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A review by michaeldrakich
Shadowland by Peter Straub
2.0
On a Richter Scale of horror where 10 is downright poop my pants frightening, and 1 is totally laughable, this novel registered a 3. That's a level so mild you barely feel it. In fact, those moments only came in the early chapters when the protagonist, Tom Flanagan, was still at school. The heavy balance of the novel was tedious and boring, with stretches of inconsequential sections that would have been better left out. I can only guess Peter Straub was worried about the word count in an attempt to keep pace with his buddy Stephen King and the lengthy novels Stephen is prone to write.
There was a significant amount of disconnect between the first part of the book at school and the lengthy second part at Shadowland. Characters, who the author spent much time developing in the early part, either totally disappeared or only had insignificant reprises for the sole purpose of reminding the reader they were still in the novel. It made me suspect the author had written two incomplete novels and decided to mash them together in an attempt to provide one lengthy cohesive one. Sadly, he failed. At times it was if he started writing with some certain goal in mind, but abandoned that goal as he went. Most notably, the saving of Del by Tom. A major theme that was lost at the end. The only identifiable character was one of the antagonists, Skeleton Ridpath, and his role was truncated severely in the latter half. Disappointing.
There was a significant amount of disconnect between the first part of the book at school and the lengthy second part at Shadowland. Characters, who the author spent much time developing in the early part, either totally disappeared or only had insignificant reprises for the sole purpose of reminding the reader they were still in the novel. It made me suspect the author had written two incomplete novels and decided to mash them together in an attempt to provide one lengthy cohesive one. Sadly, he failed. At times it was if he started writing with some certain goal in mind, but abandoned that goal as he went. Most notably, the saving of Del by Tom. A major theme that was lost at the end. The only identifiable character was one of the antagonists, Skeleton Ridpath, and his role was truncated severely in the latter half. Disappointing.