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motherhorror 's review for:
Stranded
by Bracken MacLeod
I bought this book because it was nominated for a Bram Stoker award in 2016 and the plot interested me. Bracken is one of the best when it comes to character development. I read his collection of short stories called, 13 Views of the Suicide Woods and I was most impressed with how much I could invest in his characters in such a short amount of time with them.
I was eager to read a novel and see what the author could accomplish with more pages. The answer is: everything. Bracken MacLeod's novel, Stranded is equal parts Environment Horror and 'Men are Monsters' Horror. Our protagonist, Noah Cabot, is an interesting guy. I felt like the crew he works with, including his father-in-law, on the Arctic Promise, don't know him the way the reader gets to know him. It was so engaging to read as Bracken built up some complicated relationships between the crew members-the tension was already tight as the crew heads into disaster.
As the men of the Arctic Promise are tested under stress, Bracken expertly begins to weave in the supernatural horror and starts dropping these 'cliffhanger' moments at the end of every chapter. I'm such a cliffhanger addict and I knew around 150 pages, I was going to be finishing this book over one weekend.
The pacing in this book is perfect. I can tell that outlining and plot planning is MacLeod's wheelhouse because I felt that every piece of this story was placed with a very precise intentionality.
I'm not an adventurous person in real life, so I love reading stories about high-risk excursions. Through amazing descriptive language, I felt like I was right there, navigating through a dangerous, icy Arctic Sea. This horror story even hit on my need to feel. My "heart box" was satisfied and relished in Noah's flashbacks, creating a complicated unlikely hero I could fall in love with. I even shed a few tears, which feels really good because I'll be honest and state for the record that horror with heart is truly what I'm looking for. I'm not really after the slasher-gore fest stuff if I can't invest emotionally. blame an early reading diet of Stephen King)
There are some really horrific, suspenseful moments that hit at all the right spots. A few times, I just sat back and thought, "Wow. This is so original!!" This is a must have for any fan of quality, character-driven, suspenseful horror. It checks all the horror boxes.
I was eager to read a novel and see what the author could accomplish with more pages. The answer is: everything. Bracken MacLeod's novel, Stranded is equal parts Environment Horror and 'Men are Monsters' Horror. Our protagonist, Noah Cabot, is an interesting guy. I felt like the crew he works with, including his father-in-law, on the Arctic Promise, don't know him the way the reader gets to know him. It was so engaging to read as Bracken built up some complicated relationships between the crew members-the tension was already tight as the crew heads into disaster.
As the men of the Arctic Promise are tested under stress, Bracken expertly begins to weave in the supernatural horror and starts dropping these 'cliffhanger' moments at the end of every chapter. I'm such a cliffhanger addict and I knew around 150 pages, I was going to be finishing this book over one weekend.
The pacing in this book is perfect. I can tell that outlining and plot planning is MacLeod's wheelhouse because I felt that every piece of this story was placed with a very precise intentionality.
I'm not an adventurous person in real life, so I love reading stories about high-risk excursions. Through amazing descriptive language, I felt like I was right there, navigating through a dangerous, icy Arctic Sea. This horror story even hit on my need to feel. My "heart box" was satisfied and relished in Noah's flashbacks, creating a complicated unlikely hero I could fall in love with. I even shed a few tears, which feels really good because I'll be honest and state for the record that horror with heart is truly what I'm looking for. I'm not really after the slasher-gore fest stuff if I can't invest emotionally. blame an early reading diet of Stephen King)
There are some really horrific, suspenseful moments that hit at all the right spots. A few times, I just sat back and thought, "Wow. This is so original!!" This is a must have for any fan of quality, character-driven, suspenseful horror. It checks all the horror boxes.