And Now For Something DIfferent

 Your Secret Admirer - Carl Laymon 

                                                          

                                                          

       I know you're asking yourself why I'm reading a cheesy young adult novel but more importantly why am I reviewing it? The answer is simple. Your Secret Admirer was written by none other than the late Richard Laymon and I wonder how he felt about this novel when he started gaining a cult following. Did he know that fans like me would actually track it down just to show them off in their collection? It's funny to see Night In The Lonesome October, Funland and Bite standing next to a book called Your Secret Admirer. There's really no comparison between this and his later novels which is kind of the point. What's great about it is that Laymon gets right to the mystery which is who the secret admirer could be. I remember reading a few young adult horror novels and some of them were great. R.L. Stine really raised the bar on how great YA horror could be, but Laymon also adds something as well. While it's a novel aimed at teens it's interesting enough to be read by adults despite the cheese that oozes from the pages. 

       Reading it now, the story does feel dated, but it doesn't detract from the story at all. One of the Laymon trademarks has found its way here and that's at it how well it's written. Right in the first few pages you know what the story's about, but we don't know who this person is. The letters become even odder and to make matters worse we're introduced to Glenn a creepy kid that tries to force Janice into dating him. It's a Laymon trademark to include two plots and Glenn is the type of villian that is just so creepy, and even dangerous. Laymon has always created the best villians. These are villians who are deeply disturbed. When you meet Glenn you instantly know that this is Richard Laymon and even for a YA novel he makes certain parts of the book dark and even a little creepy. 

        Another interesting thin is the Easter Egg that he places inside the novel. Eagle eyed Laymon fans will instantly pick up on it and it's interesting to see the nod to his more mature work. This was Laymon's only book written for Scholastic and it's unfortunate, but also a relief. While Your Secret Admirer is a decent, well rounded YA book, it's the over the top horror that he is most known for and the early novels written under different pen names are mostly sought out by fans who are completists. Even reading this as an adult, I liked it despite the fact that it's dated and does follow the tropes of young adult novels of this era. 

        It's not exactly horror, but it's pretty close. The ending was a bit jarring and everything came together as it should, but there was a lot of room to grow and even expand the story. This is a novel for kids so the length is to be expected and it doesn't take away from the story at all. Even if Laymon was doing this simply for the paycheck he still manages to craft a solid story with the right amount of twists to keep it interesting. It's gives fans a glimpse of Laymon we've never seen before and if I had read this as a teen I would have reread it a million times. It was certainly worth seeking out and allowed me to see Richard Laymon from a different perspective. 5/5