Peaceable Kingdom
by Jack Ketchum
List Price:
Our Price: $1.98
You Save: $6.01 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.44 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jack KetchumEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-08
ISBN: 0843952164
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Leisure Books
Book Reviews of Peaceable Kingdom
Book Review: Ohh, where is my copy of Skeleton Crew?
Summary: 2 Stars
Well, this guy I have been hearing for several months among the on-line King fandom groups I am a member to, and me thinks that he is worth to check out---I go through his backcatalogue, seeing that aside from the Girl Next Door, almost identified with his name, there are a few more pieces which are highly praised...then me sees a story collection and thinking that short stories will be a good starting point for a new author to prevent any disappointment which rather cloaks on you with doorstoppers- so me orders it from Amazon UK, gets the book and starts to read it- then asks what the hell is happening?
Yes, me agrees Ketchum's writing is good- he is close to Stephen King and Peter Straub (you like his characteris- as is always in King books, characters have a life outside the pages of the stories) yes his prose is flowing (thank God there is another author better than the syrupy Dean Koontz in horror/ thriller segment)but what is lacking is substance- I know short story is a format of short tales, as its name suggests but should they be this short? Should every theme be a a story? take the story of father and son: The purpose? The excitement factor? The guessing factor? The building factor? No, no ,no It is as if Jack Ketchum, while jumping between house tasks, sat down on his way from kitchen to dining hall to bathroom and wrote a story each time. There are so many stories that it seems like a heaven at the first glance but you can easily cut three-fourth of them because they are...too pointless for the sake of heaven.
some of the stories -Rifle,the Visitor and Megan's Low and Snakes- are true chillers and effective stories -another very good one one wtihout a chilling factor is the one that involves squirrel hunting but I cannot remember its name- It is as if the longer the story gets, the more effective Ketchum is- and then of course there is the Closing Time the longest story -almost a novella (taking intou account the length of stories in the book) but it is one of the most pointless things I have ever read in my life. And I cannot help but think that if I was to write more than 30 stories I think at least three or four of them would be effective- just like in case of Jack Ketchum
If it is not for Ketchum's prose, I would completely disregard him but it appears that his novels should be more effective. Skeleton Crew was the first book I laid my hands and devoured from Stephen King and it turned me into a semi-rabid fan- Night Shift was even better...But this is fully contrary in Ketchum's case: I am sorry to say that Ketchum loses me in his short form and his first impression on me is that he is not as creative as I think- just like Dean Koontz, he puts onto paper whatever comes to his mind- but thank God his prose saves him to the nnnth degree where Koontz cannot hold a candle in this respect (and thank God Ketchum, like King, equally treats animas, you do not feel there are only smart cute golden retrievers around the globe)
Skeleton Crew made a score for King, making me a constant reader, but Ketchum should try once more (or several more times)
As usual my top three modern horror masters remain the same:
1. Stephen King
2. Peter Straub
3. Clive Barker
But the fourth place changes: Ketchum effectively pushes Dan Simmons and Robert McCommon one rank below:
4. Jack Ketchum
5. Dan Simmons
6. Robert McCommon
Summary of Peaceable Kingdom
This landmark collection gathers more than thirty of Jack Ketchum's most thrilling stories. "Gone" and "The Box" were honored with the prestigious Bram Stoker Award. Whether you are already familiar with Ketchum's unique brand of suspense or are experiencing it for the first time, here is a book no aficionado of fear can do without.Horror Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Horror Books
Let the Right One In: A Novelby John Ajvide Lindqvist
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Textby Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1982-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops:
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Oxford Bookworms S, Stage 4)by Robert Louis Stevenson
Oxford Univ Pr (Sd); Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (Oxford Books of Prose)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2001-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)by Stephen King
Penguin Audio; Published: 2003-08-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $149.99
![Thinner [UNABRIDGED] Image](/images/Thinner-UNABRIDGED-0140862668-X.jpg){kind=small}
Thinner [UNABRIDGED]by Stephen King
Penguin Audio; Published: 1996-09-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Crow: Temple of Nightby S P. Somtow
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 1999-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Brains: A Zombie Memoirby Robin Becker
Eos; Published: 2010-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.23
Price in other shops:
The Strain LP: Book One of The Strain Trilogyby Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan
HarperLuxe; Published: 2009-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops:
Prince of Darknessby Barbara Michaels
HarperTorch; Published: 2005-04-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Triageby Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon, Edward Lee
Leisure Books; Published: 2008-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Right to Life: And 2 New Storiesby Jack Ketcham
Gauntlet Press; Published: 2002-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.19
Price in other shops:
Redby Jack Ketchum
Leisure Books; Published: 2002-08; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Coverby Jack Ketchum
Leisure Books; Published: 2009-06; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Joyrideby Jack Ketchum
Leisure Books; Published: 2010-06; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.59
Hide and Seekby Jack Ketchum
Gauntlet Pr; Published: 2007-11-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
She Wakesby Jack Ketchum
Leisure Books; Published: 2004-09; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.31
Price in other shops:
The Lostby Jack Ketchum
Leisure Books; Published: 2008-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
The Womanby Jack Ketchum, Lucky McKee
DP; Published: 2011-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.00
Off Seasonby Jack Ketchum
Leisure Books; Published: 2006-06; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: