Review: Red Rain by R.L. Stine

R.L. Stine, New York Times bestselling author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series—the biggest selling children’s books of all time—delivers a terrifying new adult horror novel centered on a town in the grip of a sinister revolt.

Before there was J.K. Rowling, before there was Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, there was R.L. Stine. Witty, creepy, and compulsively readable, he defined horror for a generation of young readers—readers who have now come of age. 

Travel writer Lea Sutter finds herself on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the wrong place at the wrong time. A merciless, unanticipated hurricane cuts a path of destruction and Lea barely escapes with her life. In the storm’s aftermath, she discovers orphaned twin boys and impulsively decides to adopt them. The boys, Samuel and Daniel, seem amiable and immensely grateful; Lea’s family back on Long Island—husband Mark and their two children, Ira and Elena—aren’t quite so pleased. But even they can’t anticipate the twins’ true nature—or predict that, within a few weeks’ time, Mark will wind up implicated in two brutal murders, with the police narrowing in.

For the millions of readers who grew up on Goosebumps, and for every fan of deviously inventive horror, this is a must-read from a beloved master of the genre.

Thank you so much S&S for providing a copy for an honest review.

Review

Let's get right into this one. I did not felt the suspense, the horror, the fear, straight and simple. Sure there were gory scene such as:

"Blood poured from an open tear in her other side...ragged flesh of the woman's other leg trapped beneath the pile of debris. A white bone poked up from the torn skin." (PG 65)

and I felt like puking when characters puked, I groaned when the characters puked, but there was no terror. I read that above quote with disgust on my face, not spine-tingling horror. And the book was just too slow for me. It felt like the story took a lot of time to start. It seemed like a bad horror TV show. If you watched The River (US TV Show) which only ran for 8 episodes, you basically know how Red Rain was. Sure the plot was not the same but it was just not good. The background was bad, the scenes weren't captivating. It felt very amateur. The book was just not there. 
Character-wise, it wasn't any better. All the characters were blend and one dimensional; they didn't developed or evolved. It was like looking at a piece of rock and tried to wait for it to become a butterfly.

Lea seemed brave and ambitious. She lost her job because of budget cuts but she still strove forward. But she was kind of stupid. I mean she travelled to an island when the hurricane was coming. She could've simply check the weather network. I don't know, she didn't felt like a mother to me, even with her "oh-I-want-to-adopt-these-twins-right-now" maternal instinct.

Mark was an interesting character. He seemed like a normal guy, calm and doesn't have any characteristic that makes him stand out. I thought there was more to him but there wasn't.  And I think this could be said to the whole book.

Autumn, Mark assistant was just...weird. I guess R.L. Stine tried to make sure the readers know that this is an adult book instead of the Goosebumps series with Autumn trying to hit on Mark by wearing provocative clothes, but it was just ugh.

Roz seems super nice and kind. But of course she just sucks at picking a man. And I think out of the whole book, Roz was the only good thing out of it.