Fear is a 1988 horror novel written by R. Patrick Gates (Grimm Memorials), published by Onyx.  The story follows the small town of Quarry, Massachusetts who’s residents become possessed by a malevolent force that turns them into killers.

Positives:

• Good characters
• Interesting story
• Good writing

Negatives:

• Lackluster characters
• Spotty writing

Plot:  Set in the small town of Quarry, Massachusetts the story mainly follows a psychic boy named Denny and a widower named Pat.  The two begin witnessing that their family, friends, neighbors, and other residents of Quarry begin succumbing to a sickness that is quickly spreading.  A sickness that causes its victims to become killers among other things.  The story is pretty gripping from the go.  A young boy named Denny is dealing with a drunken, abusive mother.  Things start to pick up when the residents begin experiencing the fear and paranoia after an eclipse.  The story is pretty slow paced, shifting between the perspective of several characters, both main and supporting.  The beginning and ending is interesting, but a little confusing. (3 out of 5)

Characters:  The main characters are an abused young boy named Denny Sayer, who has psychic abilities, a former English teacher named Pat Knight, and teenagers, Rick Morten, Doug Haney and Shelly Haney. Denny comes from an extremely broken home with his abusive mother and it’s easy to identify with him.  Pat is a former resident of Quarry, who’s recently returned from New York after the death of her husband Tim.  She’s vulnerable but likable.  Rick, unfortunately happens to be the first person, afflicted with this supernatural virus (or whatever the hell it is).  What seems like a good, understandable character begins boiling down to what is commonly known as a douchebag.  There are some characters that I would’ve liked to have seen better utilized such as Denny’s mother Louise who I’d hoped would have a developing arc, as well as the character Jennifer, who I’d hoped would’ve had a bigger role. (3 out of 5)

Writing:  Thumbs up to R. Patrick Gates for a good premise and the various character perspectives that didn’t feel chaotic.  Characters can be going about their normal day when they struck with it, then it all disappears leaving them shaken foreshadowing their “infection”. Like really powerful hallucinations coupled with mass hysteria. A great tactic for building and maintaining suspense that just keeps building and building and the language can get quite graphic. I can’t say that the book was well written because there were times I noticed that instead of showing me how events unfolded or how characters reacted I was being told.  An example is “he grabbed the knob” then “he opened the door” and then “he closed the door” instead of it being just one take such as “grabbing the knob he opened the door, before closing it behind him”.  If this was a movie, it would be a poorly edited one. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Fear is an interesting and entertaining read, although not a perfectly written one.  Despite many problems with the writing and the lacking developing arcs for some of the characters, the book is a solid read. It does feature some memorable characters, an interesting story, good level of detail, and is an entertaining read.  Fear gets 3 out of 5.