Dead Man’s Song

The Pine Deep Trilogy, Book 2

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From the powerful imagination of a horror master comes a bone-chilling tale set in a small town where good and evil are joined in a terrifying, deadly battle.

Evil endures....

Once an idyllic Pennsylvania village, Pine Deep awoke one morning to find itself bathed in a massive bloodletting. Twice in 30 years, the townsfolk have endured the savage hungers of a murderous madman—but if the residents think the death of serial killer Karl Ruger put an end to the carnage, they’re dead wrong.

The nightmare never ends....

Bodies mutilated beyond description, innocents driven to acts of vicious madness. A monstrous evil is preying on the living—and the dead—and turning the quiet little town into hell on earth. Their only hope is to find the source. But the secrets that lurk in the heart of Pine Deep are twisted into its very roots. This time the townspeople aren’t just fighting for their lives but for their very souls.

Keep chilled: listen to more in the Pine Deep trilogy.

©2007 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

The Shadows Grow Longer . . .

Having been not terribly impressed by the previous installment, 'Ghost Road Blues,' I was surprised at how much I liked 'Dead Man's Song' by the time I was finished. I would recommend reading 'GRB' first, but there's a fair amount of exposition in the beginning of 'DMS,' which should bring readers up to speed.

It is in this installment in which we begin to see the depth of the story, and learn more about the lives of several key characters. It also introduces more traditional 'monsters' to the series, but Maberry manages to add his own twists to these legendary creatures. The action heats up as the book advances, and characters form new relationships as the rudiments of a 'group' begin to form.

My biggest gripe is with the characters, who are sometimes cartoonish and two-dimensional--vile villains and jack-of-all-trades supermen. Also, there are a couple candlelight 'lovemaking' scenes that are amazingly cringe-inducing.

But for all that, I really enjoyed DMS, and recommend it for fans of Maberry or of more light-hearted horror.

Lastly, this book seemed many times to be a deliberate and loving homage to one of my favorite Stephen King novels (giving away the title might be a spoiler in some regards, but it is among his earlier works).

Dead Man’s Song

The Pine Trilogy consists of three novels, Ghost Road Blues, Dead Man's Song, and Bad Moon Rising. This review addresses all three. In unabridged audiobook format, these stories are each between 15-18 hours of listening, all released in the summer/fall of 2011 by Blackstone Audio, and are narrated by Tom Weiner.

Plot. The Pine Trilogy takes place in modern-day Pine Deep, a rural town with a local claim to fame of being haunted with zombies, werewolves, and sundry ghouls of the night. Folks travel far and wide to visit the town, the souvenir shops of bloody fangs, dead rats, scary masks, or take a ride on a haunted trail in a haywagon. Halloween is a huge draw. No secrets to give away, but ... it is bereft of legends and the bad guys are real. The town fights back through a never-ending, bloody mess. If you're into the macabre, drooling, blood drizzling down walls or your shirt front, shooting with abandon even at ghoulish children, cockroaches and slugs falling out of eyes or ..... well, enjoy.

Liked. The storyline is good. We're dealing with creepy characters and good guys. To get the most from the series, start with the first book, Ghost Road Blues, as the characters and story traverse all three books. It's a horror story, hide behind the sofa, leave the lights on terror. Book three is the best, the story and writing improve. The narration is fine, no issues. Nice research into the mythology of werewolves, vampires, et al.

Not so hot. There is grizzly and brutal abuse throughout. Children become ghouls/zombies and get blown to smithereens as do hundreds of people. Women are sexually brutalized and beaten. A teenaged boy is particularly victimized. Some characters you begin to like are turned into heinous vampires, etc.

Recommend for lovers of horror stories and the stomachs to handle some extraordinarily gruesome scenes.

Better than part 1 and more developed characters

I'm a fan of Jonathan Mayberry's other series do I tried this one. The narrator can grow on you if you stick with the series. By the end of the story I found myself scared for the characters which means the author did his job drawing the reader in.

Better than the first

Much better, cohesive story than Ghost Road Blues. I immediately downloaded the last of the trilogy so I can find out how it ends.

You have to read all three!

The first book leaves you wondering a little where it's going, the second is where it starts to gel and gets creepier. The third book is where it all comes together in quite a thriller!!

I have to finish the series now...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Hmmm....no. It's part of a slow moving trilogy that I'm going to finish out of spite. That's probably a little too harsh, but after the first book I should've cut my losses. Overall, it's not horrible, but the glamorization of the main character as an everyday man who is also a bad-ass is a common told tale. The villains in the book are very unlikeable, so the author has done his job there.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jonathan Maberry? Why or why not?

Maybe. His writing is fine, but I don't really like how slowly he develops a story. I understand it's a trilogy, but...

What does Tom Weiner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The German accent of the dead guy whose name I have chosen to forget.

Could you see Dead Man’s Song being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

A mini-series maybe. No one famous.

Noway that just happened

Maberry is awesome. I'm so freakin hooked. Everywhere I go I'm tellin people about The Pine Deep Trilogy.

2 down 1 to go.

At first I was annoyed by the author and editor getting some facts wrong in the recap. But great characters and a strong story wins the day.

Real MONSTERS!

Absolutely LOVED it! Very in depth, well thought out, great sequel. Everything of Mr. Maberry's I have read, I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Great!

Tom Weiner can read to me anytime! I love his voice! I was in rapt attention the whole book!