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Book Review: Doll House by John Hunt

 

Doll House by John Hunt  (Bookshop.org)

 Black Rose Writing, 2017

ISBN: 9781612968070

Available: paperback, Kindle

 

Doll House is a white-knuckle horror/thriller that takes a common plot device and spends most of the book on “well, what about after it happens?'” The plot you know: young person abducted by a psycho or two, held captive and tortured for months or years, then escapes at the very end of the book, often killing their torturers in the process.  It’s been done before, sometimes well (Jack Ketchum, Whitley Streiber) and sometimes not so well (Ryan C. Thomas).  In Doll House, that basic plot is wrapped up in the first fortysomething pages.  It’s the “what next?” part that makes up the majority of the book, and it makes for a compelling story.  How will Olivia, the victim, cope with the rest of her life, knowing that one of the abductors got away?  Will the abductor give up and move on, or come back and try again?  How long can the cops provide protection, as the story fades from public eye and budgets are stretched thin?  All good questions, and the book delivers on them all, while providing a rip-snorting good read.

 

A critical part of this story type is hiding the killer’s identity until the end, keeping the reader guessing. The author does an excellent job concealing it, using red herrings and a few scattered clues extremely well.  The clues are there, but you have to read pretty carefully to catch them.  I didn’t guess right, and most readers probably won’t either.  It is very well done.

 

It’s worth nothing that the book is definitely heavy in the narration department, and pretty light on dialogue.  It’s a stylistic choice, but a bit more dialogue would have helped break the story up a bit and pushed it the extra mile. There’s still plenty to generate reader interest, and the story doesn’t drag at any point.  Some of the most interesting parts concern the police and their struggles to track a killer who left no evidence: it’s interesting how difficult detective work really is, and that unfortunately, it can be limited by financial constraints.  As far as nastiness, the author wisely shows restraint and only uses it where needed.  There are a few ugly scenes like toes getting snipped off and an ear getting razored off, but there’s not much blood, and no graphic rape sequences. It’s a horror novel with a few quick bouts of ugliness, and it’s a good one.  There is a sequel to Doll House due to be released later this year, and it will be reviewed here shortly.  Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on August 13, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: The Keepers by Tan Van Huizen

The Keepers, by Tan Van Huizen (Bookshop.org)

Black Rose Writing, 2022

ISBN: 9781684339525

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition 

 

The Keepers  has a frustrating ending: it becomes clear towards the end of the book that there are way too many questions to be answered in the remaining pages.  There is a sequel coming, which is a good thing, as ending the story where it is would be a crime. You’ll want to read The Keepers, and the sequel as well.

 

Set in a small rural town on the edge of a swamp in western Massachusetts, the Keepers are certain members of the local police force charged with upholding a pact made between the Indians who lived there in the 1600’s and the settlers that wiped them out.   The details are intentionally vague in the book, but the gist is, if anyone dishonors the Indian spirits or ancestral land, there will be hell to pay for the town, even if it’s hundreds of years in the future.  People do disappear from the town from time to time, but as for exactly why, and what that has to do with the pact…that’s for the sequel to explain.

 

To be clear, this isn’t a case of an author slapping together a ho-hum book and saving all the big guns for a future story: t’s a solid, exciting read by itself.  The cast of characters is fairly large, but each group connects to the plot.  For the juvenile delinquents, the father of one of them survived a disappearance incident years ago and won’t discuss it with anyone, but it has something to do with the cops.  The cops (only some of them Keepers) are supposed to maintain order, but that’s secondary to maintaining the old settlers’/Indians pact.  There’s also an investigative news crew in town, trying to solve some of the cold case disappearances.  It’s quite a few story threads, but they are slowly drawing together by the end of the book.  However, there is clearly a lot to come in terms of further plot.

 

Despite the lack of plot answers (for now) there’s plenty to keeps readers entertained.  High speed chases, an axe murder or two, people blowing themselves up in the swamp, some dark creature from hoodoo-land that rides the wind across the skies…you know, the usual.  The author clearly knows how to write a page turner, keeping most of the plot details vague until it’s time to reveal them.  Let’s hope that the timeframe for releasing the next book is not on a George R.R. Martin time scale!  

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on August 2, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Toadstones by Eric Williams

 

Toadstones by Eric Williams

Malarkey Books, 2022

ISBN: 9781088017302

Available: paperback, Kindle ( Bookshop.org )

 

If you thought you’d read all the possible plotlines available for short stories, think again.  Eric Williams’s Toadstones obliterates that notion.  The book relies wholly on originality and a deft touch with the writing, no gore or sex needed.  For horror fans, this is a can’t miss.

 

It’s only the beginning of the book that runs flat; of the first three stories, two are easily forgettable.  After that, in terms of imagination, all the stories are loaded with enough horsepower to redline a Peterbilt freight truck.  You can catch traces of the author’s influences (a touch of “The Mummy” and  “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” here, a trace of Lovecraft there) but he’s managed to create something entirely new with them.  The closest to a theme for this book would be ‘ordinary dudes running into REALLY weird things.’  Some examples:

 

1.  A man on a nature hike in Utah happens upon one of the Greek gods, and shares beer and conversation with him.

2.  A showing of a crime noir film turns all too real for some of the theatre viewers.

3.  A corrupt cop robs corpses of their limbs to sell for voodoo charms.

 

If that isn’t enough, there are also two bus-obsessed students tracking a phantom bus on an abandoned route, an oil rig crew drilling a seemingly pointless hole for an eccentric billionaire… the list goes on.  All these stories are very creative, and highly entertaining.  A special mention is needed for “Doomstown”, the best story in the book.  It involves two crazy grad students on a quest to locate one of the mock-up towns left over from the days when the military tested high powered bang-bangs in the Nevada desert.  This story has the highest scare factor of all of them: it’s off the charts.  If you thought mannequins were even remotely creepy, read this story.  You’ll never walk past a department store window again.  “Doomtown'” should win every award available for best horror short story this year, it’s that good.

 

All the stories are well written; they flow fast and smooth like the Jack Daniels at a Kennedy family party on Cape Cod.  There’s a nice touch of humor thrown in on occasion, and the characters are well sketched and feel authentic; there are no cardboard cutouts anywhere.  The author does have a mild touch of Dickens-ism (aka using too many overblown words) on occasion, but that’s easily overlooked, as it only shows up a few times.

 

The bottom line?  Just read it.  One of the best of 2022 so far. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson.

Posted on June 25, 2022 by , Reply
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