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Title: Ladies Night
Score:
Author: Jack Ketchum and Neal McPheeters
Rating: Not available
Hits: 117

Review of Ladies Night

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Comments for Ladies Night

• Posted on 2009-08-11
  Horrible!
  
  I must first say I am a huge Jack Ketchum fan. Read all his books and "Ladies' Night" was the last one.
  
  After two chapters I was lost. I even had to look up his book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble to see if maybe it was a short story book or if it really was meant to be a complete story.
  
  By the fifth chapter there still isn't anything that ties the chapters together. We aren't introduced to any of the characters, unless you count telling us their names an introduction.
  
  By page 74 I knew that if I were to put the book down and never pick it up again nothing would be lost. I wouldn't be left wondering how the book ended, or who was still alive/dead. It really is that bad.
  
  The only real exciting part about this book is that I caught at least two glaring typos that made me stop and re-read the sentences over and over. With this book, not such a good thing.
  
  Overall, I was hugely disappointed by this "story". It's in quotes because it doesn't have a plot. Nothing. The entire book is full of knifings, killing, and utter mayhem. But since you really don't know the characters you don't tend to care what happens to them. Okay he died, next... This reminds me a "story" an angry teenager would write. Lots of blood and guts, but no real substance.
  
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• Posted on 2008-01-29
  different
  
  pretty crazy book. not very gory as led to believe. still, if you ever are curious to know what would happen if every woman in the world went pyscho, check this book out!!!!
  
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• Posted on 2007-09-18
  The lethal sex
  
  Ladies' Night trades on a fundamental male fear: namely, what if the women in our lives suddenly turned on us? Ketchum answers that question in typically brutal fashion, positing a scenario wherein New York City becomes a battleground in the ongoing war of the sexes.
  
  The story begins when a chemical tanker collides with a car near 72nd Street and Broadway, spilling its sweet smelling contents. We later learn that the liquid that gushes forth is "an airborne chemical poison, a psycho-sexual hormone cocktail" designed to drive women "bats*** and terminally homicidal," a remnant of research from the Vietnam war. The release of this chemical awakens something in the women it touches. For some, it is a mere increase in libido, but for others, it unleashes unparalleled savagery.
  
  As Ketchum says in his introduction, Ladies' Night "is basically a story about some guy trying to get home after a really bad night at his local bar." The guy's name is Tom, and his odyssey through the ravaged streets of New York to save his son will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are also plenty of other trademark Ketchum touches here, from the guy who gets seared on a grill to a woman who tears open her victims' throats with her teeth.
  
  Actually Ketchum's second novel, the book shows its influences--the parallels to Night of the Living Dead are obvious, from the atrocities committed by what amounts to mindless zombies to the ironic, pathetic end of one of the book's main characters (although Ketchum does a nice slight of hand here). At its core, the book is a horror novel for men. Let's face it guys, on some level, many of us fear women. We certainly can't claim to understand them. But we depend on their essential stability, and fear the loss of their companionship. That's what makes the book resonate for those of us with XY configurations. For women, it's a chance to take a little vicarious revenge. For men, it's a terrifying projection of a secret fear. Women--can't live with 'em, might get killed by 'em.
  
  
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• Posted on 2007-02-19
  The Mantis Syndrome
  
  Over fifteen years in the making, Ketchum's Ladies Night is a fun, fast paced read. This was originally supposed to be his second book, following Off Season in 1981, under the title The Mantis Syndrome (obvious title when you read the book) and was 400 pages long. He trimmed it over the years and tightened it, the final page count coming in at 166 pages.
  
  The story starts on the night of a full moon in a NY bar. The women start acting weird, aggressive and feral. There's something in the air and it makes women go crazy with murderous rage. Before long, an all-out battle of the sexes ensues throughout New York City. We follow Tom and Bailey along with a group of men as they try to survive the onslaught of animalistic zombie-like females. Not all women have gone nuts; a select few appear to have remained untouched. Question is, which ones?
  
  Ladies Night unfolds at break-neck speed and is a real page turner. It's not for everybody, though; a good amount of scenes are extremely violent and/or depict erotic/sexual situations. If you're a fan of Ketchum, you'll most likely enjoy this one. Not his best, but very entertaining.
  
  The only negative comment I have to make is in regards to the more grammatical aspect of things; the book is plagued with spelling errors, grammatical errors, lack of punctuation (some sentences are five lines long without any sign of a comma). Clearly nobody proofread the book. A shame. If you can get over these details, you'll enjoy yourself.
  
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• Posted on 2005-02-22
  Ladies' Night Indeed....
  
  Ketchum pretty much re-hashes "Night of the Living Dead," except it's women who are transformed into homicidal, cannibalistic, zombie-like killing machines (although the Z-word never appears in the book) who are out to kill everything with a pair of testicles after a strange chemical spill in midtown Manhattan. Nothing special, except the gore factor is especially high in this novel, even for Ketchum. Lots of splattery goodness for indiscriminating gorehounds looking for a quick hardcore horror read. Definitely recommended for fans!
  
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