Book #57: "The Omen" by David Seltzer

 

The Omen

David Seltzer

 Released: January 1st, 1973

My 27th book for 2024 was David Seltzer’s “The Omen”.

Coming down to the wire on 2024 Reading.  I slacked way too hard the first 6 months of the year, and now need to do some serious reading to get caught up.  3 more books to go.

I've never seen the original Omen movies.  The only reason I decided to read this book (and presently, the sequel) is because I saw the prequel last year while working with one of my clients.  We went to the movie theater in downtown Vancouver, WA, and saw "The First Omen".  I felt the movie was pretty good and set a lot in motion.  It was only later that I found out that it was a prequel on a whole series of movies featuring the character Damien who is apparently the anti-Christ.

The book reads pretty well.  You get a good sense of the characters in Robert Thorn, his wife Katherine, their "son" Damien, and some other notable characters.  Even though I have not seen the movie, I could still see it playing out in my head.  The story is quite good, and compelling in different ways.

Essentially, Katherine is giving birth to she and her husband Robert's baby.  The baby is stillborn, but Robert makes a secret deal with a priest to switch the baby with one that killed its mother during childbirth.

The secret lingers on for years, until strange things mysteriously begin happening.  Katherine has odd feelings about Damien, and Robert begins to see his family deteriorate via some unknown phenomenon.  The story takes us from London to parts of Rome, and Israel.  Lots of great locations and sights abound.

The ending is a bit disturbing, however it sets up the next story in the series quite well by getting rid of loose ends that were not meant to be.  Interesting book.

Here is what I learned:

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• Katherine Thorn had suffered two miscarriages.

• Robert Thorn and Katherine have been together since childhood.

• Thorn is the President’s economic advisor.

• Thorn is 42.

• Turn and the President were roommates in college.

• The Thorns are of Catholic parentage but not religious.

• The Thorns’ estate is in McLean, VA.

• Albert Einstein didn’t learn to talk until he was 4.

• Haber Jennings is an Aquarian.

• He seldom wears socks.

• Haber lives in a one-room flat in Chelsea.

• Jennings smokes opium joints.

• Damien has no fingerprints.

• According to Mrs. Baylock, a good nanny is determined by the size of her breasts.  The bigger, the better.

• Katherine’s parents were Russian immigrants.

• Katherine’s father committed suicide by jumping off a Minneapolis building.

• Katherine was born shortly after and never met her father.

• The zoo animals can sense the evil in Damien.

• John Quincy Adams and James Monroe were Ambassadors to London before becoming president.

• Tassone is a priest who travel to many different parts of the world and engaged in extremely religious acts.  He was orphaned and brought to a monastery.

• A man named Bugenhagen founded the first progeny of Satan in the year 1092.

• “There could be nothing more dangerous than involving a member of the press.”

• Haber Jennings lives in a slum.

• The priest lived in a cold-water flat in Soho.

• The priest had a diary about Thorn.

• The priest and Thorn were to meet at Kew Gardens the day he died.

• Jennings washes his genitals with urine.  A trick he claims to have learned in the RAF as a substitute for penicillin.

• “Finding” is misspelled “Fnding” on page 193.

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Overall, decent read.  If you're into horror, definitely check it out, and especially if you're a fan of the film series.  As I stated above, I have never seen the original Omen movies, and I enjoyed the book.  

Recommended for Horror fans.

On to Book #58: "Damien: Omen II" by Joseph Howard.

*Blogger's Note: Damien: Omen II now becomes my first book of 2025.*