I haven’t read many horror novels that fully deliver on their promises the way this one did. A kind of perfection! ( )

Shortly after I read Cold Moon Over Babylon by this author I made it a point to seek out his other works. Somehow I missed out on reading Michael McDowell back in the 80s. I am now armed with a small collection of his books and this is the second one I have read. I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it just as much as my first venture.

This story takes place in Pine Cone Alabama where there is not much opportunity for work other than the munitions factory. Jo Howell, who is as mean as the Alabama sun is hot, blames the munitions factory and just about everyone in town for the horrific accident that put her son in a vegetative state. She is consumed with thoughts of revenge, and she will have it, in the form of a cursed amulet that causes whoever possesses it to murder whoever happens to be handy at the time, before they themselves also die in freakishly bizarre accidents the likes of which I would not expect to see anywhere outside of one of those Final Destination movies. I do wish there had been some explanation of where the Amulet derived this power from but that did not really detract from the gory good time I had reading this book. ( )

I had high hopes for this one, but I'm afraid it ended up turning me off from reading anything else the author wrote. The writing itself isn't too bad, but the book's story itself feels loose and messy--more an excuse to offer a reader horrific scenes than anything with structure or a story that I could truly engage with. A number of folks in my horror book group have really enjoyed it, but I really just needed more. The story was played out fast-and-loose, without any real build-up of tension once things got going, and although the gossipy/horrid characters were entertaining and there was a certain wry humor to sometimes be enjoyed, that wasn't nearly enough to make me feel engaged. With the end being just as fast-and-loose as the rest of the book, with some resolution to the characters but none of the explanation I'd hoped for, I can't say that I was all that impressed (or even happy I'd finished). It's also worth noting that although the book is somewhat dated and placed in the Vietnam era, the author's writing of race and constant remarks on weight/fat made for some regularly uncomfortable reading (for me, at least), which would have itself given me second thoughts about reading more of the author's work.

I should note that I read this with a horror book club, and many of the other readers enjoyed it or were, at the least, entertained enough to feel it was an 'okay' read they were happy enough to have stumbled on. It seems the hallmarks (from what I've heard) in McDowell's writing are gossipy, great scene-setting, bad people and over-the-top events, all of which this book delivers on. And aside from a ton of scene-setting that made for a slow beginning, there's nothing wrong with the writing here except for what I'd call some underdeveloped/stereotyped characters and an uncomfortable way of dealing with race and weight both. So, I'm sure McDowell will be worth picking up for some readers...just not this one in the future. ( )

While it started off fairly interesting, The Amulet quickly fell into a repetitive pattern of find amulet, go mad, kill, be killed, drop amulet. This wouldn't have been too bad if it happened just a few times, but it happened 6 or 7, breaking only to check in with Sarah's search. Compounded by the amulet's apparent restrictions of power, the climax of the story is nearly non-sensical, if not entertaining. But on the positive side, the conclusion was well-earned and deeply satisfying. It's strange to see a book that fumbles the buildup and sticks the landing, rather than the other way around, but there you have it. ( )

When this popped up in my recommendations, I remembered the cover. I remember I didn't really like it (can't remember why, though). ( )