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A review by davemusson85
Those You Killed by Christopher Badcock
5.0
The book follows Elwood Cathis, once a great writer, husband, and father, now a junkie with just about nothing good left in his life. To try and get clean and start to rebuild, he heads to a villa owned by his dealer on the mysterious Lake Chance. When Elwood starts seeing all kinds of weird stuff, he first thinks it’s just a symptom of his detox - only to later discover there is something sinister about this part of the world, particularly for people like him.
For a debut novel, this is absolutely fantastic. Christopher Badcock has not only created a protagonist you will like, loathe and, ultimately, root for, but surrounds him with an excellent supporting cast. The two locals who don’t turn their nose up at Elwood - Whiskey and Aubrey - are cut from the same of cloth that Stephen King uses to shape some of his best-loved extras. They’re old, wise, but also grizzled and unwilling to give a fuck what people think. On the flip side is Casper - Elwood’s dealer and someone who just sounds nasty…even from the end of a phone, you immediately know he is not someone you would ever want to meet.
The scares here are great too. There’s a moody, chilling ghost story vibe throughout the entire text, that is punctuated with some cracking set pieces that get your heart thumping and have you guessing as much as Elwood. In particular the astronaut (you’ll see when you read it) gave me the creeps and for a long time had me trying to work out if it was a product of the junk, or something supernatural.
A big part of this story is the self-imposed isolation that Elwood faces and, as such, he’s alone for long periods, which makes sections of dialogue and conversation rare. In turn, that means there are some quite long passages that are description heavy - we’re there in Elwood’s head as he mulls things over and chews on past regrets. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these passages - they’re excellently written - but I wonder if they could have been stronger if there were more use of flashbacks and more conversation. Not only to keep the pace up, but also because the dialogue in this book is really well done.
But, that’s a pretty minor point. This is an excellent novel that shows real potential - as well as an already impressive ability to deliver a scare, to get under your skin, and to to discombobulate you - but in a good way, a way that keeps you pushing on to find out more. One heads up, there are a couple of chapters here that feel wildly out of place when you first get to them - literally like they are from another book - but stick with it…Badcock pulls it all together as it goes on.
If, like me, you’re a fan of Stephen King - particularly 90s King - you’ll have a lovely time with Those You Killed. There are touches of Bag of Bones, Gerald’s Game, Dolores Claiborne and even Storm of the Century peppered throughout these pages, while some of the monsters Badcock creates will satisfy fans of early King; if some of these creatures had made their way to Lake Chance after a stay a certain hotel in Colorado, you wouldn’t be surprised.
In short, this is great and looks like the arrival of an exciting new voice in horror.
For a debut novel, this is absolutely fantastic. Christopher Badcock has not only created a protagonist you will like, loathe and, ultimately, root for, but surrounds him with an excellent supporting cast. The two locals who don’t turn their nose up at Elwood - Whiskey and Aubrey - are cut from the same of cloth that Stephen King uses to shape some of his best-loved extras. They’re old, wise, but also grizzled and unwilling to give a fuck what people think. On the flip side is Casper - Elwood’s dealer and someone who just sounds nasty…even from the end of a phone, you immediately know he is not someone you would ever want to meet.
The scares here are great too. There’s a moody, chilling ghost story vibe throughout the entire text, that is punctuated with some cracking set pieces that get your heart thumping and have you guessing as much as Elwood. In particular the astronaut (you’ll see when you read it) gave me the creeps and for a long time had me trying to work out if it was a product of the junk, or something supernatural.
A big part of this story is the self-imposed isolation that Elwood faces and, as such, he’s alone for long periods, which makes sections of dialogue and conversation rare. In turn, that means there are some quite long passages that are description heavy - we’re there in Elwood’s head as he mulls things over and chews on past regrets. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these passages - they’re excellently written - but I wonder if they could have been stronger if there were more use of flashbacks and more conversation. Not only to keep the pace up, but also because the dialogue in this book is really well done.
But, that’s a pretty minor point. This is an excellent novel that shows real potential - as well as an already impressive ability to deliver a scare, to get under your skin, and to to discombobulate you - but in a good way, a way that keeps you pushing on to find out more. One heads up, there are a couple of chapters here that feel wildly out of place when you first get to them - literally like they are from another book - but stick with it…Badcock pulls it all together as it goes on.
If, like me, you’re a fan of Stephen King - particularly 90s King - you’ll have a lovely time with Those You Killed. There are touches of Bag of Bones, Gerald’s Game, Dolores Claiborne and even Storm of the Century peppered throughout these pages, while some of the monsters Badcock creates will satisfy fans of early King; if some of these creatures had made their way to Lake Chance after a stay a certain hotel in Colorado, you wouldn’t be surprised.
In short, this is great and looks like the arrival of an exciting new voice in horror.