Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have been reading an awful lot of these types of books lately. I've taken a couple of trips to the underworld, witnessed time travel, seen vampires chew up their victims, read about diseases that threaten the entire world, and visited the twisted worlds of serial killers. Ah, the life of the mass-market paperback reader! Usually, that life leaves a lot to be desired. Oftentimes, character development is minimal, the prose is turgid, or the plot is left loose ends flapping in the breeze. Not so with Robert McCammon. McCammon knows how to write a story with fascinating and well-developed characters, with an atmosphere that is both chilling and spooky. He also knows how to deliver a plot that is tied up in a neat little ball, to be neatly placed on your lap at the end of the book.
"Stinger" is just such a novel. It is the story of a little Texas town named Inferno. Inferno is dying, slowly and painfully. Since the mine closed down, there is little work and a lot of rusting dreams. The people that are left behind to witness Inferno's gasping death are a hardy lot. They need to be tough, because something terrible is about to happen that will change the people of Inferno forever. Early one morning, a spacecraft of unknown origin crashes outside town, quickly followed by another spaceship that lands outside Bordertown, where Inferno's Mexican citizens live. What follows is a roller coaster ride of sheer terror, as the occupants of the two spaceships aren't exactly friendly with one another. By the end of the book, dozens of people have died in extremely unpleasant ways.
At the center of the story is Daufin, a friendly alien running from an intergalactic bounty hunter called Stinger. Stinger has a lot of unusual tricks up his sleeve, leaving Daufin no choice but to drag the local inhabitants into the fray. There is the Hammond family, Colonel Rhodes, an air force investigator, Sheriff Ed Vance, Cody and Curt Lockett, Sarge Dennison, Rick Jurado, and other characters. The Hammond's are important due to their direct contact with Daufin. Lockett and Jurado are the leaders of two warring street gangs, the Renegades and Rattlers. These characters are astonishingly well developed for a horror novel. I was about half way through the book before I realized that McCammon loves his characters, and treats them accordingly. Some of the subplot stories are extremely heart wrenching. I know it is a clich
