Absolute Horror Book Forum

Famine by Graham Masterton.

Though not a horror story - more of an ecological disaster thriller, I'm still including it here for a couple of reasons. It's written by a master of the horror genre and the story is a really frightening one for its believability.

Having read a few other Masterton books I always believed he was American - colour me surprised to find out he was an Scottsman man who lived in a Gothic mansion in Ireland and wrote about America and Americans. As like the other novels, this one speaks of America and its people, politicians and farmers. It tells the story of an America who suffers the worst cereal blight it's ever known, and the spin politicians put on it so they eek out millions from a fund set up to help the troubled farms for the next season. The politicians even hold back the extent of the blight and the fact that it isn't just contained within the cornfields of Texas but has started to appear on fruit and vegetables in California.

One crop farmer Ed Hardesty who has troubles of his own to contend with, let alone losing his crop. Gets embroiled in the entire situation and is himself part of the catalyst to America's future.

As the story unfolds, there is never a chapter in the book where there is no action at all. From the breakdown of Ed's family, to the sexual political plays of power, to the maddened hordes of starving people to cannibalism. This book has a whole lot going on, and the scary thing is that through Masterton's telling is has a all to real feel to it. From the beginning you're thinking what if?

This is a real roller-coaster of a book and I would recommend it to all out there.

For aspiring writers out there it may be of interest that Masterton uses a lot of dialogue in the book. Usually this is where some fall down as trying to get people to sound realistic is a difficult thing to do. However, for this story is works, if you're having trouble writing conversations then take a look at this book, just to see how it should be done - Not only will you enjoy the story, but you may also get something out of it too.

8/10

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PENNYWISE Stephen



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