Horror World Book Reviews
October, 2005
KEEPERS By Gary Braunbeck
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
Gil
Stewart is on his way back from the successful grand opening
of his second Packrat's Attic (a novelties and collectibles
store), when he spots a strange old man on the side of
the road, dressed in a bowler hat and three-piece suit.
A gust of wind blows the man's hat off his head, and before
anyone can stop him he darts into traffic and is struck
by a minivan. The oddest parts of the whole surreal scene
are the monstrous bull mastiffs, which bound into sight
at the edge of the road as if about to give chase, before
sitting down to watch the accident happen.
Not
knowing what else to do, Gil jumps out and retrieves the
hat. As he bends to the broken body, the man whispers
a phrase to him that means everything and nothing: "The
Keepers are coming."
That
single, peculiar warning will lead to a series of even
more peculiar events, an eventual flood of long-forgotten
memories, and finally to the revelation of an ancient
mythos that dates back to creation itself, as the very
fabric of reality is stretched thin and finally ripped
away altogether.
To
say more would be to risk ruining an exquisitely well-crafted
world, and a plot that twists and turns and folds back
upon itself with surgical precision. Braunbeck uses several
different literary devices and styles in Keepers, but
they all work flawlessly together, and his astonishing
gift for language and mood is only slightly marred by
the sheer strangeness of the narrative. Readers looking
for a traditional style of horror might wish briefly for
a more conventional plot line, but that wish is fleeting.
The remarkable achievement of this novel is that it is
so cleverly done, so brilliantly written, the most bizarre
happenings (such as a person morphing into a huge bird)
are rendered as completely believable, and essential to
the world which Braunbeck has created.
As
in most of his fiction, Braunbeck's subtle, haunting language
nearly overwhelms everything else. There is loneliness
here, and loss, and depression; there are characters,
both human and animal, that will make you ache with sadness
at what life has in store for them. It will be a long
time before you are able to look at an old person (or
an abandoned or beaten animal) in the same way again.
Braunbeck
is one of the genre's most swiftly rising stars, and with
Keepers he proves once again that his reputation for penning
unique, sensitive and multi-leveled horror fiction is
well-deserved indeed. Highly recommended.
Leisure
Books
Signed and inscribed copies available at Shocklines
*********************************
PARISH
DAMNED By Lee Thomas
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
This
haunting, beautifully-written novella follows the story
of a charter fishing boat owner, a local in the small
seaside town of Coral Point. Every four years, a strange
sickness invades the town, and those infected suffer terribly,
descending into madness before finally throwing themselves
into the sea and disappearing forever.
But
this time when the illness comes, the results are different.
The people who have been infected are dying on land, strange
sightings are being reported at night, and only the charter
boat owner knows why. What is hunting the people of Coral
Point is far more dangerous than any disease, and it is
up to him to destroy the creatures that hide in the depths
of the ocean, and return to the surface to feed on the
living when the sun goes down.
Parish
Damned is a good example of why Thomas is a swiftly rising
star in the horror genre. It has the feel of a good old-fashioned
gothic ghost story, where the mood is set with care, and
the author takes the time to build the tension and then
twists it until it snaps.
Parish
Damned perfectly captures the loneliness of the open sea,
the sounds of a seaside village at sunrise, and the cold,
deep dark of an ocean grave, filled with a loneliness
and sadness that echoes the town itself. The climax reads
like a vampire version of jaws, with a salty old fisherman
leading a bewildered and overmatched group against a vicious
attacker. When the end arrives, the explicit gore is all
the more shocking for the beautiful language that has
come before it.
The
narrator is deliciously drawn, and lends just enough humor
to a few scenes to highlight the darker spots of the novella.
His own secret, revealed only at the very last moment,
gives him added weight and complexity. In the end, Thomas
has with a few short strokes painted the life into a small
ocean town, illustrating how even after death, members
of a town live on. Their souls are forever tied to this
place, screams blending with the sounds of the ocean lapping
softly against the shore.
Highly
recommended.
Available
at Shocklines
*********************************
THE
TOWER By Simon Clark
Reviewed
by Patricia Snodgrass
The
beginning of the Tower seemed promising. A band traveling
to a remote area in Yorkshire to work on their music,
stops to pick up a dog in the middle of the road. From
there, unfortunately, the Tower stops being a new work
and falls into a cookie cutter haunted house story.
It's
obvious that Clark is a capable writer. And the Tower
could have been a fascinating and disturbing novel. Instead
Clark falls back on threadbare story lines: The creepy
man hiding in the swamp who likes to torture and kill
things, the Amnytivillesque idea of a house possessing
its occupants, the pretty girl who gets laid and is killed,
the virgin, the house in the middle of nowhere, the clock
that won't shut up; the dog that chooses to stay behind
in the aftermath.
It's
not a horrible novel, just a predictable and uninteresting
one. There were good points that I wish Clark had brought
out more, such as the Good Heart, for instance, which
could have been utilized for some really scary work. .And
there's a scene with a light bulb that had me writhing
in my recliner. The shower scene was pretty good too,
but sadly predictable.
Mechanically,
the story is pure formula writing, which isn't necessarily
a bad thing, but it does take away the spontaneity of
the work. Clark's grammar and writing style are solid,
although there were a number of spelling errors in the
work, which made me think that the Tower was hastily edited,
which is pretty much the smooch of death for any book.
The
Tower would be good for someone who is new to the horror
genre or for a teenager perhaps, but for the experienced
horror aficionado, no. Chances are, it'll be shoved aside
for the next book on the to be read pile. Pick it up at
the library if you're curious, but I wouldn't spend money
on it.
Leisure
Books
*********************************
ABDUCTED
By Brian Pinkerton
Reviewed by Nate Kenyon
A
career woman who has just left her job to spend time with
her son Tim, Anita Sherwood should have been enjoying
her first night as a stay-at-home mom. Instead, she and
her husband Dennis return from a farewell dinner to a
nightmare. Two-year old Tim and his nanny Pam are missing.
Concern
grows quickly into panic, as the police arrive and a cryptic
and suspicious message from Pam comes through Anita's
phone. It's not long before the police find Pam's car
in dense woods, parked near the edge of a cliff. The worst
is confirmed, as all that is recovered from the twisting,
crashing waves is Tim's tattered teddy bear.
Two
years later, Anita's life is in tatters. Now divorced,
she is haunted by the memory of her son, and by the slim
hope that somehow, he might still be alive. Her ex-husband
has turned to the bottle, everyone in her life has long-since
abandoned her, and she has all but given up hope. Until
one day she catches just a glimpse of a little boy's face
on a passing bus. A little boy who looks just like Tim…
Any
parent will identify with the nightmare presented in this
neatly packaged thriller, and Pinkerton's straight-ahead,
simple prose style allows the compelling and deceptively
complex plot to shine through. Abducted is much more than
just another "child in peril" story, with multi-layered
characters and plenty of twists, but it remains a lightning-fast,
addictive read. Pinkerton is a master at tightening the
tension until it spills out across the page.
There
is a quick shift of viewpoint over three-quarters of the
way through the book, but although jarring it is necessary
to reveal a shocking plot point. Pinkerton masterfully
shifts suspicion between a handful of characters, and
the final twist comes as a welcome surprise. Readers may
think they see it coming, but they'll change their minds
two or three times before it's all over, and when all's
said and done, parents will find themselves holding their
children just a bit longer and a bit tighter than before.
Leisure
Books
*********************************
GRAVE INTENT by Deborah Le Blanc
Reviewed by Patricia Snodgrass
Set
in Louisiana, Grave Intent revolves around two families.
Leblanc begins by introducing the reader to a gypsy family
whose nineteen-year-old daughter has died in a horseback
riding accident. The other family is the Savoy's: Michael,
Janet and their preschool daughter, Ellie. Michael Savoy
is the funeral home director and has an estranged relationship
with his father, Wilson.
I
like Le Blanc's writing style. It's pure Louisiana stripped
clean of overworked prose. The people are real and likeable,
even Wilson, that old rascal, who set a curse in motion
by stealing a magical coin destined as payment for young
Thalia's journey to the Other world.
There
were a few problems with the story, but none so great
as to take away from the plot. The slugfest scene was
overdone, and there were times when Janet, Ellie and Heather
started driving me nuts in the house gone berserk. And
Michael's mad dash down to Lafayette to retrieve his family
had me swearing in frustration.
But
there were also some nicely done scenes. The Ferris wheel
scene, for instance, had me holding my breath, and the
triumphant scene in the cemetery was priceless.
I
recommend Grave Intent and look forward to reading more
of Le Blanc's work.
Leisure
Books
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