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Book Review: The Deep by Nick Cutter

The Deep by Nick Cutter

Pocket Books, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4767-1774-6

Available: Paperback, mass market paperback,  library binding, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

With his second novel, The Deep, author Nick Cutter has his modus operandi firmly established: keep the number of main characters to five or less, put them in an isolated setting, add in a biological menace to terrorize the characters, and a dash of blood, and voila, you have a thriller/horror novel.  It’s the formula he uses, and he does it very well.  This book moves at a fast clip: no lengthy expositions or wasted time.  It’s a good thriller from one of the better writers of the genre.

 

The plot: it’s present day, and the human population is being ravaged to extinction by a new disease called the ‘Gets.  The only possible hope for a cure lies in a research station at the bottom of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific, in the form of a new sort of biological organism.  As the book opens, contact with the three scientists at the research station has been lost.  Luke Nelson is the brother of Clayton Nelson, one of the scientists trapped on the bottom.  For reasons unknown to Luke, he’s brought in to make the trip to the bottom and re-establish contact with Clayton and the others.   Once he gets to the station, mayhem results.  The biological organism is not what it seems, and it bends reality for all the humans, causing deadly results.

 

Most of the book takes place in the claustrophobic environs of the research station. The characters quickly realize they are trapped in a station where reality and fantasy, through their dreams and nightmares, quickly meld together: distinguishing between them becomes almost impossible.  Cutter’s skill really shines here.  You start to feel claustrophobic on reading some of the sequences, such as the ones with characters trapped in corridors or ducts.  Add in the terror the characters feel from the creatures (or figments of their nightmares) pursuing them, and you have a first rate thriller.  The descriptions are perfect: Cutter really lets you feel the emotions of the characters as they struggle to survive.  The backstory on Luke Nelson and Clay Nelson is filled in with chapters interspersed throughout the book that reference a point in their lives growing up.  As it turns out, those chapters are not just asides for understanding the characters, but play a part in the overall story thread. These chapters do help flesh the brothers out, but they won’t change your thinking about them.  They are pretty much good or evil: there’s very little in-between.

The only drawback to the book is the ending, which felt rushed and seemed confusing, asking more questions than it answered.  After over 480 pages of excellent writing, the last 10 just felt tacked on.  Outside of that, this is an excellent thriller/horror novel, recommended for adults and teens alike.

 

Contains: violence, mild gore

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on October 26, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay

Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
William Morrow Books, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0062363275
Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, library binding, audiobook, audio CD

Last year’s Stoker winner for best novel was one of the least anticipated in many years. People who read it knew that A Head Full of Ghosts was a shoo-in; it simply was one of the strongest horror novels in several years.  Paul Tremblay’s characters seemed as real as the next-door neighbors, despite the suggestion of supernatural involvement in the events of the story, the multiple perspectives he used were smoothly integrated, yet somehow formed a disorienting and frightening narrative.

Disappearance aat Devil’s Rock is a definite departure in terms of tone and style. It’s a subtle tale, yet one with plenty of tension and plot twists. From the first page, it’s as if Tremblay is whispering to the reader in a dark and secluded New England pub on a chilly autumn evening. What begins as a simple case of a missing teenager turns into something quite sinister that tears at the fabric of a family’s sanity.

Elizabeth Sanderson receives that dreaded call– Tommy, her teenage son has gone missing.  He disappeared in Borderland Park at his friends’ favorite hangout, Devil’s Rock. One night, pages of Tommy’s journal begin to appear on the floor of the house, opening a box of puzzle pieces that don’t quite seem to fit together.  Elizabeth, her daughter Kate, and her mother Janice, struggle to figure out what the late night pages mean. As Elizabeth delves into the mystery, she finds that everyone has a different version of what happened, and that Tommy’s friends are hiding something, or someone. There are even sightings of him around town: is there a chance that Tommy is still alive?

Where Tremblay succeeds in his novels, and this has been noted in several other reviews, is in focusing on the spaces between words, actions, and characters’ relationships. The supernatural may be a component of Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, or just an illusion. This is a thinking reader’s horror/thriller/mystery/suspense novel, but it is as accessible and quick a read as any bestselling page-turner, and might be the one to break down the genre walls for Tremblay.  Recommended.

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

Posted on October 24, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Are You In The House Alone? by Richard Peck

Are You In The House Alone? by Richard Peck

Puffin, 2000

ISBN: 0141306939

Available: New and Used

 

Editor’s note: Are You In The House Alone? was first published in 1977. I first read it in 1985, and our review of it is one of the earliest we published. While it is dated, given current events, it seems eerily relevant, and even more terrifying.

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    This is probably the first young adult novel to deal frankly with rape and its aftermath. Gail, a high school junior living in a charming New England town, is getting obscene notes and phone calls. She doesn’t want to think about it, her best friend pretends nothing is happening, and when she finally tells a guidance counselor she isn’t taken seriously. Isolated and terrified, she opens the door one night to let her boyfriend in and is surprised by her stalker, who happens to be her best friend’s boyfriend and the son of the wealthiest family in her small town.

    The chief of police tells Gail he will not arrest the boy, and a sympathetic lawyer explains that pressing charges would mean an attack on her personal life. Gail decides not to press charges, and returns to school. Another girl with an identical raincoat is then attacked on her way home and is left in critical condition.

     This story shows that the rapist is not the only monster. Every person who turns a blind eye to Gail’s situation, from her best friend to the chief of police, shows an ugly side that should horrify anyone who has ever needed to tell a terrible secret.  Richard Peck, a brilliant young adult author, is effective at creating Gail’s world and is able to express the horror of her situation without getting graphic.

Contains: sexual situations, violence

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on October 3, 2018 by , Reply
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