Hefting the 800 page horror novel up from the librarian’s desk, I notice that the book is not only thick, but also the pages are much larger than a standard novel. The cover art is interesting, but it was the creepy photo of the author, Justin Cronin, in the New York Times Magazine interview, that caught my attention enough to read the interview, and then request the book at the library.
It’s well past midnight. I can’t put the book down.
I am going to refrain from delving into details of the plot. Knowing very little about it when I got it from the library was better than knowing the story. (I rather dislike watching movie trailers for just this reason.) A lot of inspiration for the hero of the story comes from Cronin’s daughter. And in the story, the young girl is front and center throughout. Also, in the NYT interview, Cronin seemed to be unwilling to vocalize too much about the Vampire aspect of his pseudo post-apocalypse novel. With good reason. It wouldn’t be as good if you know some of the inner workings of it all before delving into the world the book creates.
I enjoy Cronin’s ability to unfold the story in a fashion of slightly blurred timeline. Don’t misunderstand, the story is told in a beginning, middle, end structure. But within the paragraphs he moves around events so that they are perfectly clear to understand, yet aren’t quite linear. (I think you’ll understand what I am referring to once you read it.) It reminds me a lot of the way we speak events to each other in real life, pulling details in after we’ve already told a portion of the story that the detail dealt with.
All in all a good read. Have you read anything good lately? What is it?