by Christopher Golden
Hardcover, 320 pages
St. Martin's Press, January 21, 2014
3.5 stars
Any book that gets blurbed by Stephen King gets immediate attention from me and this book deserved it. Reminiscent of The Mist the concept behind this book is a rather simple one: A giant snowstorm sweeps into the small town of Coventry, people claim to see strange figures in the snow, and people walk into the storm never to be seen again. Fast forward twelve years and another giant storm is headed their way. As they make their preparations the residents of Coventry are haunted by the events of the previous storm and fear the return of whatever evil may accompany it. Sounds good, right?
The book initially takes off at a great pace, introducing characters in the form of short vignettes, describing the storm and the chaos it causes, and is just generally scary. Golden successfully captured the suffocating feel of a snow storm which added to the overall discomfort you experience as a reader. Because the story concept was a familiar one, the focus could be on the characters and their emotional responses to the terrifying circumstances in which they find themselves. The jump forward in time did cause some initial confusion since many of the characters from the opening pages were now in new relationships and...for other reasons that I cannot disclose without spoilers.
All in all this was a very good horror novel. There weren't any flashy gimmicks or twists, just a solid concept and successful execution. It was a fast read for a book over 300 pages, which was good since it wasn't the kind of book you'd want to set aside mid-read. If you like horror that has the feel of early Stephen King and Dean Koontz (Phantoms comes to mind here), give this one a try.
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