gilda_elise

A family returns to their hometown—and to the dark past that haunts them still—in this masterpiece of literary horror by the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers

Long ago, Nathan lived in a house in the country with his abusive father—and has never told his family what happened there.

Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have—and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures.

Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania.

Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver.

And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic.

This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family—and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.

Well, going by this book, here’s another author whose books I’ll be adding to my to-be-read pile.

Part science fiction, but really absolutely horror, the book’s focus is on how the past and future can meet, and how one person’s actions can destroy a world. Or many worlds. It took awhile to figure out what was good on, which was a good thing, as it ratcheted up the suspense. Even then, there were some real surprises.

The characters were compelling, especially Nate. As we learn how their pasts come together, and what it means for their futures, the best part of Nate, and Maddie and Oliver, come through.

My only complaint, and in the scheme of things it’s a small one, was how the characters kept doing things that they felt weren’t the smartest things to be doing. Once or twice, okay, but this kept happening. They were think to themselves, “My gut tells me not to do this,” but they’d do it anyway. Overlooking that, it’s a suspenseful and compelling read that can’t help but pull you in.