I don’t think The Hive is Malfi’s best novel, but it’s surely his most ambitious. It may, however, be the most fun I’ve ever had with one of his books.
I wasn’t aware of this until I read Ron’s author’s note that follows The Hive, but this was a project in long gestation. He started and abandoned the novel over the years, despairing that he’d ever be able to make it publishable.
Honestly, it shows. It reminds me a little of The Talisman, a novel where King and Straub’s writing styles hadn’t fully integrated. I recently re-read The Talisman and I still love it, not despite its awkwardness, but because of it. Both it and The Hive are big shaggy dog books, rough and ready, and utterly lovable.
Ronald Malfi has worked hard to develop his fictional voice. It comes through best, so far, in Come With Me and Senseless. I see Ron’s influences and horror writer icons dancing around in The Hive’s pages. It’s got King and Straub, and the dizzying scope of F. Paul Wilson’s dizzying Adversary Cycle. I detect elements of McCammon, Koontz, and even some Bentley Little.
Our story begins in a typical neighborhood. Not so different from yours and mine. But Mariner's Cove is about to be infested with utter madness.
A storm tears through the community and strews various items around the neighborhood. A door, coat hangers, a colander. Mundane, everyday household items, but residents become obsessed with them. They’re all pieces of a jigsaw puzzle with mechanizations from far beyond the quaint community.
Malfi introduces a diverse assembly of credible characters, all woven into a mesmerizing story. There’s a kid with psychic powers right out of a King novel, a gothy teen, a heart surgeon, an alcoholic and user in shaky recovery, and a whole slew of others.
The wild, sprawling story reminds me of when Peter Straub threw everything-including-the-kitchen-sink into Floating Dragon. It annoyed some readers, but I adored Floating Dragon.
Just as I adore The Hive. Indulgent? Hell yes. Beautifully so. Boring? Never.
This is Ronald Malfi having fun in a giant sandbox. Well, I’m sure planning this big messy book was a pain in the ass, but I’m sure glad he invited me to join him on this bizarre ride.
I always thought Malfi was a hell of a writer. Right from the beginning, with the first book I read. It was called Passenger, a long out-of-print novel originally published by Delirium Books back in 2008. Go ahead, try to find a copy of that one. You can, if you feel like paying an arm and a leg for it.
Ronald Malfi is on par with any horror writer now, living or dead. The Hive, for all its out-of-control excesses, is a stunning achievement. I can't even begin to imagine what he has in store for us next.
Written by Mark Sieber
I wasn’t aware of this until I read Ron’s author’s note that follows The Hive, but this was a project in long gestation. He started and abandoned the novel over the years, despairing that he’d ever be able to make it publishable.
Honestly, it shows. It reminds me a little of The Talisman, a novel where King and Straub’s writing styles hadn’t fully integrated. I recently re-read The Talisman and I still love it, not despite its awkwardness, but because of it. Both it and The Hive are big shaggy dog books, rough and ready, and utterly lovable.
Ronald Malfi has worked hard to develop his fictional voice. It comes through best, so far, in Come With Me and Senseless. I see Ron’s influences and horror writer icons dancing around in The Hive’s pages. It’s got King and Straub, and the dizzying scope of F. Paul Wilson’s dizzying Adversary Cycle. I detect elements of McCammon, Koontz, and even some Bentley Little.Our story begins in a typical neighborhood. Not so different from yours and mine. But Mariner's Cove is about to be infested with utter madness.
A storm tears through the community and strews various items around the neighborhood. A door, coat hangers, a colander. Mundane, everyday household items, but residents become obsessed with them. They’re all pieces of a jigsaw puzzle with mechanizations from far beyond the quaint community.
Malfi introduces a diverse assembly of credible characters, all woven into a mesmerizing story. There’s a kid with psychic powers right out of a King novel, a gothy teen, a heart surgeon, an alcoholic and user in shaky recovery, and a whole slew of others.
The wild, sprawling story reminds me of when Peter Straub threw everything-including-the-kitchen-sink into Floating Dragon. It annoyed some readers, but I adored Floating Dragon.
Just as I adore The Hive. Indulgent? Hell yes. Beautifully so. Boring? Never.
This is Ronald Malfi having fun in a giant sandbox. Well, I’m sure planning this big messy book was a pain in the ass, but I’m sure glad he invited me to join him on this bizarre ride.
I always thought Malfi was a hell of a writer. Right from the beginning, with the first book I read. It was called Passenger, a long out-of-print novel originally published by Delirium Books back in 2008. Go ahead, try to find a copy of that one. You can, if you feel like paying an arm and a leg for it.
Ronald Malfi is on par with any horror writer now, living or dead. The Hive, for all its out-of-control excesses, is a stunning achievement. I can't even begin to imagine what he has in store for us next.
Written by Mark Sieber
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