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Snowstorms in New England can be
exciting and terrifying at the same time. The potential of losing
power, being stuck somewhere and cut off from others are certainly a
danger that one must prepare for in these situations. Now thanks to
Christopher Golden, he has given us more to be afraid of.
Minor spoilers
The town of Coventry remembers the
storm of twelve years ago. People perished and no one has forgotten.
This latest storm is reminding them all of that night when something
in the storm took fathers, mothers and sons from their loved ones.
Is it possible that whatever evil was in that storm twelve years ago
is back? Why are some people acting strange and did one of the dead
call his daughter on the phone?
Christopher Golden has presented us a
story, in the vein of Stephen King, of characters who face life and
death but are given a chance to see their lost family members again.
The snow and cold of winter is so much more than what it usually is.
There is something living in the storm, taking lives, and is back for
more.
The story certainly sets up the
atmosphere perfectly with that pre-storm silence and excitement. The
descriptions of snow and cold are dead on and this reader relates and
understands the feeling that they are meant to convey.
The variety of characters give the
reader different types of losses and loves to experience. Joe Keenan
feels responsible for the death of a boy, Jake, the death of his
brother and TJ, his mother. Whatever took their loved ones away from
them would haunt them forever but after twelve years, reminders of
that night return with a vengeance.
In terms of scares, the book has them.
Golden is also very good a setting the atmosphere and giving you the
chills. His descriptions of the snow piling up on windowsills and
the cold air buffeting houses really puts this book on a new level.
I can relate to it as I grew up and live in New England but his
descriptions put me into those situations even if I am safe and warm
in bed.
He has taken a fairly large amount of
characters and brought them to life just enough to care about them
and their encounters during the second storm. Often with books I try
to imagine what other medium they would function in and I could see
this as a TV movie. I could also see the idea of this book in any TV
series like Grimm, The X-Files, Supernatural and
Sleepy Hollow. This is not to say that Golden got this idea
from these types of shows but more that the idea is generic enough to
fit right in to mainstream products.
The book has some great build up and
his final confrontation is exciting and more conducive to one of
those above TV series as we have a pay off “battle” in the snow
near the end of the novel.
What I absolutely loved about this book
more than anything was that we are not given a clean cut answer.
What is in the storm and what happened to the people is clear enough
but there is not a back story of much depth. There is not a curse or
explained reason behind it. It just is what it is and the characters
of the book have to live or die with it. When something is not
explained it is even more terrifying because it could happen again
without any reason.
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