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dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When Ben takes on a new role at his local supermarket, he's not deterred by the physical labour or the boss who seems to have it out for him. Ben turns up for his night shifts filled with dread because five years ago, his younger brother Eric vanished at the very store where he now stocks shelves. Ben has never stopped searching for his brother, and during his breaks, he begins his own investigation. However, it is only when it's too late that he realises he should never have started looking again.
Bad Man succeeds in portraying a snapshot of human emotion in the face of grief over a missing family member. What Ben, his father, and his stepmother experience following Eric's disappearance feels authentic, and the individual ways each character grapples with or sinks into their grief are painfully realistic. There's also an artful slow build of horror and unease, but towards the end, it shifts into a series of chaotic narrative arcs and plot points that sometimes left me confused.
The sad fact is that Bad Man loses momentum long before the end of the book, and it peters out into a flat and unsatisfactory conclusion. With a length of nearly 400 pages, there was plenty of room for character development, creepy twists, and intricate plot turns. While the book touches on these themes, it doesn't delve deeply enough into them, leaving missed opportunities and themes that never come full circle. For me, Bad Man is a fairly standard horror novel — perhaps a little too long and somewhat confusing at the end — but overall, it remains an enjoyable read. Sadly, I don't think it quite manages to establish itself as a standout book, and by August, I may have already long forgotten it.
Bad Man succeeds in portraying a snapshot of human emotion in the face of grief over a missing family member. What Ben, his father, and his stepmother experience following Eric's disappearance feels authentic, and the individual ways each character grapples with or sinks into their grief are painfully realistic. There's also an artful slow build of horror and unease, but towards the end, it shifts into a series of chaotic narrative arcs and plot points that sometimes left me confused.
The sad fact is that Bad Man loses momentum long before the end of the book, and it peters out into a flat and unsatisfactory conclusion. With a length of nearly 400 pages, there was plenty of room for character development, creepy twists, and intricate plot turns. While the book touches on these themes, it doesn't delve deeply enough into them, leaving missed opportunities and themes that never come full circle. For me, Bad Man is a fairly standard horror novel — perhaps a little too long and somewhat confusing at the end — but overall, it remains an enjoyable read. Sadly, I don't think it quite manages to establish itself as a standout book, and by August, I may have already long forgotten it.