Rate this book

Creatures Of The Pool (2010)

by Ramsey Campbell(Favorite Author)

2.96 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0843963840 (ISBN13: 9780843963847)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Leisure Books

review 1: This was by far the soggiest book I've ever read. Rain soaked man wandering through a waterlogged Liverpool in search of his father who may have stumbled upon some hidden secrets of the city's past. The wetness was thorough and palpable that possibly, if pressed together sufficiently tight, the pages would actually emit moisture. Alas, that was the most notable achievement of the book, with a capable historical guide to Liverpool being a close second. But as a reading experience, it never really managed to exceed average. And I've been trying to like the prolific and very well regarded Ramsey Campbell's work, but I can't seem to get beyond mere appreciation. Yes, he is a very capable writer, he's erudite, informative, imaginative, but, despite all that, thoroughly unengagi... moreng. He seems to spend so much time on atmosphere and descriptions, that character development and likability never get the time of day. As a result his books, while technically well done, remain uninvolving and quite often boring, the latter not merely due to the consistently lethargic pace. This might have actually been a pretty dynamic read for Campbell and at mere 354 pages on a smaller side. Still nearly put me to sleep a couple of times. Neat idea (and a fascinating tour of Liverpool) with a somewhat lackluster execution.
review 2: I found Creatures of the Pool to be one of Ramsey Campbell's more disappointing efforts. The story starts full of promise, with a strong sense that the hidden and forgotten history of Liverpool is going to drive a strong and unique horror narrative. No such luck. The story goes at a snail's pace, and the endless puns and references to water/fish/frogs et al just gets annoying. Worse, the horror is just of the "I thought I glimpsed a horrible wetly glistening creature out of the corner of my eye, but it was only a coat on the back of a door" school of non-terror. Again and again Ramsey drops in a interesting historical fact for the sake of building the atmosphere, which works well, but then never uses them to drive the narrative onwards. I found it a chore to read to the conclusion, one so predictable that I almost wished I had abandoned the book earlier, and one that relies heavily on random circumstance rather than an unfolding mystery. Not recommended. Read Campbell's earlier short stories instead, where his sense of menace is punchy, direct and imaginative. less

Download links for: Creatures of the Pool

Advertising