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A review by bookw1tch
Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay
2.0
3.5 Stars.
An overall creepy, chilling read. The build-up at the end was excellent. I had to stop reading towards the end because I was alone in my house late at night and started feeling pretty creeped out. The antagonist was definitely the best part of this story. He comes in unexpectedly halfway through and, although you know he has something to do with the boy's disappearance, he seems okay, if not an oddball. It isn't until things move along you realize how absolutely destroyed he is as a person, and how terrifying.
The overall amount of spooky ghostyness was great. It gives the story an edge and the ending interviews with the boys about are disturbing.
Critiques: Took a bit for the story to get going; it could have easily been edited down 30 pages. Detective Allison was the biggest culprit of this - Tremblay kept trying to give her background with no apparent purpose. Her life played literally no role in the story; I started to wonder if he was pulling a Stephen King and added a character from one of his other books into this story. I'm not even sure we really needed this character. I got enough out of Elizabeth and Kate and the two boys, Detective Allison didn't add anything.
Another thing - if I had never played Minecraft or watched zombie movies, I would have been totally lost for a large chunk of the boy's conversations. They spend a ridiculous amount of time talking in-scene about Minecraft. I get it. They're 13-year-old boys. It's what they're obsessed with. But did we really need to see these conversations in-scene? I say no. It took away from the overall story and left me feeling like I would never recommend this book to anyone under 30. Also, the thematic connection between zombies and the boy's actions that didn't quite do it for me. Felt cheap, or an like incomplete analogy.
Anyway, not the greatest ghost story out there, but it did make me want to read his other more famous book, A Head Full Of Ghosts, which sounds really good.
An overall creepy, chilling read. The build-up at the end was excellent. I had to stop reading towards the end because I was alone in my house late at night and started feeling pretty creeped out. The antagonist
Spoiler
ArnoldThe overall amount of spooky ghostyness was great. It gives the story an edge and the ending interviews with the boys about
Spoiler
Tommy's zombie ghost thingCritiques: Took a bit for the story to get going; it could have easily been edited down 30 pages. Detective Allison was the biggest culprit of this - Tremblay kept trying to give her background with no apparent purpose. Her life played literally no role in the story; I started to wonder if he was pulling a Stephen King and added a character from one of his other books into this story. I'm not even sure we really needed this character. I got enough out of Elizabeth and Kate and the two boys, Detective Allison didn't add anything.
Another thing - if I had never played Minecraft or watched zombie movies, I would have been totally lost for a large chunk of the boy's conversations. They spend a ridiculous amount of time talking in-scene about Minecraft. I get it. They're 13-year-old boys. It's what they're obsessed with. But did we really need to see these conversations in-scene? I say no. It took away from the overall story and left me feeling like I would never recommend this book to anyone under 30. Also, the thematic connection between zombies and the boy's actions that
Spoiler
leave an innocent man deadAnyway, not the greatest ghost story out there, but it did make me want to read his other more famous book, A Head Full Of Ghosts, which sounds really good.