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billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
I was in the mood for some good old fashioned horror and I got it. With a pulpy exploitive cover to boot!
It's been a very long time since I've read Greg Gifune, but he always pops back into my mind to read him again because he is a very underrated writer.
In the hands of other authors, this could have been a tiresome and predictable slog, with characters doing idiotic things and long, drawn out chases just to fill the pages.
Savages was a wee bit predictable towards the end, but that is nothing worthy of critique. Gifune always takes time to develop his characters. His prose and dialogue are just about perfect, and there is just enough action to warrant a thriller label at times. Savages takes almost a Lost theme, where eight castaways have landed on a small, uncharted island in the South Pacific ocean. Gifune's strength is in the build-up. We meet all of these characters and get to know them very well quite quickly. As they try to recover and grasp the facts of survival, eventually the island is explored, and, well...bad things begin to happen.
It was very refreshing to read something where the characters behaved believably, unlike in many other bestselling thrillers that are making lesser writers rich.
Savages is a very quick read (by sheer virtue of fine writing) and it satisfied my itch for total escapism into peril.
Well done Greg, and I won't wait so long before reading you again.
A very solid 4-star read.
It's been a very long time since I've read Greg Gifune, but he always pops back into my mind to read him again because he is a very underrated writer.
In the hands of other authors, this could have been a tiresome and predictable slog, with characters doing idiotic things and long, drawn out chases just to fill the pages.
Savages was a wee bit predictable towards the end, but that is nothing worthy of critique. Gifune always takes time to develop his characters. His prose and dialogue are just about perfect, and there is just enough action to warrant a thriller label at times. Savages takes almost a Lost theme, where eight castaways have landed on a small, uncharted island in the South Pacific ocean. Gifune's strength is in the build-up. We meet all of these characters and get to know them very well quite quickly. As they try to recover and grasp the facts of survival, eventually the island is explored, and, well...bad things begin to happen.
It was very refreshing to read something where the characters behaved believably, unlike in many other bestselling thrillers that are making lesser writers rich.
Savages is a very quick read (by sheer virtue of fine writing) and it satisfied my itch for total escapism into peril.
Well done Greg, and I won't wait so long before reading you again.
A very solid 4-star read.
pandasbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Savages | Greg F Gifune
Genre: Horror
Rating: 4.5 stars
Savages is my first read by author, Greg F Gifune and what a book to start with. If his others are as good, I’m afraid for my TBR pile. Savages follows a small group of friends who are stranded on an island following a shipwreck. What starts out as a survival story, quickly dissolves into a nightmarish horror fest that will leave you shaking (literally).
There was so much about how I thought this story was going to pan out and well, I don’t even know why I bothered to guess. It was just the right amount of gory. The characters were not the one dimensional tropes we often see, but complex and layered individuals who you want to see survive (okay well maybe not all of them, but even the ones you hate are well written).
I adore the cover art and while it felt a little cliché to me when I picked it up, now after reading the novel, I can appreciate it so much more. What I thought was going to be a stock standard horror novel, turned out to be something so much more. The author introduces complex themes around human nature and our will to survive and does so without feeling heavy handed or like its being shoved down your throat.
I really enjoyed this quick and easy to read (275 pages) novel and am sure this won’t be my last venue into the mind of Greg F Gifune. I’m eager to see what else he can do!
Thank you to Greg F Gifune and Cemetery Dance Publications.
Genre: Horror
Rating: 4.5 stars
Savages is my first read by author, Greg F Gifune and what a book to start with. If his others are as good, I’m afraid for my TBR pile. Savages follows a small group of friends who are stranded on an island following a shipwreck. What starts out as a survival story, quickly dissolves into a nightmarish horror fest that will leave you shaking (literally).
There was so much about how I thought this story was going to pan out and well, I don’t even know why I bothered to guess. It was just the right amount of gory. The characters were not the one dimensional tropes we often see, but complex and layered individuals who you want to see survive (okay well maybe not all of them, but even the ones you hate are well written).
I adore the cover art and while it felt a little cliché to me when I picked it up, now after reading the novel, I can appreciate it so much more. What I thought was going to be a stock standard horror novel, turned out to be something so much more. The author introduces complex themes around human nature and our will to survive and does so without feeling heavy handed or like its being shoved down your throat.
I really enjoyed this quick and easy to read (275 pages) novel and am sure this won’t be my last venue into the mind of Greg F Gifune. I’m eager to see what else he can do!
Thank you to Greg F Gifune and Cemetery Dance Publications.
casey_zi's review against another edition
4.0
Savage is an example of the quintessential horror movie plot done well. Its beats and punches are ones you're probably familiar with: When a group of adults are stranded in the wilderness, strange things begin to happen, which ultimately culminates in a confrontation with a monster, with a hook at the end that hints at more. Only the monster of this book is not what you'd probably think it is from looking at the title and setup. At all. In fact, one might even think the title was chosen to be purposefully misleading. It's a creative choice of villain, and it makes sense as well. The characters don't stand out from your usual scary movie cast, but the book is well written with a surprising amount of sensory detail that really brings some of these familiar situations to life. Being a huge fan of horror movies, I really enjoyed it, even though I've seen many similar stories played out on the silver screen before.
jellybean_gene's review
4.0
Really fun read!
This played like a survivor horror that slowly started to turn into more of a hunted vibe. The author handled that transition well and the entire read was fun and enthralling.
The characters felt a bit cliche, but they all served the plot and story well! Will definitely be reading more by this author.
This played like a survivor horror that slowly started to turn into more of a hunted vibe. The author handled that transition well and the entire read was fun and enthralling.
The characters felt a bit cliche, but they all served the plot and story well! Will definitely be reading more by this author.
pbanditp's review against another edition
4.0
Here is your fun summer read of beaches, surf, coconuts and blood. This is Lord of the Flies-Adult Version, with an evil external force. There may be several similarities between the books but there are also many differences.
Survivors of a boat wreck wash ashore on a remote island that seems to be deserted. But is it??
“Night was on its way, and there’d be no stopping it. All they could hope for now was that it planned to come alone.”
Oh damn! This book was tense, bloody and claustrophobic. From the dense dark jungle to the dim torch lit buildings, everything seemed to be closing in on you or lurking just around the corner. Even the open beaches felt confined with the ocean on one side and the hiding places provided by the trees on the other.
Read in a wide open space or else be prepared to jump at the slightest noise. I was so captivated that I couldn’t pause to highlight or take notes. Once you get halfway through, plan on finishing this quick.
Survivors of a boat wreck wash ashore on a remote island that seems to be deserted. But is it??
“Night was on its way, and there’d be no stopping it. All they could hope for now was that it planned to come alone.”
Oh damn! This book was tense, bloody and claustrophobic. From the dense dark jungle to the dim torch lit buildings, everything seemed to be closing in on you or lurking just around the corner. Even the open beaches felt confined with the ocean on one side and the hiding places provided by the trees on the other.
Read in a wide open space or else be prepared to jump at the slightest noise. I was so captivated that I couldn’t pause to highlight or take notes. Once you get halfway through, plan on finishing this quick.
johnlynchbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Stranded at sea, washed ashore, badly injured on an uncharted island. Things couldn’t get much worse right? If that’s what you thought, Greg Gifune has got something to prove you wrong.
A group of friends wind down their vacation on a yacht, only to become stranded and left for dead. According to the badly wounded captain, there shouldn’t be land in the part of the world they are in, so the group must assume that they are on an uncharted island, and may need to survive for some time. If that wasn’t difficult enough, there’s something sinister on the island and it’s out for blood.
I had a blast reading Savages. So much so, that I picked the book up and had blown through 150 pages of it before putting it back down. There is a lot of bloodshed and violence in this book, and I’ve gotta say, I really loved it. The character interactions were great, and although they were friends, the personality clashes between them made for tense moments even when there wasn’t much going on. Another plus with this story for me was the antagonist, I love the little bits of history thrown in and the way that this monster came to be.
My only complaint with this book were the characters themselves. Yes, I said I loved their interactions with each other, and that they served the story well, BUT that being said, I really didn’t care for any of them. Not only that, but 3 of the characters in the book were just plain annoying. Other than that, I have no issues with Savages.
A fun, gruesome adventure on an uncharted island is propped up by an excellent antagonist and constant tension, making up for characters that I just couldn’t get behind. Greg Gifune is an author I’m going to be on the lookout for.
4.25/5
A group of friends wind down their vacation on a yacht, only to become stranded and left for dead. According to the badly wounded captain, there shouldn’t be land in the part of the world they are in, so the group must assume that they are on an uncharted island, and may need to survive for some time. If that wasn’t difficult enough, there’s something sinister on the island and it’s out for blood.
I had a blast reading Savages. So much so, that I picked the book up and had blown through 150 pages of it before putting it back down. There is a lot of bloodshed and violence in this book, and I’ve gotta say, I really loved it. The character interactions were great, and although they were friends, the personality clashes between them made for tense moments even when there wasn’t much going on. Another plus with this story for me was the antagonist, I love the little bits of history thrown in and the way that this monster came to be.
My only complaint with this book were the characters themselves. Yes, I said I loved their interactions with each other, and that they served the story well, BUT that being said, I really didn’t care for any of them. Not only that, but 3 of the characters in the book were just plain annoying. Other than that, I have no issues with Savages.
A fun, gruesome adventure on an uncharted island is propped up by an excellent antagonist and constant tension, making up for characters that I just couldn’t get behind. Greg Gifune is an author I’m going to be on the lookout for.
4.25/5
magpie_666's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5
This is my first book by Gifune. I picked it up as part of my online Goodreads group, and I'm really glad I did.
I thought it was going to be a standard stranded on a desert island story, and it's not, not at all. I thought I was clever by guessing what happened before it did, but I was wrong, very wrong.
The book was well written, easy to follow and it described the island and people perfectly. I've read a few similar stories before and the people always seem so unbelievable and unreal.
The book isn't for the faint of heart, but I would highly recommend it to horror fans.
This is my first book by Gifune. I picked it up as part of my online Goodreads group, and I'm really glad I did.
I thought it was going to be a standard stranded on a desert island story, and it's not, not at all. I thought I was clever by guessing what happened before it did, but I was wrong, very wrong.
The book was well written, easy to follow and it described the island and people perfectly. I've read a few similar stories before and the people always seem so unbelievable and unreal.
The book isn't for the faint of heart, but I would highly recommend it to horror fans.
greatnate008's review
3.0
This was a fun summer read, but it didn't have much substance. I liked the story, but I didn't really care about what happened to any of the characters.