Books like Friday the 13th

Simon Hawke's novelization of Friday the 13th, published more than seven years after the film was originally released, hits all the right notes and mostly avoids hitting the wrong ones. It's been awhile since I've seen Friday the 13th, but from what I remember, the plot of Hawke's novel seems to follow it pretty closely. The characters are all fleshed out more, with backstories and motivations that weren't necessarily implicit in the film, but for the most part the emphasis is on suspense, which is where Hawke really excels. The pacing of this novel is really great, and it's easy to read in one sitting. The prose is pedestrian but competent, which is about all you can ask from a novelization of an '80s slasher film.