The Missing is the second novel by Sarah Langan, author of The Keeper. This little gem makes the count two for two in the "good reads" category (remember, my last book was Found You, by Mary SanGiovanni. The one before that was a bad one that I didn't review, but ranted about, after which, the "incident tracker" reset to zero!). For you grumbling naysayers out there, who think it's all about the elf, now: yes, I DO realize that it's Christmas time. But if your heart is pure, every day can be Halloween! So, for those of you who read horror year-round, here's one worth looking at.
The story takes place in Corpus Christi, a small, affluent community in Maine. The neighboring town of Bedford is a blue-collar "anytown". At least it was before an environmental catastrophe all but destroyed it. When grade-school teacher, Lois Larkin takes her class on a field trip to Bedford years after the accident, something is awakened, something that begins to transforms its victims into violent, hungry creatures who will not stop until every living soul in Corpus Christi has been utterly consumed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. From the description, it's easy to lump this novel in with a number of other books under the "zombie" category and call it a day. But the creatures in this story are not mindless monsters milling about for any meal that crosses their paths. There is method to their madness. The writing is taut, the characters are complex and believable - sometimes tragically so - and the scares are there in abundance. There are some gory moments, as you would expect, but it all felt necessary, the logical succession of a chain of events, rather than the kind of excess that rubs your nose in it and forces you to breathe deep. Feel free to prop your feet up of an evening with this one. I think most of you will be pleased.
That's it for this review. But it has occurred to me - for no other reason than that two good books followed one bad - that some of the best, most hard-hitting horror I've come across lately, has been written by women. There may or may not be anything to that. It doesn't surprise me in the least, and I certainly don't give a flying fart in a high wind whether I plunk down my six or seven bucks and change on a book written by a man or a woman...only that I spent my six or seven bucks well. But still, I find myself wanting to see what else is out there for women in horror. If anybody has any ideas, wouldja do me a solid and send 'em my way? Mighty kind of ya.
Peace,
Chris
The story takes place in Corpus Christi, a small, affluent community in Maine. The neighboring town of Bedford is a blue-collar "anytown". At least it was before an environmental catastrophe all but destroyed it. When grade-school teacher, Lois Larkin takes her class on a field trip to Bedford years after the accident, something is awakened, something that begins to transforms its victims into violent, hungry creatures who will not stop until every living soul in Corpus Christi has been utterly consumed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. From the description, it's easy to lump this novel in with a number of other books under the "zombie" category and call it a day. But the creatures in this story are not mindless monsters milling about for any meal that crosses their paths. There is method to their madness. The writing is taut, the characters are complex and believable - sometimes tragically so - and the scares are there in abundance. There are some gory moments, as you would expect, but it all felt necessary, the logical succession of a chain of events, rather than the kind of excess that rubs your nose in it and forces you to breathe deep. Feel free to prop your feet up of an evening with this one. I think most of you will be pleased.
That's it for this review. But it has occurred to me - for no other reason than that two good books followed one bad - that some of the best, most hard-hitting horror I've come across lately, has been written by women. There may or may not be anything to that. It doesn't surprise me in the least, and I certainly don't give a flying fart in a high wind whether I plunk down my six or seven bucks and change on a book written by a man or a woman...only that I spent my six or seven bucks well. But still, I find myself wanting to see what else is out there for women in horror. If anybody has any ideas, wouldja do me a solid and send 'em my way? Mighty kind of ya.
Peace,
Chris
RSS Feed
