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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.