Come Out Tonight by Richard Laymon Search Amazon for other books by or about Richard Laymon. Rating: Reviewed by: Luke Croll

Sherry and Duane are ready to have sex for the first time. However, they have no condoms. Duane remembers a 24-hour shop, but it is not the safest and nicest of places at night. He decides to risk it, as it is only ten minutes away.

However, after twenty, Duane has still not come back. It is then that Sherry hears a noise, a noise that sounds suspiciously like a gunshot. What has become of Duane?

Again, Richard Laymon has written a novel of reasonable length but one that takes place over a very short space of time. It starts in the evening and continues on to the next morning and a bit of the afternoon as well. What amazes me is how simple things happen, yet with Laymon,they are dragged out to last so much longer.

He does this with lots and lots of dialogue. The characters are alway stalking to each other, which makes it a lot more believable and more like real life. Laymon also has some good characters here, which he really works to get the most out of them.

I know the subject matter might put some people off - the main character is a homicidal sex-crazed maniac, who wants nothing more than to rape and kill. A great deal of the book is sex-orientated and it all seems like a cross between a horror novel and a thriller, which he pulls together well.

It is a well-written novel and any of his previous fans will love it. If you are a fan of Dean Koontz, I think that you will also find similarities here, though I feel that Koontz is the better writer in his certain genre. If you have never read a Laymon before, by all means try this, but do have a look at my words of warning above!

It is a great pity that Laymon is not more widely available. Indeed, he is a US writer but he is most famous in the UK. He deserves a lot more recognition than he gets so let us hope that he finally manages to crack the US market.