Helmet Head - Mike Baron

I don't read many horror novels, but I enjoy a good one now and then, and Mike Baron's HELMET HEAD certainly falls into that category. I've read many a good comic book written by Baron, but this is the first novel of his that I've read.

If you want action, you'll definitely find it in this yarn about a cop and a motorcycle gang joining forces to battle a demon biker with a big-ass sword who's been murdering people on the rural roads of southern Illinois for years. Helmet Head is considered to be a legend among bikers, but the characters in this book discover that he's all too real.

As in all good books, though, not everything is as it first seems. There's more to Helmet Head, the character, than you might think, and the story goes in directions I didn't expect at all. Not only that, while most of the action takes place over the course of a few hours, Baron also delves into the back-stories of his characters and makes them real. This is one of those books where you don't know who's going to live and who's going to die, and if you try to guess you'll stand a good chance of being wrong. That creates a lot of suspense and makes for an effective ending.

HELMET HEAD is, as they say, not for the squeamish, but it's fast, well-written, and very entertaining. If you like horror fiction with a lot of action, you should definitely check it out.