Face

by Tim Lebbon

Book Overview

A family picks up a hitchhiker in the worst blizzard in living memory. It's a mistake.

Brand is not who he seems, to the mother, the father or the daughter. He is something more, something they fear in their own ways, and soon after the thaw they are all seeing him again. They begin to learn things about themselves, and each other, which perhaps would be best left unknown. And they begin to realise other, more painful truths ... love blinds...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1892389193
• ISBN13: 9781892389190
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Night Shade Books
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Wondelful horror book, but don't read it in a night

FACE is not a book to consume in one evening. The intensity of evil here portrayed can be overpowering; the reader may need to decompress every few chapters to keep his/her heart beating regularly. The menace pursuing this unfortunate family is truly haunting as it unfolds page by page. Their lives are forever changed after picking up a hitchhiker in a snowstorm and they live to regret their Good Samaritan act. At least they survive; others around them are not so lucky. A human foe can be predictable to a degree; this enemy continues to surprise and shock as suspense builds. Its victims can find no firm ground, no safe place to stand against its threat as it tortures them mentally and physically. And Lebbon draws the reader into this nightmare to experience the horror with his characters. Indeed, the reader can find no safe place. Lebbon taps into our universal fear of the unknown, the unseen, keeping this reader looking over her shoulder to catch that slight movement of shadow glimpsed from the corner of her eye. FACE plumbs depths of hidden darkness inside us all. Perhaps the greatest evil lies within our own imagination.

No good deed goes unpunished...(mellion108 from Michigan)

Dan, Megan, and Nikki Powell are returning home from holiday in a horrible blizzard when they spot a lone figure in the blinding snow. Dan stops to pick up the stranger in hopes of lending a helping hand. However, as soon as Brand--a name that becomes more symbolic as the novel progresses--enters the car, all three Powells feel his power in different ways, especially once Brand starts asking them for "a moment of your time." Dan soon stops the car and forces the man out.Of course, this is the world of horror, so Brand doesn't simply go away. He begins to haunt each family member, preying on his or her darkest fears and self doubts. Megan begins to lose her mind. Dan sees Brand as symbolizing the very thing that threatens his abilities as family protector and as a man. Nikki? Well, teenage Nikki gets in touch with her inner nymph.This was my first Lebbon novel, and I've already purchased a few more. His writing is wonderful, and he manages to present some very descriptive images. My major complaint with this mass market paperback is that Leisure did not take enough time to edit it well. There are numerous (stress on numerous) typographical and grammatical errors. While I can overlook the occasional error, the number of errors in this book was very distracting. I found myself being pulled right out of the story. I don't know if the hardcover edition is better. Regardless, this is a good story by a very promising writer.

When bad things happen to good people

During a blinding snowstorm, a family of three stops to pick up a hitchhiker called Brand. Then he asks them for another favor, one which they can't deliver. Discomfited by his conversation, they eject him from the car. But they haven't seen the last of Brand, nor will he leave their minds. Each becomes obsessed with him in his or her own way. Dan becomes preoccupied with thoughts of protecting his family, haunted by an attack on his wife years ago, and is driven to acts of violence of which he never thought himself capable. Megan, a religious woman, thinks of Brand as a devil who watches her through the eyes of wild creatures. And daughter Nikki finds herself attracted to him even as he terrifies her.Lebbon's masterful handling of family dynamics and his understanding of the things which threaten them puts him in league with Steve and Melanie Tem, the premier writers of familial horror. The story relies more on psychological terror and suspense, and when it does escalate into violence, it isn't gratuitous - which isn't to say it's not intense. My one small disappointment came from the unanswered questions at the end, where we're only given hints of the larger picture. I think I would have liked to know just a little bit more. Still, better to err on the side of mystery.

Why us?

In comparative religion there is a concept joking referred to as the "theodicy trilemma," meaning an irreconcilable triangle of three ideas which all seem true: (a) that there is a supreme being or force, (b) that it is essentially benevolant and (c) the fact that we suffer and die. Religion, philosophy all attempt to grapple with these points in various ways. British genius Tim Lebbon takes his shot here. This is an even more interesting work than his "The Nature of Balance," which is saying something. Yes, it owes a bit to the John D. MacDonald classic generally known as "Cape Fear," but it takes off on its own in no time. I love the whole spectrum of horror, from Harry Shannon's powerful 'pulp fiction' entry "Night of the Beast" to the literate sensibilities of Doug Clegg and "Hour Before Dark." Tim Lebbon falls in the middle, leaning toward the more literate, Ramsey Campbell school. He is a gifted man and I am really looking forward to more mass-market editions of his stuff, ... . Oh, and Lebbons answer to 'why us'? "Why NOT you. Bad things happen."

A supernatural Cape Fear!

Driving home through a fierce blizzard, Dan and Megan, accompanied by their teenage daughter Nikki, spot a man standing in the middle of a dark country road, seemingly having materialized out of nowhere. Offering him a ride, the family quickly comes to regret their act of generosity -- Brand, as the man calls himself, unnerves them all with his strange demeanor and stranger mutterings. When the high strung Megan can't stand it any longer, they literally eject him from their car. Shaken, they resume their trip, leaving Brand to fend for himself on the nearly deserted stretch of road.In the days that follow, Brand infiltrates their minds andlives, seeming to shadow their every move. Megan becomes convinced that Brand is spying on her through the eyes of insects and animals, Dan has an altercation with him in a local tavern, and Nikki spots him haunting a music studio where she and her band are making a recording. At first a minor irritation, Brand slowly ups the ante, sadistically torturing the unfortunate trio.A supernatural take on John D. MacDonald's The Executioners, the well-executed Face chronicles the disintegration of a family under attack from within and without. Dan, Megan and Nikki have lots of emotional baggage, most of it originating in a rape Megan suffered six years before. Megan is paranoid, and has retreated into religion, Dan has been unmanned by his perceived inability to protect his wife. Estranged from each other, they are also losing touch with their daughter, who is dealing with her emerging sexuality. Seemingly peering into their souls, Brand exploits these weaknesses to wreak his revenge.At first, it's hard to tell whether Brand actually exists,or issomething that the family has conjured out of its misery. In fact, until he acts against their friends and acquaintances, one might easily assume that he exists only in their imaginations. Regardless of his origins or corporeality, it's disquieting to watch his escalating attacks. It's also disquieting that Lebbon offers no easy explanations or outs. Asked "Why?" by Dan, Brand replies, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people." Even as Brand is seemingly dispatched, one senses he's merely stepped offstage, waiting for another opportunity to wreak havoc.Intense and affecting, Face will seize and hold your attention from the opening paragraph to the end. A writer blessed with extraordinary gifts, Lebbon's chief talents lie in exploring the darker moments of everyday life, and in making readers feel his character's pain and despair. A true disciple of the dark, Lebbon's imagery wrings true fear from his audience.