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Rabbit Heart
The time of the Hunt is nigh... Fiona Chapman was dead. However, her heart still beat and she breathed oxygen, no longer like the rest of humanity. Fiona was now one of The Furious Host, a race of mythical spirits who, in Archetype Form, rage through the centuries hunting for innocent victims to slake their thirst for blood. However, Fiona's desire is she craves the destruction of the Host themselves. In her Archetype Form she begins her own hunt to put an end to the evil of centuries. Now the evil has descended on the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia in the form of Urhl, one of the bloodiest of killers. Young women are being murdered in the most savage fashion imaginable. With the aid of legendary occult investigator Ascott Keane, Fiona Chapman embarks on a blood-soaked battle to the death with the ultimate serial killer! Barry Reese, author of "The Rook", "Guan-Yin and the Horrors of Skull Island", and "Savage Tales of Ki-Gor, Lord of the Jungle", creates an unforgettably hard hitting, visceral tale of courage and the unending war between Good and Evil. FOR MATURE READERS.
156 pages, Paperback
First published December 14, 2013
4 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Barry Reese
123 books27 followersBarry Reese is one of the leading authors in the modern pulp revival. A former writer for Marvel Comics, Reese is the author of The Rook series and many other novels. His work has appeared in books published by Marvel Comics, West End Games, Wild Cat Books, Moonstone Books and Pulpwork Press. Reese's newest book, RABBIT HEART, was published in February 2010 and features his first foray into the horror genre.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 22, 2011
This is the first book I've read from "New Pulp" writer Barry Reese. It's impressive. Reese is a full-time librarian with a wide range of influences. He's already had countless short stories and other novels (which you can't find at my local Megabookstore, dammit!) published. What intrigued me to purchase this one was a podcast interview he gave where he stressed the personal nature of this book.
Let me make one thing clear: this is not a novel for those with tender sensibilities. Reese isn't the least bit afraid to go for the throat in his descriptions of violence. I was particularly sickened by a graphic account of rape and murder toward the end of Rabbit Heart. In all fairness, I think he wanted the reader to be repulsed by this scene; to feel the utter horror of the taking of an innocent life. If that was the case, he succeeded beyond all intents.
Rabbit Heart begins with the murder of a young couple in a cemetery. Two kids, barely out of high school and pumped up on hormones, decide to party. Unfortunately for them a creature known as a lich, has been recently awakened. The lich, a demonic sex carnivore, makes short work of them before looking for more prey.
The novel moves to Fiona Chapman, a young dark-haired girl whose just been attacked by a maniac at a summer camp. Fiona miraculously survives only to discover she's been reborn as a member of the Furious Host. The Furious Host is an incarnation of the Wild Hunt of legend, demonic creatures who rode through the lands slaughtering any one in their path. The Hunt is led by Edric, who has decided to reincarnate the Host in a battle to the death. Points are scored by how many humans they kill, but bonus points are awarded when one of the Host kills another member of it.
Fiona can shift into her "archetype" form as needed: a small femme fatale clothed in bandages, one eye covered by a patch, and wielding a black machete. After being informed of her destiny by Edric, she rejects him and everything he represents. Instead, she vows to take out the entire Host, starting with the rampaging lich.
The action shifts to the college town of Milledgeville, Georgia, where the sinister lich, who calls himself "Uhrl the Unconquered", is finding plenty of victims. Fiona begins to track him down. She's assisted by Ascott Keane, who claims to be a descendant of an occult investigator from the 1930's. Fiona learns that Uhrl is looking for something in Milledgeville which he must not find....
Reese is good at showing the action from a variety of characters. You may not like being in the head of a horny college student, but he forces you to see the world from those eyes. It's a difficult trick, showing multiple viewpoints, but he neatly pulls it off.
My only criticism with the novel is the countless cultural references with which he loads it. It's bad enough when he wants to show an emotion by quoting "Solitary Man", but comparing a police officer to Denzel Washington? Enough with the cultural short-cuts!
A good book in what I hope will be a new series. Now if I can just find a copy of his Tales of Ki-Gor....
Let me make one thing clear: this is not a novel for those with tender sensibilities. Reese isn't the least bit afraid to go for the throat in his descriptions of violence. I was particularly sickened by a graphic account of rape and murder toward the end of Rabbit Heart. In all fairness, I think he wanted the reader to be repulsed by this scene; to feel the utter horror of the taking of an innocent life. If that was the case, he succeeded beyond all intents.
Rabbit Heart begins with the murder of a young couple in a cemetery. Two kids, barely out of high school and pumped up on hormones, decide to party. Unfortunately for them a creature known as a lich, has been recently awakened. The lich, a demonic sex carnivore, makes short work of them before looking for more prey.
The novel moves to Fiona Chapman, a young dark-haired girl whose just been attacked by a maniac at a summer camp. Fiona miraculously survives only to discover she's been reborn as a member of the Furious Host. The Furious Host is an incarnation of the Wild Hunt of legend, demonic creatures who rode through the lands slaughtering any one in their path. The Hunt is led by Edric, who has decided to reincarnate the Host in a battle to the death. Points are scored by how many humans they kill, but bonus points are awarded when one of the Host kills another member of it.
Fiona can shift into her "archetype" form as needed: a small femme fatale clothed in bandages, one eye covered by a patch, and wielding a black machete. After being informed of her destiny by Edric, she rejects him and everything he represents. Instead, she vows to take out the entire Host, starting with the rampaging lich.
The action shifts to the college town of Milledgeville, Georgia, where the sinister lich, who calls himself "Uhrl the Unconquered", is finding plenty of victims. Fiona begins to track him down. She's assisted by Ascott Keane, who claims to be a descendant of an occult investigator from the 1930's. Fiona learns that Uhrl is looking for something in Milledgeville which he must not find....
Reese is good at showing the action from a variety of characters. You may not like being in the head of a horny college student, but he forces you to see the world from those eyes. It's a difficult trick, showing multiple viewpoints, but he neatly pulls it off.
My only criticism with the novel is the countless cultural references with which he loads it. It's bad enough when he wants to show an emotion by quoting "Solitary Man", but comparing a police officer to Denzel Washington? Enough with the cultural short-cuts!
A good book in what I hope will be a new series. Now if I can just find a copy of his Tales of Ki-Gor....
February 13, 2018
I like pulp, and when I heard about modern pulp author Barry Reese, I picked up a few of his books to try out. This is the first one I cracked open because the cover is really neat. Yes, I judged a book by its cover and I paid the price...
So, imagine an alien lands on earth, and you tell him to write a novel based purely on a handful of movies, books, and television shows from the past hundred years that you expose him to. This is likely what he would come up with. In other words, this entire book is nothing more than fan fiction in the extreme.
This is the plot and no, I am not kidding: Jason Voorhees chops a camper in the neck with his machete, which turns her into Buffy the Vampire Slayer/The Bride from Kill Bill/an anime girl. A few years later, she teams up with Ascott Keane (Google him kids!) and detective Denzel Washington to stop a cannibalistic rapist serial killer that used to be Dexter/Hannibal Lecter in various past lives. Oh, and if you don't know who Ascott Keane is don't worry. Everyone in the town this story takes place in knows who this pretty obscure character is and they are all big fans just like Barry Reese likely is. Neat!
yeah....
Did I mention the pop culture references? We get to watch people watch Phineas and Ferb and Dr. Phil, mention various anime shows and roleplaying games, and hear how much Gaiman's Sandman and Moorcock's Elric Saga rocks! We even get some Elric quotes. Double neato!
Reese also has this habit of trying to flesh out every single minor character in the book. He will introduce us to a character, tell us about that character's past and their current dreams or goals, and then kill them in the same chapter and never really mention them again. Barry, if a character is just going to be serial killer cannon-fodder, we don't care about their extended history and ambitions.
I might be able to forgive all of this but for the music. In almost every chapter the author is telling us what song is playing in the background and is likely to quote several lines from it. If a character is at a diner there will be a jukebox playing music. If they are at a party we will be told about every song that is played. Everyone's cell phone has a ringtone that is a popular song (and we will be told about it). If a character is out in the middle of nowhere and no one is calling them, then they will be listening to various songs on their ipod. It was distracting and very annoying.
I will likely give other Barry Reese books a try but not for a while at least. I need to wash the taste of this one out of my mouth first.
So, imagine an alien lands on earth, and you tell him to write a novel based purely on a handful of movies, books, and television shows from the past hundred years that you expose him to. This is likely what he would come up with. In other words, this entire book is nothing more than fan fiction in the extreme.
This is the plot and no, I am not kidding: Jason Voorhees chops a camper in the neck with his machete, which turns her into Buffy the Vampire Slayer/The Bride from Kill Bill/an anime girl. A few years later, she teams up with Ascott Keane (Google him kids!) and detective Denzel Washington to stop a cannibalistic rapist serial killer that used to be Dexter/Hannibal Lecter in various past lives. Oh, and if you don't know who Ascott Keane is don't worry. Everyone in the town this story takes place in knows who this pretty obscure character is and they are all big fans just like Barry Reese likely is. Neat!
yeah....
Did I mention the pop culture references? We get to watch people watch Phineas and Ferb and Dr. Phil, mention various anime shows and roleplaying games, and hear how much Gaiman's Sandman and Moorcock's Elric Saga rocks! We even get some Elric quotes. Double neato!
Reese also has this habit of trying to flesh out every single minor character in the book. He will introduce us to a character, tell us about that character's past and their current dreams or goals, and then kill them in the same chapter and never really mention them again. Barry, if a character is just going to be serial killer cannon-fodder, we don't care about their extended history and ambitions.
I might be able to forgive all of this but for the music. In almost every chapter the author is telling us what song is playing in the background and is likely to quote several lines from it. If a character is at a diner there will be a jukebox playing music. If they are at a party we will be told about every song that is played. Everyone's cell phone has a ringtone that is a popular song (and we will be told about it). If a character is out in the middle of nowhere and no one is calling them, then they will be listening to various songs on their ipod. It was distracting and very annoying.
I will likely give other Barry Reese books a try but not for a while at least. I need to wash the taste of this one out of my mouth first.
February 12, 2018
I have read all of Barry Reese's New Pulp series, including the Peregrine (who will always be the Rook in my heart), Lazarus Gray, and the Gravedigger. I finally got around to Rabbit Heart and I wish I had read it years ago. While it varied greatly from Reese's series work, it still had his excellent writing and his New Pulp sensibilities. I enjoyed the change of pace. Rabbit Heart is more violent and sexy than Reese's series, which he wrote well. I enjoyed the character of Fiona Chapman, an undead killer with a conscience. I liked his use of Ascott Keane, the apparently ageless occult investigator from the days of Pulp. I also liked Reese's use of his hometown of Milledgeville and the local lore he included in the story. Rabbit Heart was action-packed, full of sex and violence, and loaded with great characters and plotting. That is, Rabbit Heart is everything on would want from a New Pulp book. Reese, as usual, hit the mark with another excellent story. Read it, read it, read it!
August 15, 2015
I was familiar with Reese's work on the Rook series, and his storytelling skill is evident here as well. Over the top with detailed descriptions of sex and violence, and frequently the combination of the two, this book was one that I didn't want to put down. While some many of the details of what happens to the seemingly endless stream of victims are fairly disgusting, if you can get past the gore, there's a pretty good story here, populated by some likable protagonists and a thoroughly repugnant antagonist.
I don't know that I can stomach reading this one again, but I think I would be interested in a sequel with these lead characters. Hopefully the body count will be a little lower next time.
I don't know that I can stomach reading this one again, but I think I would be interested in a sequel with these lead characters. Hopefully the body count will be a little lower next time.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews