What do you think?
Rate this book
Wizrd
HELLDORADO!
A small community in northern Arizona was once the richest boomtown in the West. But, during one horrendous night, it died...and for a hundred years it has been nearly empty. A ghost town waiting to live again.
Now that's about to happen...
Fourteen-year-old Bryce Willems, whose family has just arrived from New York, is beginning to appreciate the unfamiliar charms of his new home. But gradually it becomes apparent that something about the town is very strange.
As he and stepsister Megan discover the terrible secret of the nearby Wizard mine, they are caught up in a clash of ancient, vengeful powers that cannot rest until a deadly wheel of destiny is set in motion once again.
A small community in northern Arizona was once the richest boomtown in the West. But, during one horrendous night, it died...and for a hundred years it has been nearly empty. A ghost town waiting to live again.
Now that's about to happen...
Fourteen-year-old Bryce Willems, whose family has just arrived from New York, is beginning to appreciate the unfamiliar charms of his new home. But gradually it becomes apparent that something about the town is very strange.
As he and stepsister Megan discover the terrible secret of the nearby Wizard mine, they are caught up in a clash of ancient, vengeful powers that cannot rest until a deadly wheel of destiny is set in motion once again.
440 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 1994
1 person is currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Steve Zell
7 books53 followersA kid who spent many days exploring abandoned hotels and stores in then ghost town, Jerome, Arizona, Steve Zell always loved to tell stories, draw scary pictures, and sing. Later, he became an animator and digital animation tools instructor for the LA area animation and FX studios and, as a singer, became the "Voice of Doom" for Baywatch. Steve was the first interdisciplinary studies graduate from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he studied studio art, vocal production, drama, journalism, and chemistry. He was an early member of the Tucson Invisible Theatre Company, and the cartoonist for The Tombstone Epitaph, a town he later combined with Jerome, Arizona, and with Bodi, California, to create the setting, Pinon Rim, for his first novel, WiZrD. His family's frequent summer trips to his grandmother's home in Del Mar, California in the 60s, provided the setting for Running Cold.
A UA "Wildcat for life" and former desert rat, he now lives with his wife and daughter in the slightly more liquid climate of Portland, Oregon, where he began the partnership between Intel and Dreamworks|SKG, as well as the Intel Audio Alliance whose members included Billy Bob Thornton, Graham Nash, George Massenburg, Michael Boddicker, Nathaniel Kunkel, Allen Sides, Rory Kaplan and other audio pros. He participates in community theater, spends way too much time on the computer - and...is always on the lookout for a cool ghost town...
A UA "Wildcat for life" and former desert rat, he now lives with his wife and daughter in the slightly more liquid climate of Portland, Oregon, where he began the partnership between Intel and Dreamworks|SKG, as well as the Intel Audio Alliance whose members included Billy Bob Thornton, Graham Nash, George Massenburg, Michael Boddicker, Nathaniel Kunkel, Allen Sides, Rory Kaplan and other audio pros. He participates in community theater, spends way too much time on the computer - and...is always on the lookout for a cool ghost town...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 19, 2019
Blending Anasazi mystery, Navajo legend, and Stephen-King-style horror, WiZrD by Steven Zell is a terrifying teen adventure, with horror always just beneath the surface of a very convincing reality. In the hardback version, the protagonist is just coming of age, confusion over his changing body forming a background to the trials of a rapidly changing world... because he's just moved from the big city, and the town he ends up in is neither young nor old—it looks like a place just coming to life, but it hides a scary cycle of terror and death.
The novel moves smoothly between different points of view, creating sympathy for characters before it starts to change them, leaving the reader always trying to guess who or what might survive. It’s a tale of generous friendships, hidden histories, and shifting allegiances. A father’s love of art, a mother’s love of others, a boy’s need for love and a sister’s need for her brother… the perfectly imperfect family becomes real and relatable. Then the world, step by step, river by cave by graveyard, falls apart.
WiZrD starts with a bang, slows down, speeds up, then sprints to a haunting conclusion, leaving the reader breathless. It’s a powerfully scary tale and I’d love to read more by this author.
Disclosure: I met the author and borrowed the book, but now I need to buy my own copy.
The novel moves smoothly between different points of view, creating sympathy for characters before it starts to change them, leaving the reader always trying to guess who or what might survive. It’s a tale of generous friendships, hidden histories, and shifting allegiances. A father’s love of art, a mother’s love of others, a boy’s need for love and a sister’s need for her brother… the perfectly imperfect family becomes real and relatable. Then the world, step by step, river by cave by graveyard, falls apart.
WiZrD starts with a bang, slows down, speeds up, then sprints to a haunting conclusion, leaving the reader breathless. It’s a powerfully scary tale and I’d love to read more by this author.
Disclosure: I met the author and borrowed the book, but now I need to buy my own copy.
July 7, 2012
Let me put it to you this way. I read this book years ago. Literally years. At least over six. Since I had been trying to find it. At one point, I saw it being sold on ebay for ninety-nine dollars. I ended up getting it back for free on paperbackswap and am currently rereading it. This is a very good book.
November 19, 2015
"You understand me Wendell? This is serious. You take your medication - you don't drive. You drink - you don't drive. And if your dog talks - you definitely don't drive."
Bought this YEARS ago but never got round to reading it for ages.
Loved the Haunted House, would love to recreate the Polka Dot room. The ending's a bit grim but still really enjoyed it, including talking about British Bulldog :).
Was donated to sunderland PDSA shop.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2013
Great book - I started it on Friday afternoon and was finished by Saturday. It was a real page turner; I couldn't put it down! A very engaging read that had me guessing until the very end. This can be placed in your bookshelf next to the best Stephen King novels!
March 11, 2010
I picked this up years ago but reread it recently. All I have to say is I wish i could find more from this author - great read
December 15, 2013
I was so scared I almost peed my pants. More than once! Zell is an excellent writer, it was like reading an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Such intensity!!
March 5, 2023
I read this book after promising the author 30 years ago that I would do so. Hey, we didn't set a time limit. :) Anyway, yes I am acquainted with Steve Zell. We went to high school together. Ah, yes, the book. This book has several features. It is a combination of mystery, drama, horror, suspense, fantasy, and there are points of view of children in some of its narration. The story is located in a remote part of Northern Arizona, in a small town. The town history is mysterious. It also can get very cold and snowy there. That's right, there are cold areas in Arizona. It becomes apparent that there is evil about in the town very early in the book. Like Stephen King's The Shining, and Dr. Sleep, this puts children in harms way which for me is terrifying. Except in this story, the action is so fast, and the apparent reasoning of the children doesn't always seem innocent, so it doesn't give me the same feel as Dr. Sleep did. Another comparison to King is that Zell has quite a few different plots going at once that keep the reader off balance and never feeling safe enough to rest in the story. As the story progresses, the pace gets faster and faster. The evil in the town leaves you feeling like you don't know who the "good guys" are because it affects the other characters, and again, the reader can't really rest assured at any time. The story is carried from event to event with the narration coming from different characters. The narrator switch is always graceful and easy to accept. Sometimes the narration changes from one to another of characters who are in the same location and describe the same event from different points of view. This is an interesting technique which I think for its time was at least somewhat new, if not an innovation. It is a quick read. I don't generally seek out fantasy but I find myself reading it by chance and I don't have a problem with it. I could say the same thing about science fiction for myself. But I enjoyed this book all the way through. I liked it's fresh ideas and point of view. I think I can say this without spoiling it for future readers, the climax of the tale happens in extremely cold and snowy weather which affects the characters and their ability to survive. This part of the book is about the last 50 or 75 pages I would say, and reads very fast. I would be comfortable recommending this to anyone who likes horror and action, suspense, and was ok with the protagonist being a coming of age boy struggling with his age, and his parents being divorced. Thank you.
August 17, 2023
Review to come.
August 3, 2007
Bit of a horror story placed in the Southwest. Every so often a town booms then busts, in a big way, with a bunch of deaths and a lot of destruction. An evil force comes back to strength and gives people what they most desire, which then leads to their own (self) destruction.
September 15, 2019
I was drawn into this novel because I liked the main character, 13-year old Bryce Willems, and his family--stepmom, younger sister Meg, and his dad, an artist seeking inspiration. The merged family have just moved to a high-desert Arizona former ghost town, now beginning to re-boom. Main reason for the family's move seems driven by the dad Trevor's artistic need to revive his productivity.
When Bryce finds a dead Native American child in a creek, his childish aims turn to the serious and more bizarre. Other puzzles about people and incidents in the town of Pinon Rim lead Bryce to seek out the town's history and Navajo legends, even going back to Anasazi pre-history. The story then takes a turn into magic realism.
Sheriff Tom Gordon is also seeking to solve the case of the drowned child, but Bryce is several steps ahead of him, aided by Navajo buddy, Cody Muledeer.
There are too many named characters and too many incidents tangential to the plot, making the story sometimes difficult to follow. New characters and plot threads are added even halfway through the novel, where one might expect some resolution to begin. But mysteries, some non-sequitur continue. (For instance, what is with the avalanche of stampeding squirrels raging across the roof of the Willems's house?)
The author describes some action scenes in vivid detail, but lacking clarity for the reader. Sometimes the scene shifts without transitional phrases. Mystery? Suspense? But the reader needs to ascertain the nature of the mystery. A theme throughout is the boom and bust cycle of the town, so destruction in the midst of revival is not unexpected.
Close to the end, the story veers yet into another genre: horror! Instead of a revelatory conclusion, there is a nightmare of underground cadavers and a surreal bloodbath in the town. Who survives, revives, and actually dies? And who or what has caused the fate of the town of Pinon Rim?
A fascinating footnote to all of this construction/destruction is the prophetic and historic artwork produced by Bryce's father.
When Bryce finds a dead Native American child in a creek, his childish aims turn to the serious and more bizarre. Other puzzles about people and incidents in the town of Pinon Rim lead Bryce to seek out the town's history and Navajo legends, even going back to Anasazi pre-history. The story then takes a turn into magic realism.
Sheriff Tom Gordon is also seeking to solve the case of the drowned child, but Bryce is several steps ahead of him, aided by Navajo buddy, Cody Muledeer.
There are too many named characters and too many incidents tangential to the plot, making the story sometimes difficult to follow. New characters and plot threads are added even halfway through the novel, where one might expect some resolution to begin. But mysteries, some non-sequitur continue. (For instance, what is with the avalanche of stampeding squirrels raging across the roof of the Willems's house?)
The author describes some action scenes in vivid detail, but lacking clarity for the reader. Sometimes the scene shifts without transitional phrases. Mystery? Suspense? But the reader needs to ascertain the nature of the mystery. A theme throughout is the boom and bust cycle of the town, so destruction in the midst of revival is not unexpected.
Close to the end, the story veers yet into another genre: horror! Instead of a revelatory conclusion, there is a nightmare of underground cadavers and a surreal bloodbath in the town. Who survives, revives, and actually dies? And who or what has caused the fate of the town of Pinon Rim?
A fascinating footnote to all of this construction/destruction is the prophetic and historic artwork produced by Bryce's father.
October 15, 2017
"A ghost town waiting to live again" sounds interesting, though it's not quite what I expected.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2019
Starts off with a young adult vibe and ends in bone chilling horror. Well played, Mr. Zell.
May 13, 2015
In a word, frightening. I mean toes tucked under the blanket, the night light stays on a while, and don't investigate that rattle at the window frightening.
I read this several years ago while snowed in at a hotel in a corner of the Appalachian foothills, a bad winter. A GREAT read. It offers horror in a way that stings you to bone and then never really lets up until the final pages. The investment in the characters, the familiarity of the setting, the horror that haunts like few before or sense.
Memorable and amazing.
I read this several years ago while snowed in at a hotel in a corner of the Appalachian foothills, a bad winter. A GREAT read. It offers horror in a way that stings you to bone and then never really lets up until the final pages. The investment in the characters, the familiarity of the setting, the horror that haunts like few before or sense.
Memorable and amazing.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews