"Quake" was the very first Laymon novel I read, back in 1995 when it was released, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Prior to that, all I'd really read of horror were teen books by the likes of Christopher Pike or R.L. Stine, and some Stephen King. Compared to them, Laymon was like getting hit in the face with a glass of ice-cold water. I remember thinking, "Holy shit, you can DO this kind of stuff in a book?", and here was Laymon going, "Well, I just did it, so the answer must be yes." I burned through "Quake" in one night, knowing I had to be up early for school the next morning, finishing it around 3 am with a flashlight under the covers because I just could NOT put it down. It's far from his best, and all of California seems to go from zero to "Mad Max" in about twenty minutes after the quake hits, but because it was my first, it'll forever have a place in my heart. :) To explain why the kids would all be in the car at the same time for a driving lesson, some high schools in the US taught Driver's Education as an actual class, like Algebra or History, and the instructors would be teachers at the school: sports coaches, phys ed teachers, shop teachers, and the like. In order to ensure everyone got time behind the wheel, you would go out in small groups of 3-4 students, and rotate as drivers for hands-on experience, while the rest of the class would stay behind with another teacher for in-class learning. The instructor would then drive everyone back to school at the end of the period, and the students would return to the school day as normal. Not every school did this (mine didn't), but it was common enough especially in larger public schools during the 80's and 90's. I hope that helps. :)
We appear to have discovered Laymon at exactly the same time, since this was my first novel of his as well. For that reason it'll always be something special, but on my most recent re-read...YIKES. It's kind of a dumpster fire. All I can say in its defense really is that it moves so quickly you barely have time to realize just how ridiculous it is. You hit the nail on the head with the comment about California suddenly descending into apocalypse, with these gangs of criminals roaming the street, picking off emergency workers, cannibalizing and raping other people. The scene where Clint and Em have to sneak through the maze of cars while avoiding the sickos hunting them: what the actual fuck? About all I can say in Laymon's defense is that he was front and center for the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which turned large swaths of the city into a looter's paradise for a week. I imagine much of Quake's imagery of anarchy ascendant was pulled from Laymon's own observations of this time, but again, this took place in real life over the course of seven days. Even in the 90s, California had contingency plans in place for a major earthquake. But I suppose all horror is fantasy to one extent or another. It's a dumpster fire, but at least it manages to be a breakneck fever dream dumpster fire.
The reviews of even the terrible books are really valuable for many reasons….to avoid them, is the biggest reason, but also for entertainment value. It’s why I always enjoyed Siskel and Eberts reviews of bad movies. Often very funny
Felt the same way.... Opening chapter of this book was awesome and should’ve been written as a stand alone short story. All the other chapters aside from the first one were lack luster and stale.
Well done review I thought about getting this one but the idea of the book didn't draw me in plus I saw on goodreads some mixed opinions so I gave this book a pass and decided to watch your review on it
"Quake" was the very first Laymon novel I read, back in 1995 when it was released, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Prior to that, all I'd really read of horror were teen books by the likes of Christopher Pike or R.L. Stine, and some Stephen King. Compared to them, Laymon was like getting hit in the face with a glass of ice-cold water. I remember thinking, "Holy shit, you can DO this kind of stuff in a book?", and here was Laymon going, "Well, I just did it, so the answer must be yes." I burned through "Quake" in one night, knowing I had to be up early for school the next morning, finishing it around 3 am with a flashlight under the covers because I just could NOT put it down. It's far from his best, and all of California seems to go from zero to "Mad Max" in about twenty minutes after the quake hits, but because it was my first, it'll forever have a place in my heart. :)
To explain why the kids would all be in the car at the same time for a driving lesson, some high schools in the US taught Driver's Education as an actual class, like Algebra or History, and the instructors would be teachers at the school: sports coaches, phys ed teachers, shop teachers, and the like. In order to ensure everyone got time behind the wheel, you would go out in small groups of 3-4 students, and rotate as drivers for hands-on experience, while the rest of the class would stay behind with another teacher for in-class learning. The instructor would then drive everyone back to school at the end of the period, and the students would return to the school day as normal. Not every school did this (mine didn't), but it was common enough especially in larger public schools during the 80's and 90's. I hope that helps. :)
We appear to have discovered Laymon at exactly the same time, since this was my first novel of his as well. For that reason it'll always be something special, but on my most recent re-read...YIKES. It's kind of a dumpster fire. All I can say in its defense really is that it moves so quickly you barely have time to realize just how ridiculous it is.
You hit the nail on the head with the comment about California suddenly descending into apocalypse, with these gangs of criminals roaming the street, picking off emergency workers, cannibalizing and raping other people. The scene where Clint and Em have to sneak through the maze of cars while avoiding the sickos hunting them: what the actual fuck?
About all I can say in Laymon's defense is that he was front and center for the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which turned large swaths of the city into a looter's paradise for a week. I imagine much of Quake's imagery of anarchy ascendant was pulled from Laymon's own observations of this time, but again, this took place in real life over the course of seven days. Even in the 90s, California had contingency plans in place for a major earthquake.
But I suppose all horror is fantasy to one extent or another. It's a dumpster fire, but at least it manages to be a breakneck fever dream dumpster fire.
The reviews of even the terrible books are really valuable for many reasons….to avoid them, is the biggest reason, but also for entertainment value. It’s why I always enjoyed Siskel and Eberts reviews of bad movies. Often very funny
Felt the same way.... Opening chapter of this book was awesome and should’ve been written as a stand alone short story. All the other chapters aside from the first one were lack luster and stale.
Thanks a lot for watching and commenting, appreciate it!
Well done review I thought about getting this one but the idea of the book didn't draw me in plus I saw on goodreads some mixed opinions so I gave this book a pass and decided to watch your review on it
It's a really bad Laymon novel. I'm currently compiling my ranking of all his books and this one may well end up dead last.
I wanna know what the saw make was that's one undamagable saw he went to town with that badboy 🤣🤣