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A review by chigangrel
Snow by Ronald Malfi
4.0
Others compared this book to [b:Phantoms|32435|Phantoms|Dean Koontz|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386925458s/32435.jpg|1762777], and I have to say that's an apt comparison. Honestly, the big reason I chose to read this book was because of that comparison, because I loved Phantoms. The idea stumbling upon a creepy ghost town in the middle of winter is one of my favorite story set-ups and one I always find creepy-- maybe because I live in a very similar setting?
Snow, even with its similarities, is good enough to stand on its own, however. I started it yesterday without the intention of reading it in one sitting but that's what I wound up doing. It was a quick read but not because it was simple, but because it was exciting. The action and suspense and horror built up at a good pace and kept up for a large portion of the book, which impressed me. The writing was very good, with excellent descriptions of the weather and the town and the creepy monsters, all of which really pulled me into the story.
So why 4 stars and not 5? I'm chalking that up to some of the characters. The main characters of Todd and Kate were alright, though a bit annoying at times, for example Todd kept fighting off an erection around Kate... while they were in the middle of fighting for their lives. Granted, I'm not a man, but that just seemed silly because he was otherwise quite a capable lead. Then there were the stereotypical characters one always finds in this type of story: the religious fanatic, the stupid children (who were supposed to be like 9-ish but came off more around the age of 2, which made me wonder if Malfi has interacted with any children since he was one himself), the stupid woman who refuses to accept the situation, etc. These characters are tiresome and overplayed and Malfi writes them in a very OTT way, making the use of them even more unbearable. Luckily they don't take up much space in the story, but they took up enough to annoy me into removing a star.
Overall though I really enjoyed the story. It had a cinematic feeling to it I loved because it really helped me to picture everything. There was no real resolution -you don't learn what these monsters are- but that's not a bad thing in my book. A little mystery keeps the horror alive. It's fast-paced and an easy read. I'd recommend it to fans of Stephan King and Dean Koontz.
eta: I wanted to add an addendum here after reading some of the reviews that are 1 or 2 star. I think those reviews are understandable and deserved. Snow is enjoyable but it's not a very original tale and, as I mentioned above, Malfi sticks to the old trieds and trues of the genre, even when they're annoying. Personally, I don't mind that so much because there's a sort of comfort in experiencing the familiar (on occasion). Perhaps on another day I'd have give Snow a lesser rating but today, being buring in the snow myself, I was feeling it. I guess what I want to say is, it's a book for certain people at certain times. Take that for what you will!
Snow, even with its similarities, is good enough to stand on its own, however. I started it yesterday without the intention of reading it in one sitting but that's what I wound up doing. It was a quick read but not because it was simple, but because it was exciting. The action and suspense and horror built up at a good pace and kept up for a large portion of the book, which impressed me. The writing was very good, with excellent descriptions of the weather and the town and the creepy monsters, all of which really pulled me into the story.
So why 4 stars and not 5? I'm chalking that up to some of the characters. The main characters of Todd and Kate were alright, though a bit annoying at times, for example Todd kept fighting off an erection around Kate... while they were in the middle of fighting for their lives. Granted, I'm not a man, but that just seemed silly because he was otherwise quite a capable lead. Then there were the stereotypical characters one always finds in this type of story: the religious fanatic, the stupid children (who were supposed to be like 9-ish but came off more around the age of 2, which made me wonder if Malfi has interacted with any children since he was one himself), the stupid woman who refuses to accept the situation, etc. These characters are tiresome and overplayed and Malfi writes them in a very OTT way, making the use of them even more unbearable. Luckily they don't take up much space in the story, but they took up enough to annoy me into removing a star.
Overall though I really enjoyed the story. It had a cinematic feeling to it I loved because it really helped me to picture everything. There was no real resolution -you don't learn what these monsters are- but that's not a bad thing in my book. A little mystery keeps the horror alive. It's fast-paced and an easy read. I'd recommend it to fans of Stephan King and Dean Koontz.
eta: I wanted to add an addendum here after reading some of the reviews that are 1 or 2 star. I think those reviews are understandable and deserved. Snow is enjoyable but it's not a very original tale and, as I mentioned above, Malfi sticks to the old trieds and trues of the genre, even when they're annoying. Personally, I don't mind that so much because there's a sort of comfort in experiencing the familiar (on occasion). Perhaps on another day I'd have give Snow a lesser rating but today, being buring in the snow myself, I was feeling it. I guess what I want to say is, it's a book for certain people at certain times. Take that for what you will!