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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars!
Imagine buying yourself or your child a toy train set from a friendly shopkeeper and starting a new hobby, only to have disaster ensue. People start dying, there's tragedy around every corner, and decades later, these toy trains are still wielding their terror. Wow, this was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because this kind of horror/thriller is hard to pull off in my opinion. The supernatural elements were not cheesy or eye roll worthy, and I truly enjoyed this one. Well done Mr. Barclay, well done.
This novel has been likened to early Stephen King works, and rightly so. In fact, there is a little Easter egg in there where Annie is reading “Needful Things” and this book is absolutely reminiscent of that King storyline. Mr. Choo and his shop is giving Leland Gaunt. IYKYK.
At the end he also thanks the reader and eludes to future works along the same dark thriller theme, yes please.
Little quirky thing that likely won’t bother anyone but me: Ok listen. People from New York City do not go upstate and call themselves New Yorkers to other people that are also (GASP!) New Yorkers. If you say, I am a New Yorker, it means you are from anywhere within the state of NY. If you go upstate and someone asks you where you are from, you would say, the City, and everyone would know you are referencing New York City. So Annie and Charlie going from Manhattan to upstate New York and referring to themselves as New Yorkers to people that are also New Yorkers, or saying the locals don’t like them because they have a New York attitude, or bringing bagels from the city and calling them New York bagels while still in New York, is pure stupidity. It would be a NYC or City attitude, etc. Reference source: I am a New Yorker and lived on both Long Island and upstate New York.
Imagine buying yourself or your child a toy train set from a friendly shopkeeper and starting a new hobby, only to have disaster ensue. People start dying, there's tragedy around every corner, and decades later, these toy trains are still wielding their terror. Wow, this was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because this kind of horror/thriller is hard to pull off in my opinion. The supernatural elements were not cheesy or eye roll worthy, and I truly enjoyed this one. Well done Mr. Barclay, well done.
This novel has been likened to early Stephen King works, and rightly so. In fact, there is a little Easter egg in there where Annie is reading “Needful Things” and this book is absolutely reminiscent of that King storyline. Mr. Choo and his shop is giving Leland Gaunt. IYKYK.
At the end he also thanks the reader and eludes to future works along the same dark thriller theme, yes please.
Little quirky thing that likely won’t bother anyone but me: Ok listen. People from New York City do not go upstate and call themselves New Yorkers to other people that are also (GASP!) New Yorkers. If you say, I am a New Yorker, it means you are from anywhere within the state of NY. If you go upstate and someone asks you where you are from, you would say, the City, and everyone would know you are referencing New York City. So Annie and Charlie going from Manhattan to upstate New York and referring to themselves as New Yorkers to people that are also New Yorkers, or saying the locals don’t like them because they have a New York attitude, or bringing bagels from the city and calling them New York bagels while still in New York, is pure stupidity. It would be a NYC or City attitude, etc. Reference source: I am a New Yorker and lived on both Long Island and upstate New York.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
🎧 This blurb really intrigued me and I’ve enjoyed previous reads by this author. Just to say I’m up for an off the wall/out there type storyline but this one was just too much. I found it so unbelievable and so dragged out that I did consider DNFing but on the other hand I was intrigued to find out how it played out and was hoping for it to redeem itself and be a plausible outcome. But unfortunately it just wasn’t to be. Barclay did an incredible job of giving the creep factor feel with even creepier characters. I did like Annie and her no-nonsense attitude. The narrator did a great job and he definitely helped to keep me engaged. If you’re a fan of dark, creepy reads that may not make sense then this one might be for you.
2.5/5 🌟🌟/🌟
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
This felt almost Steven King -ish, and I think it stuck the landing a bit better than most of King's horror books do. It was tense and dark and heart-pounding, and had a unique and menacing villain. I really enjoyed it, though it was a bit long.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
King himself encouraged Barclay to keep going, so you know it's horror. Barclay hits every horror trope and the text lands solidly in the genre, but not outstandingly so. I can't say why, even, but I became bored. There's little left for the reader to imagine, no surprises or shocks. The tension was there, but the suspense was not. Like many in this genre, the plot was the thing. Barclay doesn't give me any reason to like Anne or Charlie or Harry; I'm supposed to automatically like the young widow, innocent child, good-hearted cop. Thus I wasn't as fully engaged as I could have been.
A couple of Easter eggs for horror fans and some jokes tossed here and there.
A couple of Easter eggs for horror fans and some jokes tossed here and there.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I don't usually read horror stories yet I enjoyed this one.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes