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Дебютный роман талантливого американского журналиста, блестящего репортера «Ассошиэйтед Пресс». Впечатляющий триллер, созданный в духе «романов ужасов» Дина Кунца.
После того как в городе появился таинственный бродяга, жители оказываются во власти необъяснимых, зловещих явлений природы и душераздирающих кровавых расправ…
После того как в городе появился таинственный бродяга, жители оказываются во власти необъяснимых, зловещих явлений природы и душераздирающих кровавых расправ…
320 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Jim Brown
3 books21 followersJim Brown http://www.jimbrownbooks.com/ is a critically acclaimed author and an award-winning journalist. His novels have been published in 26 countries and translated into Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, and Bulgarian.
His first two novel’s 24/7 and Black Valley, published by Random House, have been optioned for film.
Jim is also a renowned broadcast journalist. He has worked for NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. He’s broadcast live for CNN and been featured in a BBC documentary.
As a crime reporter, Jim has covered school shootings and serial killers, including the Stocking Strangler and the Atlanta Child Killer, as well as countless other crimes and criminals. As a result, he has been threatened and shot at . . . twice. But he always gets the story.
Jim is a three-time winner of the Associated Press Best Newscast Award.
His first two novel’s 24/7 and Black Valley, published by Random House, have been optioned for film.
Jim is also a renowned broadcast journalist. He has worked for NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. He’s broadcast live for CNN and been featured in a BBC documentary.
As a crime reporter, Jim has covered school shootings and serial killers, including the Stocking Strangler and the Atlanta Child Killer, as well as countless other crimes and criminals. As a result, he has been threatened and shot at . . . twice. But he always gets the story.
Jim is a three-time winner of the Associated Press Best Newscast Award.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 20, 2018
Strange things tend to happen in the small town of Black Valley. Legend has it, Hawkins Hill is haunted. Or something like that. Twenty years ago, an initiation rite results in a teenage boy being willingly buried alive in a coffin by his "friends." Six feet under the Hill, of course. The agreed upon deal is for one hour only, but ... the night doesn't end according to anyone’s plans.
Fast forward two decades. All hell breaks loose. The mayhem appears to be revenge for what took place on Hawkins Hill that long ago night, but maybe that’s just a diversion. Our hero, prize winning physicist, Dean, desperately scrabbles to uncover scientific principles for what seems to be the impossible. He better hurry because lives depend on it.
The first part is pure spooky, shivery, delicious fun. Black Valley reminds me of all those Dean Koontz books I read a long, long time ago. A style I should clearly revisit.
And then it all gets silly and implodes. But I still enjoyed it.
Fast forward two decades. All hell breaks loose. The mayhem appears to be revenge for what took place on Hawkins Hill that long ago night, but maybe that’s just a diversion. Our hero, prize winning physicist, Dean, desperately scrabbles to uncover scientific principles for what seems to be the impossible. He better hurry because lives depend on it.
The first part is pure spooky, shivery, delicious fun. Black Valley reminds me of all those Dean Koontz books I read a long, long time ago. A style I should clearly revisit.
And then it all gets silly and implodes. But I still enjoyed it.
July 25, 2018
Starts with someone being buried alive - I'm hooked! From there it was a fast moving, exciting, scary, spooky story that was hard to put down. The action was great. The description vivid. The characters well drawn. I LOVED the ending.
There's lots of violence in this pacey part scifi, part supernatural, part horror - thriller. I was carried on the journey with my heart pounding.
There's lots of violence in this pacey part scifi, part supernatural, part horror - thriller. I was carried on the journey with my heart pounding.
August 25, 2014
I read this after my other half recommended it. And he was right, it is a great book. I might have given five stars if not for the fact that I figured out what was going on and the rather fractured way it's written. There are lots of very short passages, jumping from character to character, highlighting all the weird shit that's going on which make the novel seem a tad disjointed.
The main plot revolves around five high school friends who buried another kid alive as part of a high school prank. Only, when they went to dig him up, he'd miraculously vanished. Now, twenty odd years later, the kid is back... and he hasn't aged a day. Not only that, but a lot of strange, inexplicable stuff is going on in Black Valley, and it's up to genius scientist Dean to figure it all out. As I said, guessing the ending myself kind of spoiled my enjoyment, but it's still a good read with plenty of action. I'm not sure it all makes perfect sense, but it built up to a nail-biting climax and was much better than Jim Brown's other novel, 24/7.
The main plot revolves around five high school friends who buried another kid alive as part of a high school prank. Only, when they went to dig him up, he'd miraculously vanished. Now, twenty odd years later, the kid is back... and he hasn't aged a day. Not only that, but a lot of strange, inexplicable stuff is going on in Black Valley, and it's up to genius scientist Dean to figure it all out. As I said, guessing the ending myself kind of spoiled my enjoyment, but it's still a good read with plenty of action. I'm not sure it all makes perfect sense, but it built up to a nail-biting climax and was much better than Jim Brown's other novel, 24/7.
June 3, 2008
When the citizens of Black Valley, a remote Oregon town, are terrorized by vicious, sadistic “Whitey” Dobbs, nicknamed for his shock of bone-white hair, five teenagers concoct a shiver-inducing act of revenge.
A fast-paced, suspenseful, and very imaginative thriller. Likeable, realistic characters caught in a twilight zone situation. Highly recommend.
A fast-paced, suspenseful, and very imaginative thriller. Likeable, realistic characters caught in a twilight zone situation. Highly recommend.
July 29, 2011
Smart, fun and scary.
December 16, 2012
this is my favorite book to date.. it has humor, mystery, drama, and murder all in one! definatly would recommend reading this!
July 4, 2019
This book was downright scary and the most exciting part was the beginning. Whitey Dobbs was a nightmare for his friends and burying him alive - with his consent - is only the start of this interesting but sometimes technically challenging novel.
The small town of Black Valley is desperate to have a major company move in and hire the large unemployed pool of residents. The key to this end is Dr Dean Truman, one of the Flash Five little band of teenage boys who find out that things can go terribly wrong. Dean is brilliant and has won a Nobel Prize in science, which is why the tech company wants to move into the area and employ him. The townsfolk are desperate for him to agree, but Dean is reluctant because of the company's record with armaments. However, before Dean can make a decision all hell breaks loose in the town.
I can't give any more information without blowing the plot wide open! I will say that at times I was unable to follow the technical information which made me lose the plot a little. The speed of events during the short space of time covered by the plot is unnerving and frightening.
A good read!
The small town of Black Valley is desperate to have a major company move in and hire the large unemployed pool of residents. The key to this end is Dr Dean Truman, one of the Flash Five little band of teenage boys who find out that things can go terribly wrong. Dean is brilliant and has won a Nobel Prize in science, which is why the tech company wants to move into the area and employ him. The townsfolk are desperate for him to agree, but Dean is reluctant because of the company's record with armaments. However, before Dean can make a decision all hell breaks loose in the town.
I can't give any more information without blowing the plot wide open! I will say that at times I was unable to follow the technical information which made me lose the plot a little. The speed of events during the short space of time covered by the plot is unnerving and frightening.
A good read!
March 4, 2021
The beginning of the story is the most intriguing part of the book. The characters are well written. There's 1 rooted detail that really bugs me, a little over-exaggerated in my opinion, but I had to just go with it for sake of closure. Horror meets mystery meets adventure meets sci-fi. By the time inquisition gave way to explanation, I'd lost interest. I offer 3 stars because it served it's purpose of passing time and I managed to finish the book in about a week.
March 18, 2011
I've been reading some horror that's been on the shelves for a while. I explained in a few other reviews that these belonged to my late wife who passed almost two years ago. I've simply left them on the shelves, even during a move to a smaller place when I had to reduce the number of books I had. But I need to let some more go. Shelves are all double and overloaded and I'm out of room. Still, I like to read or at least try to read books before trading, selling or whatever.
While I'm not excited about this book and I skipped a some of it it still gets a higher rating than the last few I've rated and reviewed. There were times that I had to sigh, maybe it's a function of having read a lot of books that so often you get that "I've been here before" feeling. Still, you don't see this particular "gimmick" (if I may use that word) in a book of the "horror genre".
This might have been called Serial Killer of the Time Lines or The Time Stream Ripper. Whitey Dobbs (named for a shock of white hair of course) is a nasty piece of work and as villains go Whitey has no redeeming qualities...rapist, murder, sadist...he's just not a nice person.
To say much more would probably be considered a spoiler. The book takes off when an act of revenge goes wrong and physics takes a hand rather than metaphysics. It's not a bad book, if you're a horror fan you'll probably enjoy it and this one might reach over the line and appeal to the science fiction fans out there.
We might also call this Time Cop meets From Hell.....with a dash of Stephen Kings IT possibly. Decide for yourself. Not a book I really liked but not one I disliked either.
********************************* Possibly minor Spoiler Below ************************************
About the way things work in the book and the way the problem is.....handled, dealt with:
Did you ever see the end of Time Cop (with Van Damme) or watch Dr. Who and hear of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect? Just wondering.
While I'm not excited about this book and I skipped a some of it it still gets a higher rating than the last few I've rated and reviewed. There were times that I had to sigh, maybe it's a function of having read a lot of books that so often you get that "I've been here before" feeling. Still, you don't see this particular "gimmick" (if I may use that word) in a book of the "horror genre".
This might have been called Serial Killer of the Time Lines or The Time Stream Ripper. Whitey Dobbs (named for a shock of white hair of course) is a nasty piece of work and as villains go Whitey has no redeeming qualities...rapist, murder, sadist...he's just not a nice person.
To say much more would probably be considered a spoiler. The book takes off when an act of revenge goes wrong and physics takes a hand rather than metaphysics. It's not a bad book, if you're a horror fan you'll probably enjoy it and this one might reach over the line and appeal to the science fiction fans out there.
We might also call this Time Cop meets From Hell.....with a dash of Stephen Kings IT possibly. Decide for yourself. Not a book I really liked but not one I disliked either.
********************************* Possibly minor Spoiler Below ************************************
About the way things work in the book and the way the problem is.....handled, dealt with:
Did you ever see the end of Time Cop (with Van Damme) or watch Dr. Who and hear of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect? Just wondering.
August 7, 2023
I'm not a big thriller reader, but this book looked really good, and it was...until about 3/4 the way through. At that point, it goes from scary to weird. I was very disappointed with the ending of this book. It did not keep up with the flow of the whole beginning of the novel. Aside from the end...it was a great page-turner. An ok quick read.
October 12, 2016
Hm... A bit torn about this one.....in some ways it was a good story and the bady got caught. But to me it felt like the author was trying to put too much in and in the end I lost the fun because it was just too much fantasy. It's like he could not make up his mind if he wanted to write a crime novel or a science fiction story.
March 27, 2008
3-stars LIKED IT.
Horror-serial killer-revenge- science
Book moved right along, I love a good mystery and the major one here was.....what is going on?
We have a known serial killer, but the problem is, how can it be him?
Horror-serial killer-revenge- science
Book moved right along, I love a good mystery and the major one here was.....what is going on?
We have a known serial killer, but the problem is, how can it be him?
Read
February 8, 2008Brown, Jim
October 24, 2010
Well written but as a lover of sci fi, fantasy, and horror, I found this novel to be a failed hybrid. Cheezy (yes, with a "z").
December 11, 2010
very silly kinda fun Twin Peaks meets Back to the Future dilluted with Stand By Me
March 2, 2013
Eh.... I liked the first half...by the time I lost interest I was too far in not to finish.
January 17, 2015
it was good
April 23, 2023
Entertaining book but ending felt forced, rushed, and had some elements that were very over the top
January 30, 2014
Far more enjoyable than it should have been
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews