Ring - Koji Suzuki - Book Review

 

                    This year had been good in terms of my reading of the horror genre. First Exorcist and now Ring. I did not know that these favorite movies of mine were actually adapted from books. And at the library, I was able to find these books in quick succession.

                    The book starts with the death of a school-going girl under mysterious circumstances in Japan. Asakawa, a journalist turns out to be the uncle of the dead girl. The inexplicable death sparks an interest in him and he starts digging deep. The investigation leads him to a mountain resort and a videotape. The mysterious videotape brings death to anyone who watches it within a week unless a copy is made and another person watches the same. Asakawa realizes that the girl died due to this. He tries to get to the bottom of the mystery and also the haunting past of the videotape and mountain resort. Asakawa and his friend, Ryuji watches the video. Does he face a similar fate as he watches the video? Can Asakawa explain the unexplained? Does somebody else chance to watch the video? forms the rest of the chilling story.

                    What I liked about the book is how the author blends horror into a modern style. I felt this more as a psychological thriller and the way the story unfolds gave me edge-of-the-seat thrills. This made it a very quick read for me but kept me totally hooked on the story as the screenplay of any thriller movie. The handful of characters brings out the emotions very well. Asakawa's friend, Ryuji was a different character. He can be headstrong and repulsive at times but practical at the same time. The tense nature of Asakawa was well complemented by Ryuji's level-headedness. The tense atmosphere was well maintained and the author did take me on a virtual tour to many places in Japan. The detailing was very enjoyable. The scenes involving Asakawa's wife and child did give me chills. 

                    One thing I expected while reading the book was a girl coming out of the TV screen which did not happen and I could find many stark differences between the book and the movie. It always fills me with wonder on how the book induces more chill moments than their movie adaptations. As any reader, I loved the book more. I came to know that the book is actually part a trilogy and I will have to try and read all three. In short, a very good read for horror and thriller genre lovers.