon, das ich bis jetzt gelesen habe und eines, das ich nur schwer weglegen konnte. Es ist kein reiner Horror, sondern ein Mix aus mehreren Genres, wobei die Erotik, für die Laymon bekannt war, hier eher im Hintergrund rückt, aber immer wieder aufblitzt.
Die Hauptperson in dieser Geschichte ist Melanie. Melanie studiert, was genau, erfährt man nicht, aber da sie in einem Orchester Violine spielt, liegt der Schluss nahe, dass sie etwas künstlerisches studiert, vielleicht sogar Musik. Auch weiß man nicht, wie alt Melanie ist, nur, dass sie wesentlich jünger als ihr Freund Bodie ist – aber selbst der dürfte maximal Ende 20 sein, denn er steht kurz vor dem Abschluss seines Studiums. Was wir allerdings detailliert über die Violinistin erfahren, ist, wie ihre Brüste aussehen. Und spätestens, wenn wir das erfahren, wissen wir, dass es sich bei „Das Auge“ um einen Laymon handelt, denn solche Beschreibungen waren Laymon Steckenpferd. Was wir noch erfahren – und hier kommen wir zum Kern der Geschichte – ist, dass Melanie immer wieder mal Visionen hat. Und die aktuelle, die sich während eines Konzertes ihres Orchesters ereignete, macht ihr klar, dass irgendetwas schlimmes mit ihrem Vater passiert sein muss.
Der Clou am Stil der Geschichte ist, dass Melanie zwar die Hauptperson ist, man ihre Sicht aber weder in der ersten, noch in der dritten Person erzählt bekommt, sondern über Bodie eher aus zweiter Hand. Dadurch ahnt man zwar, dass Melanie ein ziemlich bescheidenes Selbstvertrauen hat, weil sie ihrer Schwester Pen das Aussehen neidet und deshalb eine latente Fehde gegen sie führt, aber fix ist es nicht. Pen dürfte tatsächlich unfassbar gut aussehen, hat aber ihre ganz eigene Geschichte, die man nach und nach erfährt. Generell ist „Das Auge“ vermutlich eines von Laymons tiefgründigsten Geschichten, bei denen es ausnahmsweise nicht um random Teenagers geht, die irgendetwas gemeinsam unternehmen. Auch der sexuelle Aspekt ist eher zurückhaltend. Ich würde „Das Auge“ auch nicht als Horror bezeichnen, sondern eher als unterhaltsame Geschichte, in der mehrere Genres aufeinander treffen; unter anderem Drama, Mystik und Krimi, garniert mit einer Prise Erotik – jedenfalls aber ein Buch, das ich nur schwer weglegen konnte. Was wirklich gut und zeitweise witzig geschrieben ist, sind die inneren Dialoge der Charaktere. Wenn sie mit sich selbst diskutieren, als würde auf der linken Schulter ein Engelchen und auf der rechten ein Teufelchen sitzen. Das kenne ich so und in dieser Häufigkeit nur von Laymon und macht die Geschichte auch lebensnah, denn vermutlich haben wir alle schon solche Diskussionen in unserem Kopf geführt. Der Showdown ist ziemlich actionreich und hier blitzen dann auch Horror-Elemente durch – zumindest wäre es für mich der blanke Horror, wenn ich diese Szenen verfilmt sehen würde.
Was mich verwirrt hat – und das ist tatsächlich der einzige Kritikpunkt – ist ein abrupter Szenenwechsel von Bodie zu Pen auf Seite 32. Wobei das vielleicht ein Fehler ist, der nur in den Rezensionsexemplaren ist. Viel verloren gegangen ist dabei jedenfalls nicht.
Tl,dr: „Das Auge“ ist eines der tiefgründigsten Bücher von Richard Laymon, das ich bis jetzt gelesen habe und eines, das ich nur schwer weglegen konnte. Es ist kein reiner Horror, sondern ein Mix aus mehreren Genres, wobei die Erotik, für die Laymon bekannt war, hier eher im Hintergrund rückt, aber immer wieder aufblitzt.
October 26, 2009
*spoilers, but the book is so pointless it doesn't matter*
This was only the second Laymon book I read and I found it very disappointing. I've seen Point Horror books that have made more sense.
"Pen" was one of the biggest "of course she is" Mary Sues I've ever seen in published work. Also, I know the whole obscene caller not being a threat thing was supposed to be part of the twist, but I think it backfired and made the whole thing a little bit stupid, and you don't want to make a large part of your plot suddenly stupid. It could have at least made him the neighbour with the stiffy.
This was only the second Laymon book I read and I found it very disappointing. I've seen Point Horror books that have made more sense.
"Pen" was one of the biggest "of course she is" Mary Sues I've ever seen in published work. Also, I know the whole obscene caller not being a threat thing was supposed to be part of the twist, but I think it backfired and made the whole thing a little bit stupid, and you don't want to make a large part of your plot suddenly stupid. It could have at least made him the neighbour with the stiffy.
May 9, 2010
Melanie has strange visions of death so when she collapses one night, her boyfriend Bodie agrees to take her to find out who is hurt. Her sister Penny is hiding in her apartment, scared to death that she has a pervert stalker. Family secrets, jealousy and betrayal follow as Bodie finds himself attracted to Penny.
Shite pretty much sums this up! There's no horror or suspense that you come to expect from Laymon and just no plot at all. It was boring, annoying and nothing about it interested me at all. Waste of time.
Shite pretty much sums this up! There's no horror or suspense that you come to expect from Laymon and just no plot at all. It was boring, annoying and nothing about it interested me at all. Waste of time.
April 10, 2013
Classic Laymon, but not his strongest work. It is refreshing to see slightly older main characters and somewhat less rape, but it has the Laymon trademark pacing and a couple of nice twists, particularly the ending, which make for a fun and entertaining quick read. Recommended.
July 30, 2018
The ending left me feeling like meh I didn't like it at all
March 19, 2018
Spannender Horror-Thriller
In „Das Auge“ von Richard Laymon geht es in erster Linie um Melanie. Melanie erhält Visionen und in einer dieser – relativ unklaren - Visionen sieht Melanie, dass einem Familienmitglied etwas sehr schreckliches zugestoßen ist. Sie ist sich nicht sicher, ob es sich dabei um ihre Schwester oder um ihren Vater handelt. Kurzentschlossen bricht sie zusammen mit ihrem Freund Bodie auf, um der Sache auf den Grund zu gehen.
Doch sie konnten nicht ahnen, ich welchen Alptraum sie wirklich stolpern…
Bei „Das Auge“ handelt es sich um eine der neusten deutschen Veröffentlichungen von Richard Laymon beim Heyne Verlag, obwohl das englische Original bereits 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Mir hat das 90er Jahre Setting und der damit verbundene Charme sehr gut gefallen.
Wenn man das Buch mit anderen Werken Laymons vergleicht, handelt es sich bei „Das Auge“ um ein eher harmloseres Werk. Bücher wie „Der Keller“, „In den fisnteren Wäldern“ oder „Der Killer“ beinhalten definitiv mehr Horror und deutlich mehr Erotik, wofür Laymon meiner Meinung nach auch bekannt ist und was den Stil seiner Werke deutlich prägt.
Jedoch hat mir der relativ niedrige Horror- und Sexanteil in diesem Buch sehr gut gefallen und hat super zur Story gepasst. Die Handlung selbst ist sehr spannend und trumpft durch unterschwellige, subtile Spannung.
Sehr gut hat mir wiedermal Laymons sehr direkte und einfache Sprache gefallen, welche immer sehr gut zu den Handlungen seiner Geschichten passen. Das Buch hat sich sehr flüssig und spannend lesen lassen.
„Das Auge“ von Richard Laymon hat mir sehr gut gefallen!
Mattsbooks.de
In „Das Auge“ von Richard Laymon geht es in erster Linie um Melanie. Melanie erhält Visionen und in einer dieser – relativ unklaren - Visionen sieht Melanie, dass einem Familienmitglied etwas sehr schreckliches zugestoßen ist. Sie ist sich nicht sicher, ob es sich dabei um ihre Schwester oder um ihren Vater handelt. Kurzentschlossen bricht sie zusammen mit ihrem Freund Bodie auf, um der Sache auf den Grund zu gehen.
Doch sie konnten nicht ahnen, ich welchen Alptraum sie wirklich stolpern…
Bei „Das Auge“ handelt es sich um eine der neusten deutschen Veröffentlichungen von Richard Laymon beim Heyne Verlag, obwohl das englische Original bereits 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Mir hat das 90er Jahre Setting und der damit verbundene Charme sehr gut gefallen.
Wenn man das Buch mit anderen Werken Laymons vergleicht, handelt es sich bei „Das Auge“ um ein eher harmloseres Werk. Bücher wie „Der Keller“, „In den fisnteren Wäldern“ oder „Der Killer“ beinhalten definitiv mehr Horror und deutlich mehr Erotik, wofür Laymon meiner Meinung nach auch bekannt ist und was den Stil seiner Werke deutlich prägt.
Jedoch hat mir der relativ niedrige Horror- und Sexanteil in diesem Buch sehr gut gefallen und hat super zur Story gepasst. Die Handlung selbst ist sehr spannend und trumpft durch unterschwellige, subtile Spannung.
Sehr gut hat mir wiedermal Laymons sehr direkte und einfache Sprache gefallen, welche immer sehr gut zu den Handlungen seiner Geschichten passen. Das Buch hat sich sehr flüssig und spannend lesen lassen.
„Das Auge“ von Richard Laymon hat mir sehr gut gefallen!
Mattsbooks.de
December 10, 2025
Not Laymon enough to be full Laymon, and also TOO Laymon to be not Laymon enough.
An easy and mostly hilarious read, with characters that are complete and utter assholes for really no reason. But they aren't assholey enough to be TOTAL assholes. They are also too assholey to NOT be assholey in the first place.
Richard 'Rump' Laymon strikes again.
Expect the usual amount of corduroy, blouses, panties and conflicted male gorilla level thought processes.
An easy and mostly hilarious read, with characters that are complete and utter assholes for really no reason. But they aren't assholey enough to be TOTAL assholes. They are also too assholey to NOT be assholey in the first place.
Richard 'Rump' Laymon strikes again.
Expect the usual amount of corduroy, blouses, panties and conflicted male gorilla level thought processes.
June 4, 2020
What an utterly pointless story. Kept expecting something epic to happen but it never did. I hate to give a Laymon book a 1* review but this one deserved it.
May 28, 2018
ALARUMS is a nice example, if a tad less developed than his best work, of the Richard Laymon horror formula. Melanie Conway, a student at an Arizona university, sees a vision of death while performing in a violin concert. She is certain her father has been killed and convinces her boyfriend, Bodie, to drive through the night to see her father in Southern California. When she arrives her father is in a coma after being ran down in a hit-and-run, and her sister, Pen, is being stalked by a sex-crazed maniac.
ALARUMS has all the chills and suspense one expects from a Richard Laymon horror story, along with a bevy of easy to forgive bad character decisions. Where it departs from the ordinary Laymon horror novel is the violence is muted, the sex is markedly less graphic and, while the plot is familiar (in a good way), it is as much straight suspense, with a mild mystery, as it is horror. Its linear storyline, smooth and cinematic prose make it easy to read. Comfortable and enjoyable for any reader who enjoys Laymon's work, and one that will leave you wanting to read another of his novels.
ALARUMS has all the chills and suspense one expects from a Richard Laymon horror story, along with a bevy of easy to forgive bad character decisions. Where it departs from the ordinary Laymon horror novel is the violence is muted, the sex is markedly less graphic and, while the plot is familiar (in a good way), it is as much straight suspense, with a mild mystery, as it is horror. Its linear storyline, smooth and cinematic prose make it easy to read. Comfortable and enjoyable for any reader who enjoys Laymon's work, and one that will leave you wanting to read another of his novels.
November 5, 2013
I have been on a Laymon kick. Just finished reading 'Alarums' which I'm pretty sure I read before although it is quite forgettable. More of a mystery than a horror novel. I love my Laymon but would not recommend this to Laymon newbies. Only a diehard fan would attempt to even finish this story. (I guess that makes me a Richard Laymon diehard fan:))
This novel lacks all the reasons I read Laymon in the first place:
1. 80s cheesiness
2. Sex and violence
3. Incredibly unique and fun characters and dialogue
4. Page turning action and adventure
I am now moving on to 'Quake' which I am positive is about the only Laymon book I have left to read that I did not read in the past. I am very excited since it seems to be written in his usual style.
This novel lacks all the reasons I read Laymon in the first place:
1. 80s cheesiness
2. Sex and violence
3. Incredibly unique and fun characters and dialogue
4. Page turning action and adventure
I am now moving on to 'Quake' which I am positive is about the only Laymon book I have left to read that I did not read in the past. I am very excited since it seems to be written in his usual style.
June 30, 2021
Melanie Conway might be psychic.
She sees visions, you understand. Only instead of premonitions that could help her change the future, Melanie sees terrible events right as they're happening. Last time it happened with this much clarity, her mother had been killed. Tonight, the vision, which always comes with what appears to be an epileptic seizure, is less-clear, but the outcome isn't: someone close to Melanie, someone she loves, has been run over by a speeding car. The victim might be her father, or it could be her sister, Penelope. Either way, she has to know for sure.
Her boyfriend Bodie, who witnessed Mel's seizure, is only to happy to help. Back at his apartment, Mel dials first her father, and then her sister. No one picks up either time. Frantic for answers, the pair embark on an all-night, cross-country drive from their small Arizona college to Mel's home town of Los Angeles, California. They arrive to find Mel's vision was all too true: her father lies, comatose, in the hospital while his much younger wife Jodie waits at home with family lawyer friend Harrison for news of his recovery. And while Penelope is fine physically, Bodie and Mel discover she's having problems of her own: a phone stalker who leaves perverse messages on her answering machine, explaining in graphic detail just what he'd love to do to the pretty young writer.
The longer Bodie hangs around the family, the more drawn into the tangled web which seems to weave itself all around them. Mel is convinced her step-mother was behind the hit-and-run job done to her father. Penelope is convinced her psycho stalker knows where she lives and plans to pay her a visit some time soon. Jodie is strangely evasive. Harrison may be more than just the family's legal counsel. And Bodie? Well, he's feeling a familiar stirring in the loins for Melanie's damsel-in-distress sister...
* * * * *
Alarms (or Alarums if you live in the UK) is a complete and total clusterfuck of a book -- and I don't mean that in a good way.
Billed on the cover as "a novel of psychic suspense", the truth is that Melanie's visions are a minor aspect of the novel: they're a plot device to set the story on its rails and give it a push downhill to get it going, and that's it. They're barely given mention afterwards, except when Laymon twists the story to make Mel look like a complete psycho bitch. She very well may be a complete psycho bitch, but while Laymon starts the story off with a bang (Mel having her seizure while performing on-stage with the college orchestra), the whole "psychic" part of the story disappears almost immediately. If the book's supposed to be a bottle rocket (which, at a mere 214 pages in my hardcover, it certainly flies by like one), the "psychic suspense" is little more than the fuse igniting the gunpowder.
Laymon's one of my favorite horror writers, but he was far from perfect, and unfortunately Alarms is one of the weakest novels in his canon. Despite being published in 1992, well over a decade after he made his splash fiction debut with 1980's The Cellar, Alarms reads like a slap-dash free-form nightmare where not even Laymon himself knew where it was going. Part of this stems from the manuscript being originally written in 1985, and part of it stems from Laymon's desire for this to be a tribute to/retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet
To be fair, an awful lot of Laymon's work was written in this way, a fact to which he freely confesses in his autobiography, A Writer's Tale. And it is this style, with its roller-coaster-rhythm, anything-can-happen vibe, which makes his work so entertaining. But it's only entertaining when the destination feels worthy of the journey, and here, what we're treated to is a lot of back-and-forth, will-they-or-won't-they, is-the-crazy-girl-really-crazy filler.
There's nothing wrong with some filler, when it's used to good measure, to slow a narrative down a bit and let the reader catch a breath. And I've read enough of Laymon's literary output to know he can wield filler the way Jason wields a machete: slow, tense, with no doubt he's going to get his prey. But that's not how he does it here -- instead, we're treated to a B-plot involving Penelope's telephone stalker which goes nowhere and pays zero dividends by the novel's closure, two female characters so frequently in need of male rescue you'd think you were reading a 60's Gothic, and a male protagonist who should have thrown up his hands and divested himself of the entire Conway clan at about the fifty page mark.
Nobody in Alarms is the least-bit likeable. Nobody in Alarms is the least-bit interesting. Neither of the two plot lines Laymon juggles is at all exciting. Even Laymon's trademarks of horny male protagonist ogling the pretty girls and the amount of time they spend running around in their underwear or unclothed comes off as so much adolescent male wish fulfillment nonsense. Nobody in Alarms behaves like a real person. There's a lot of violence, a lot of weirdness, a lot of nudity and smutty thoughts as Penelope and Bodie play the will-he-betray-Melanie-or-not head game. But there's no charm, and very little of Laymon's wit (a bit of foreshadowing to the WTF?-esque ending is about all we get), to hold the project together.
There is a nice twist at the book's conclusion, but it's a setup that works far better as a short story than a full-length novel. If Alarms was fifty pages of build-up with two pages of twist-the-knife ending, I'd applaud it; expecting a reader to slog through 212 pages of one-damn-thing-after-another for the same two-page reward is just sadistic. Whether this was always Laymon's intention, or if the narrative simply got away from him and he wasn't yet a strong enough writer to beat it back into shape, I'll never know.
What I do know is there's so little of what made Laymon feel like, you know, Laymon here that I struggled through it based only on the fact it bears his name. Super-fans will likely do the same and, tastes being what they are, I'm sure someone, somewhere, holds this up as their favorite of his works. If you look at it as Laymon doing a giallo it becomes more palatable, so make sure to go in with that mindset, because it's not a horror story at all. But as much as I respect the man, and his hustle, and his insane output over an all-too-short career, there are many other novels I would recommend over this one.
Two out of five stars, and even then for Laymon collectors and completionists only.
She sees visions, you understand. Only instead of premonitions that could help her change the future, Melanie sees terrible events right as they're happening. Last time it happened with this much clarity, her mother had been killed. Tonight, the vision, which always comes with what appears to be an epileptic seizure, is less-clear, but the outcome isn't: someone close to Melanie, someone she loves, has been run over by a speeding car. The victim might be her father, or it could be her sister, Penelope. Either way, she has to know for sure.
Her boyfriend Bodie, who witnessed Mel's seizure, is only to happy to help. Back at his apartment, Mel dials first her father, and then her sister. No one picks up either time. Frantic for answers, the pair embark on an all-night, cross-country drive from their small Arizona college to Mel's home town of Los Angeles, California. They arrive to find Mel's vision was all too true: her father lies, comatose, in the hospital while his much younger wife Jodie waits at home with family lawyer friend Harrison for news of his recovery. And while Penelope is fine physically, Bodie and Mel discover she's having problems of her own: a phone stalker who leaves perverse messages on her answering machine, explaining in graphic detail just what he'd love to do to the pretty young writer.
The longer Bodie hangs around the family, the more drawn into the tangled web which seems to weave itself all around them. Mel is convinced her step-mother was behind the hit-and-run job done to her father. Penelope is convinced her psycho stalker knows where she lives and plans to pay her a visit some time soon. Jodie is strangely evasive. Harrison may be more than just the family's legal counsel. And Bodie? Well, he's feeling a familiar stirring in the loins for Melanie's damsel-in-distress sister...
* * * * *
Alarms (or Alarums if you live in the UK) is a complete and total clusterfuck of a book -- and I don't mean that in a good way.
Billed on the cover as "a novel of psychic suspense", the truth is that Melanie's visions are a minor aspect of the novel: they're a plot device to set the story on its rails and give it a push downhill to get it going, and that's it. They're barely given mention afterwards, except when Laymon twists the story to make Mel look like a complete psycho bitch. She very well may be a complete psycho bitch, but while Laymon starts the story off with a bang (Mel having her seizure while performing on-stage with the college orchestra), the whole "psychic" part of the story disappears almost immediately. If the book's supposed to be a bottle rocket (which, at a mere 214 pages in my hardcover, it certainly flies by like one), the "psychic suspense" is little more than the fuse igniting the gunpowder.
Laymon's one of my favorite horror writers, but he was far from perfect, and unfortunately Alarms is one of the weakest novels in his canon. Despite being published in 1992, well over a decade after he made his splash fiction debut with 1980's The Cellar, Alarms reads like a slap-dash free-form nightmare where not even Laymon himself knew where it was going. Part of this stems from the manuscript being originally written in 1985, and part of it stems from Laymon's desire for this to be a tribute to/retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet
To be fair, an awful lot of Laymon's work was written in this way, a fact to which he freely confesses in his autobiography, A Writer's Tale. And it is this style, with its roller-coaster-rhythm, anything-can-happen vibe, which makes his work so entertaining. But it's only entertaining when the destination feels worthy of the journey, and here, what we're treated to is a lot of back-and-forth, will-they-or-won't-they, is-the-crazy-girl-really-crazy filler.
There's nothing wrong with some filler, when it's used to good measure, to slow a narrative down a bit and let the reader catch a breath. And I've read enough of Laymon's literary output to know he can wield filler the way Jason wields a machete: slow, tense, with no doubt he's going to get his prey. But that's not how he does it here -- instead, we're treated to a B-plot involving Penelope's telephone stalker which goes nowhere and pays zero dividends by the novel's closure, two female characters so frequently in need of male rescue you'd think you were reading a 60's Gothic, and a male protagonist who should have thrown up his hands and divested himself of the entire Conway clan at about the fifty page mark.
Nobody in Alarms is the least-bit likeable. Nobody in Alarms is the least-bit interesting. Neither of the two plot lines Laymon juggles is at all exciting. Even Laymon's trademarks of horny male protagonist ogling the pretty girls and the amount of time they spend running around in their underwear or unclothed comes off as so much adolescent male wish fulfillment nonsense. Nobody in Alarms behaves like a real person. There's a lot of violence, a lot of weirdness, a lot of nudity and smutty thoughts as Penelope and Bodie play the will-he-betray-Melanie-or-not head game. But there's no charm, and very little of Laymon's wit (a bit of foreshadowing to the WTF?-esque ending is about all we get), to hold the project together.
There is a nice twist at the book's conclusion, but it's a setup that works far better as a short story than a full-length novel. If Alarms was fifty pages of build-up with two pages of twist-the-knife ending, I'd applaud it; expecting a reader to slog through 212 pages of one-damn-thing-after-another for the same two-page reward is just sadistic. Whether this was always Laymon's intention, or if the narrative simply got away from him and he wasn't yet a strong enough writer to beat it back into shape, I'll never know.
What I do know is there's so little of what made Laymon feel like, you know, Laymon here that I struggled through it based only on the fact it bears his name. Super-fans will likely do the same and, tastes being what they are, I'm sure someone, somewhere, holds this up as their favorite of his works. If you look at it as Laymon doing a giallo it becomes more palatable, so make sure to go in with that mindset, because it's not a horror story at all. But as much as I respect the man, and his hustle, and his insane output over an all-too-short career, there are many other novels I would recommend over this one.
Two out of five stars, and even then for Laymon collectors and completionists only.
October 1, 2017
Melanie Conway war elf Jahre alt, als es zum ersten Mal geschah. Sie hatte eine Art Vision, in der sie ihre Mutter sterben sah, während sie selbst in der Ferne von heftigen Krämpfen ergriffen wurde. Als es nun wieder passiert, geht sie zunächst vom Tod ihres Vaters aus. Zeitgleich wird allerdings auch ihrer Schwester übel mitgespielt. Da weder Vater noch Penelope telefonisch erreichbar sind, nimmt Mels Freund Bodie die achtstündige Fahrt von Phoenix nach Brentwood, Kalifornien, in Kauf, um die Lage vor Ort zu checken. Bei Pen angekommen, erfahren sie von obszönen Anrufen und der großen Angst, der Fremde könnte sich womöglich gewaltsam Zutritt zur Wohnung verschaffen. Also alles halb so schlimm? Nicht wirklich, denn kurz darauf folgt eine Nachricht aus dem Beverlywood Medical Center, dass Whitman Conway einen schweren Unfall hatte. Ein Sportwagen erfasste ihn beim Überqueren der Straße, der Fahrer flüchtete. Whit liegt nach mehreren Knochenbrüchen und einer schweren Kopfverletzung im Koma. Geht es nach Melanie, gibt es dafür nur eine Erklärung: Die weitaus jüngere Joyce Conway habe es nur auf das Geld des Vaters abgesehen und mache gemeinsame Sache mit Harrison Donner, Whits Kanzleipartner. Es sei unverkennbar, dass die beiden eine Affäre sowie Lebensversicherung und Erbe fest im Blick haben. Tatsächlich ist Donners Weste nicht blütenrein und auch Joyces Verhalten scheint nicht ohne … Melanie schwört Rache!
RICHARD LAYMON erzählt von einer typisch-amerikanischen Familie, in der erwartungsgemäß nicht alles rund läuft: Nachdem die Mutter früh stirbt, schnappt sich eine deutlich jüngere Frau den Vater als gute Partie. Der kleinen Tochter ist sie natürlich ein Dorn im Auge. Ebenso die ältere Schwester, die nicht nur besser aussieht, sondern auch sämtlichen Männern den Kopf verdreht und ihr den Freund ausspannt. Die Beziehungen untereinander könnten wahrlich besser sein. Nichtsdestotrotz ist Blut dicker als Wasser. Mit der Vision vom vermeintlichen Tod eines Familienmitglieds, erhält DAS AUGE einen übersinnlichen Touch. Im Großen und Ganzen ranken fünfundzwanzig Kapitel, in dritter Person Singular aus verschiedenen Perspektiven verfasst, um allerhand Missverständnisse, wilden Theorien und falschen Schlussfolgerungen sowie kleinen Überraschungen. Der Autor lässt kein Detail aus, was den Leser eng ans Geschehen bindet. Wer LAYMON kennt, weiß allerdings um seine Vorliebe für sekundäre Geschlechtsmerkmale der Frauen, die auch in diesem Buch nicht fehlen. Eine frühere Vergewaltigung kommt zur Sprache und ab und an spritzt Blut. Darüber hinaus bietet der Roman spannende Unterhaltung mit einem Ende, das sämtliche Ereignisse ad absurdum führt.
DAS AUGE erscheint als handliches Taschenbuch bei Heyne Hardcore.
Aber Achtung: Das Cover, an sich nett gestaltet, will nicht so ganz zur Handlung passen, ebenso wenig wie die Inhaltsbeschreibung auf der Rückseite des Buches!
Ein Werksverzeichnis der von RICHARD LAYMON im Heyne Verlag erschienen Titel, inklusive persönlicher Anmerkungen des Autors hier und da, rundet den Titel ab.
Fazit:
DAS AUGE ist kurzweilige Unterhaltung anno 1992. Einfach, ruhig – eher Thriller, denn Horror – aber summa summarum ein echter LAYMON mit Pfiff.
RICHARD LAYMON erzählt von einer typisch-amerikanischen Familie, in der erwartungsgemäß nicht alles rund läuft: Nachdem die Mutter früh stirbt, schnappt sich eine deutlich jüngere Frau den Vater als gute Partie. Der kleinen Tochter ist sie natürlich ein Dorn im Auge. Ebenso die ältere Schwester, die nicht nur besser aussieht, sondern auch sämtlichen Männern den Kopf verdreht und ihr den Freund ausspannt. Die Beziehungen untereinander könnten wahrlich besser sein. Nichtsdestotrotz ist Blut dicker als Wasser. Mit der Vision vom vermeintlichen Tod eines Familienmitglieds, erhält DAS AUGE einen übersinnlichen Touch. Im Großen und Ganzen ranken fünfundzwanzig Kapitel, in dritter Person Singular aus verschiedenen Perspektiven verfasst, um allerhand Missverständnisse, wilden Theorien und falschen Schlussfolgerungen sowie kleinen Überraschungen. Der Autor lässt kein Detail aus, was den Leser eng ans Geschehen bindet. Wer LAYMON kennt, weiß allerdings um seine Vorliebe für sekundäre Geschlechtsmerkmale der Frauen, die auch in diesem Buch nicht fehlen. Eine frühere Vergewaltigung kommt zur Sprache und ab und an spritzt Blut. Darüber hinaus bietet der Roman spannende Unterhaltung mit einem Ende, das sämtliche Ereignisse ad absurdum führt.
DAS AUGE erscheint als handliches Taschenbuch bei Heyne Hardcore.
Aber Achtung: Das Cover, an sich nett gestaltet, will nicht so ganz zur Handlung passen, ebenso wenig wie die Inhaltsbeschreibung auf der Rückseite des Buches!
Ein Werksverzeichnis der von RICHARD LAYMON im Heyne Verlag erschienen Titel, inklusive persönlicher Anmerkungen des Autors hier und da, rundet den Titel ab.
Fazit:
DAS AUGE ist kurzweilige Unterhaltung anno 1992. Einfach, ruhig – eher Thriller, denn Horror – aber summa summarum ein echter LAYMON mit Pfiff.
December 2, 2022
So before the year comes to a close, I've decided to read at least 2 more Laymon novels so I'll have read 20 of his works in a singular year. I'm absolutely stunned at how much I've enjoyed his books despite the chauvinism and the occasional spouts of scenes that go way too far with their horrific imagery and for no good reason other than it's shocking. But other than disliking The Cellar and Beware, I've had a really good time overall with his work so far. I decided to pick up Alarums however hearing it's a lot different from his other stuff.
Melanie Conway is a lonely but troubled violinist who is able to see premonitions or witness deaths or fatal accidents of her fellow family members, when she sees her father get hit by a car, she and her boyfriend, Bodie go back to the big city to find out what has happened. However, her sister Penelope is getting a series of obscene calls threatening to fuck her. Something very strange is going on, but it's about to get even stranger.
Alarums is a very interesting and different story for a Laymon novel, despite a lot of sexual comments throughout the story, there is only one sex scene and a flashback to one of our characters getting raped, however here it didn't feel forced, where they're actually used in a way to progress the story and also understand our character emotions and motives. It's written like a Laymon novel but it actually feels more like a thriller that Dean Koontz would write, which I found terribly interesting considering how close they were before Laymon died.
The character works while rough in some areas, mainly with Bodie is actually interesting to see unfold. Melanie is a very complicated character, where at times she's presented as a possibly unreliable narrator, especially since her mental state deteriorates throughout the course of this novel, leading to a really cool climax. Penelope was a very likable character who you really feel sorry for considering the complex relationship with her sister, a horribly tragic event that happened in the past, and how events unfold in this story despite some of the tragedy being her fault. Bodie however is a strange one, I kind of liked him but then Laymon had this thing with some of his male protagonists where he came across as a very contrived sex pest at points where he's desperate just to get with Penelope, a lot of this is written as thoughts as well, and whilst I can accept he would love Penelope but still loves Melanie and wants to stay with her, his thoughts really contradict him as a character at points and actually make him unlikeable. Despite this, however, there are consequences for his actions, that he actually has to make amends for.
Overall: It's a very solid novel with a shocker of an ending that changes how you look back on the story and the events that unfolded. If Bodie had been written a little better in this, I would probably rate this novel slightly higher. But despite all that, it was a rollercoaster of a read with plenty of tense moments and honestly a nice breather from Laymon's more intense novels. 8/10
Melanie Conway is a lonely but troubled violinist who is able to see premonitions or witness deaths or fatal accidents of her fellow family members, when she sees her father get hit by a car, she and her boyfriend, Bodie go back to the big city to find out what has happened. However, her sister Penelope is getting a series of obscene calls threatening to fuck her. Something very strange is going on, but it's about to get even stranger.
Alarums is a very interesting and different story for a Laymon novel, despite a lot of sexual comments throughout the story, there is only one sex scene and a flashback to one of our characters getting raped, however here it didn't feel forced, where they're actually used in a way to progress the story and also understand our character emotions and motives. It's written like a Laymon novel but it actually feels more like a thriller that Dean Koontz would write, which I found terribly interesting considering how close they were before Laymon died.
The character works while rough in some areas, mainly with Bodie is actually interesting to see unfold. Melanie is a very complicated character, where at times she's presented as a possibly unreliable narrator, especially since her mental state deteriorates throughout the course of this novel, leading to a really cool climax. Penelope was a very likable character who you really feel sorry for considering the complex relationship with her sister, a horribly tragic event that happened in the past, and how events unfold in this story despite some of the tragedy being her fault. Bodie however is a strange one, I kind of liked him but then Laymon had this thing with some of his male protagonists where he came across as a very contrived sex pest at points where he's desperate just to get with Penelope, a lot of this is written as thoughts as well, and whilst I can accept he would love Penelope but still loves Melanie and wants to stay with her, his thoughts really contradict him as a character at points and actually make him unlikeable. Despite this, however, there are consequences for his actions, that he actually has to make amends for.
Overall: It's a very solid novel with a shocker of an ending that changes how you look back on the story and the events that unfolded. If Bodie had been written a little better in this, I would probably rate this novel slightly higher. But despite all that, it was a rollercoaster of a read with plenty of tense moments and honestly a nice breather from Laymon's more intense novels. 8/10
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