Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I gave this book one star only because zero stars was not an option. I'm not a squeamish person. I'm a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran, so perhaps I've see too much ACTUAL violence and cruelty. And that could be why I couldn't get through this book. It sickened me. I like horror as much as the next man. I love Steven King; but although King enjoys being shocking and frightening, I don't think he goes out of his way to be nauseating, or to inflict nightmares upon his readers. His books are infused with an optimistic humanism. I think he's basically a nice guy. I wonder about Scott Hawkins. I gave up after the scene in which one of the characters is slowly roasted in a hollow bronze statue, a process described in meticulous detail over the course of almost three pages. I thought, this is the worst form of pornography; cruelty porn. If you live in a world devoid of any actual nastiness, then you may enjoy this book, for the same reason that teenage male virgins enjoy online porn. To them it's nothing but entertaining fantasy. But if you're somebody who's actually had a life that's included some dark times, then I recommend you not pick up this book. It lingers in my mind like the stench of cat urine in an old rug.