This is the lackluster review that occurs after someone’s computer crashes mere seconds before her hand hovers over the mouse and thinks, “I should save this…” but I didn’t…so here you go!
I had to take a small break from reading recently because my husband said, “It feels like you’re taunting me with how much you’ve been reading” as he continued to dig ditches in the yard, weed gardens, build a new stand for my mailbox, clean the basement etc. So…I thought it only fair that I help him a little around the house and maybe interact with my children a little. BUT THAT WAS SO HARD, BECAUSE THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. Sometimes I’d slip off to the bathroom and just read in there so it looked like I wasn’t reading…shhh, tell no one. I don’t even care if this is posted on the Internet, this is my secret to sanity. But this isn’t about me, it’s about the best book I’ve read in a long time.
In the 3rd and final installment in the Pine Deep Trilogy, shit is about the hit the fan. The only difference here is that the characters know/have an idea at least of what they’re up against, they suspect the legion of evil awaiting them and yet, there’s really nothing that they can do but fight. Simultaneously, tourists are descending upon Pine Deep because it’s Halloween. They are about to be major pawns in this massive battle between good and evil, but don’t even know it. Armed with fangs, psychedelic candy and an army of vampiric fiends, Ruger will be creating an even larger army to honor and raise the evil Ubel Griswold from his swampy grave. But Crow, Val, Mike and the others are armed with some knowledge of the ancient folklore and are seeking to stop this from happening.
I can’t really say much more because A) to talk about it sounds silly and it’s so incredibly far from silly. Yeah, I’m sick of vampires and werewolves too…but in this book? They are fresh, they are sinister and they are so incredibly terrifying it’s insane. Maberry has a great talent for verisimilitude that takes the horror to the next level. If you can make the leap that these creatures could possibly exist (at least for the duration of the book) then there’s not much of a leap to be made that the events as they unfold, could happen. B) I don’t want to give away the plot. I think I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again. I am a major Stephen King fan (and horror in general), King has such strong books that sometimes crumble as he hurtles us toward the ending. Maberry doesn’t suffer from that here. He pitches the reader headfirst into the danger and describes every gruesome detail as he does so. I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who likes horror and/or awesomeness. It’s chock full o’ both.
PS. This post has been saved 4 times prior to publishing because now I’m a paranoid wreck. No one wants to rewrite a review. Just take my word for it, my first one? It was glorious; it was a literary critique for the ages.
