See No Evil

by Dan Madigan

Book Overview

He's the last thing you'll ever see...

Seven-feet-tall. Four hundred pounds. A blood-crusted, rusty steel plate screwed into his skull. But perhaps the most terrifying thing about reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight are the razor-sharp nails on his forefingers, the ones that circle around his victims' eyes just before he takes them.

Holed up within the long-abandoned Blackwell Hotel, nine floors of hidden passageways and two-way...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416588817
• ISBN13: 9781416588818
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Sick and Twisted!

If Dan Madigan were not a writer, he would be the next BTK! Horribly intriguing. Dan has a keen ability to bring you right into the action, as sick as it may be. We're waiting for your next one Dan.

Dan Madigan?!?

Holy .. this man is brilliant and twisted .. and, well .. brilliant and twisted! I can't wait to read the novelization but from what I know first hand from his work in the past, I will be sure to leave the lights on when I do.

Completely changed my perception of what a Movie Tie-In Novel can be

A lot of books find their way onto my desk. Many of them get "re-gifted", and when I saw a movie tie-in novel for a film starring pro-wrestler Kane, I was pretty sure I knew where this was going to wind up. Caught in a last minute grab for something to read on a flight from LA to NY, I wound up with this in my carry on, and to my pleasant surprise I was wrong in my initial assessment. This book is good. It is better than good. I haven't been this excited to discover a new writer since I read Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door. Dan Madigan may be a new name to horror fiction readers, but he's obviously been digesting this stuff for years, as he has turned out a compelling page turner that challenges the conventions of the typical slasher. If the set pieces in the novel are to be any indication of those in the film, I'll be seeing it on opening day. I see that the author is also credited with the screenplay, and that makes me very happy. This novel has made the very short list of movie tie-in novels which transcend their purpose -that of merely fulfilling the media frenzy associated with selling tickets. But not only has it transcended, it has excelled.

Some Awesome Gore / Eye Piercing Horror

Dan Madigan's first horror novel reads like the work of a seasoned pro. "See No Evil" is a breath of fresh air in a genre of fiction that has become too tired (like Stephen King) or too feminized/glamorized (like the execrable Ann Rice). Madigan's writing takes horror into new territory: a landscape of brutal terror, fright, and a place where the word hope is completely unknown. His writing style is lyrical, his sentences resounding with the ethereal quality of Edgar Allan Poe's dark poetry. If anything, Madigan's style is reminiscent of the films of Dario Argento: both are full of brutal gore, but the way the violence is executed is operatic. Nothing is held back when it comes to the violence. Compared to the flesh tearing, eye gouging, vulva ripping action you have in "See No Evil," King's works seem as tame and non-threatening as the fluff on Oprah's Book of the Month club. Most brilliant is Madigan's perfect realization of the so-called monster of the text, Jacob Goodnight. Much of the novel is told through Goodnight's perspective, and through his eyes, the reader comes to understand and appreciate the violence in his nature. It is rare that a book can achieve the impossible, and make the apparent villain transformed into the only pure character in the text, while the alleged "good guys" are revealed to be morally bankrupt and heinous individuals who deserve to die. Society, itself, is ultimately the monster in "See No Evil": set in modern-day California, we see the results of a society where political correctness and moral relativism have taken over. Every criminal in the text is treated with kid-gloves by the prison system, and pampered by social workers who feel their crimes are only the result of a "bad childhood," and, therefore, excused. Police officers, on the other hand, are treated like dirt in this modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. Jacob Goodnight is, paradoxically, the only character who has a clear set of values. While it is being marketed as the novelized version of the film of the same name, it should not be treated as such. Dan Madigan himself wrote the screenplay, and has said at conventions to promote the film that he had an earlier version of the novel written BEFORE submitting the screenplay. So this should not be dismissed as a crass adaptation of an already-existing film, the way trashy novels have been made out of "Star Wars" films or other films, just to swindle people out of their money. In fact, the book is reputed to have far more gore and violence than the film. "See No Evil" is a triumph of true horror. If you are squeamish, then do not read this book. If you are looking for pretty boy vampires, Jacob Goodnight would have had them for dinner. This is not for wimps or the faint hearted. Madigan's writing is reminiscent of HP Lovecraft and Bret Easton Ellis's "American Psycho," while at the same time being completely original in its approach. Get this book while you can: it will be a limite

Awesome

SEE NO EVIL is superb horror and far more than a novelization. The writing is muscular and visual. The characters are intruiging, authentic and 3-dimensional. The story is fascinating, and the plot moves swiftly. There are many bone-chilling moments. Dan Madigan reminds me of a young Steven King. I look forward to his next tome of terror.