Today we talk about Red by Jack Ketchum. It is a Typical Book.

“The old man hears them before he sees them, the three boys coming over the hill, disturbing the peace by the river where he’s fishing. He smells gun oil too, too much oil on a brand-new shotgun. These aren’t hunters, they’re rich kids who don’t care about the river and the fish and the old man.

Or his dog. Red is the name of the old man’s dog, his best friend in the world. And when the boys shoot the dog—for nothing, for simple spite—he sees red, like a mist before his eyes. And before the whole thing is done there’ll be more red. Red for blood…”

I have not watched the film but really wanted to read the book beforehand. While Red is not necessarily a horror novel, neither are most of Ketchum’s stories. He is counted in horror, I believe, for the feeling he gives readers which gives name to our cherished genre – the emotion of being horrified. This book does not let the reader off easy, and while there are no overt ‘horror elements’ the first chapter is a terrifying and maddening scene. There is no one that can stomach that first chapter and then not read on to see it through.
One must.
One owes it to the character, the writer, and themselves. I’ll cover more on this when I talk about Red and the other books I’ve read for the #horrorin24 readathon on Typical Books via YouTube. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this story. The realism plays well and will stick with me.

While the story could be summed up as old-man Avery Ludlow versus the McCormack clan, the characters were really one-note; but aren’t we all? The realism worked with that, however, so I didn’t mind. The dialogue was very true-to-form as well. It was a very small town and I felt transplanted to the place, the fishing creek, the countryside farm at night.

4.5/5 – Books scorer of 91 which is unsurprising considering what an enduring classic this is.

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