The Pines

by Robert Dunbar

Book Overview

A lonely woman lives in a ramshackle house--deep in the woods--where she cares for her disturbed young son. As brutal killings in the woods draw ever nearer, she comes to realize that her son has a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843961651
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 333 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Praise for a wonderful author

Dunbar presents an original and memorable version of the Jersey Devil in his novel THE PINES. I was hooked from the very first page! Dunbar's wit, masterful prose and talent for inventing dark fiction at its best is evident in this brilliant novel. Dunbar stands above many other modern horror authors. He writes like a lengendary author of the past; one who does not forsake quality for the sake of cheap thrills. The genre needs more like him. I look forward to more of Dunbar's fiction.

A Legend Brought to Life

"Here, rancid air hangs heavily in a void, its texture thick, liquid, clinging, in a night full of the hot smells of decay." With these words, Robert Dunbar's novel The Pines transports readers to a place of terror, a forbidden realm somewhere deep within the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a nether world bordered by familiar landscape, yet harsh and alien as an unknown planet. The Pine Barrens encompass approximately one-hundred million acres, twenty percent of the entire state. The soil, once part of the ocean floor, is too poor to support normal vegetation. The trees are tortured and grotesque, and the inhabitants, possibly descendants of Revolutionary War deserters and criminals, are as twisted and warped as the pines. The story surrounds Athena Lee Monroe and her young son, Matthew, who live in the ramshackle old house left them by Athena's late husband. Matthew is a troubled child, emotionally disturbed and slightly retarded, yet with an uncanny ability to predict the future. He communicates with a secret friend, an entity his mother believes is only a projection of his own unstable imagination. Athena feels an unnatural coldness toward her strange son. She leaves him in the care of his simple-minded aunt Pam while she is away on her job with the local ambulance service, and Pam becomes a sort of substitute mother, forming a bond with the boy his mother cannot do. When a rash of killings sweep the area, wild dogs are blamed for the slaughter, yet Athena suspects otherwise. When her no good lover, the local sheriff, falls victim, Athena and the deputy set out to find the real culprit. They embark on an investigation that becomes increasingly more bizarre and terrifying at every turn. The story is skillfully plotted, engaging the reader from the beginning and drawing upon the primal fear every human has of the unknown. Suspense builds to an almost unbearable peak as The Pines propels the reader toward its breathtaking conclusion. Originally published as a mass-market paperback by Dorchester Publishing (Leisure Books) over a decade ago, the new edition includes the complete unabridged text. Robert Dunbar, whose fiction and articles have appeared in over one-hundred publications, is a playwright as well as novelist and has written and produced work for both television and radio. With The Pines, he charts a new course in contemporary horror, bringing to life a monster from the myths of American folklore. The Pines is a terrifying excursion into a nightmare world I found impossible to forget. Highly recommended.

Well-crafted treatment of the Jersey Devil legend

This horror novel has been a guilty pleasure of mine for years. In it, Robert Dunbar tackles the legend of the Jersey Devil -- the supposedly satanic half-man, half-beast that has terrorized residents of southern New Jersey since the 18th century. Dunbar takes this legend, along with its Pine-Barrens setting, and runs with it. The story revolves around a widowed young woman, her troubled son, her co-workers in a rural ambulance unit, and her cop boyfriend. I don't want to give away anything, but I will say that Dunbar's re-working of the old legend is very imaginative and at times truly scary. For example, he has a scene involving several young couples camping in the Pine Barrens that does a terrific job of playing on fears that anyone who has ever been alone in the woods at night has had.My only criticisms are that Dunbar at times descends into Clive-Barker-style gross-out violence, and that he unfairly portrays the "Pineys" as depraved mental defectives. This book should definitely not be viewed as a travel guide! As entertainment, however, it is great fun.

Well-crafted treatment of the Jersey Devil legend

This horror novel has been a guilty pleasure of mine for years. In it, Robert Dunbar tackles the legend of the Jersey Devil -- the supposedly satanic half-man, half-beast that has terrorized residents of southern New Jersey since the 18th century. Dunbar takes this legend, along with its Pine-Barrens setting, and runs with it. The story revolves around a widowed young woman, her troubled son, her co-workers in a rural ambulance unit, and her cop boyfriend. I don't want to give away anything, but I will say that Dunbar's re-working of the old legend is very imaginative and at times truly scary. For example, he has a scene involving several young couples camping in the Pine Barrens that does a terrific job of playing on fears that anyone who has ever been alone in the woods at night has had. UPDATE: Don't be frightened away by the handfull of negative reviews posted here. This book is not hard to follow, but the care with which it is constructed may not be apparent on first reading. I appreciated it even more the second time through.