2/10/04
Book
Welcome to Bob's Book Reviews for Horror/Thriller Novels, your online source for information on everything imaginative.
Pine Shallow: The Serpent Prophecies - Darrin Wilson
Matthew Blackwood's life has been turned upside down as strange things begin to happen in his sleepy little town of Pine Shallow. Starting with his house being eaten by a strange insect infestation and paranormal events following him wherever he goes things are quickly turning from bad to worse. His son Eric is stuck in much the same predicament. When Matt calls upon a psychic who helped his aunt years previous he finally begins to understand the depth of the trouble he's in though he can barely begin to grasp exactly what it is that is plaguing the town. It all comes down to one thing, the Serpent Prophecies and its grip upon his life.
Pine Shallow is the first novel from Darrin Wilson, a new Canadian talent. The main cast of characters have a fair bit of depth and a goodly amount of backstory to make them more real. At the same time though they are somewhat faceless with lacking or vague easily forgotten descriptions. The settings as well have scant descriptions. It is the price of keeping the story flowing quickly making for something of a whirlwind. Once rolling it is quite a page turner. There are some nice horrific flourishes, a couple of really nice cinematic scenes, and an overall good atmosphere.
There are some first time mistakes. For the most part the story has no voice, taking on something of the unadorned documentary style that some horror movies have. Then there are spots where this quality is broken. Occasionally the carpentry of the writing is visible with sudden telling not showing spots and telegraphed moves or spots where the narrative jumps the gun. Initially the supernatural elements were a bit ham-fisted and it remains heavy handed later on. There are some cliches which are a bit distracting but in contrast there are some interesting homage type moments.
The book itself also has a few problems. Initially the punctuation and grammar is stiff and strict but then later on it is comparatively loose in spots. There are obvious printing problems such as missing paragraph indentation. One of the last pages carries a disclaimer that claims any errors within the text are the fault of the author and would seem to indicate the lack of a professional editor. It would certainly explain things, including the occasional gaffe in terminology. As it stands, these printing problems aside, Pine Shadow is a good first effort from a new author who should definitely be kept track of in the future.
(
Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)
All ideas, opinions, and information are from the reviewer
and are not representative of any company or group involved with the creators
and/or staff of the materials being reviewed.
Updates Page
R.M.T.P. Co.
Site © 1999 reviews@batteredspleenproductions.com
