The Whipping Boy

As a kid, I thought the cover was cool, but didn’t read until years later, and found it an amazing read. The idea is a rather unique one, and would suggest anyone who hasn’t read it to do so. Not many people I know have read it, nor know of it, and it is a shame it’s not a book that’s still in print. Get your hands on a copy of this while there are still copies.

I've always thought of John Byrne as a competent, if unspectacular, author, but Whipping Boy was a compelling read. Byrne's hypothesis of "what if there were no guilt" quickly leads the characters in a downward spiral that is all-too-believable. Whipping Boy, when read in a contemporary America of school shootings, child abuse and use of illicit narcotics, is a gripping cautionary tale about the decline of morality and the consequences of a society that too often takes the easy way out.

John Byrne has created a masterpiece of modern horror. At times it becomes a truly disturbing look into the human conscience. Byrne's characters are genuine, real, and average, which makes the horrors they commit all the more atrocious. This book is a must read.

I have to say this book succeeded in scaring me as no Stephen King book did. It's a shame that this book is out of print. I think horror fans have missed out on a unique take on the horror genre.

A story that unfolds like a great horror movie. John Byrne introduces us to several characters who may seem insignificant at first, but come around to be major forces by the end. The evil charcters in this book are so real that you shake when they are in the page. The hapless victims under the Whipping Boy's thrall are you, me, anybody. When you can see yourself in their shoes, you feel a shiver crawl up your spine and nest in your brain's dark recesses.

I read horror novels a lot. (Don't you?) But this book I hated -- because it was too good. It's a very real and immediate story about the evil that lurks in your own heart, and the hearts of the ones around you. And that made it absolutely terrifying. I know it's hard to find, but that's because no one who owns a copy will give theirs up easily...