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A review by maryehavens
Furnace by Muriel Gray
5.0
This is the best true horror book I've read in a a long time. There's a lot of books that are labeled horror but, as in any genre, there are different levels of horror. I think of most subcategories based on place (haunted house), monster (vampire), or maybe even time period.
But this book is what I consider true horror. No punches were pulled, nothing was smoothed over with humor or any other kind of plot finagling. It's definitely possible that I shy away from true horror since, like any genre, I'm only going to read books that interest me. Similarly to a formulaic romance, there is formulaic and poorly written horror. You can make anything disgusting but there has to be a reason behind it. Again, I might shy away from books that are considered true horror simply because the plots are too similar to other books I've read.
For this one, I don't even know how it got on my list. A 1997 book from a Scottish author set in rural America where the main character is a long haul truck driver?? I used to indicate where I found the book on the Recommended part of book's Goodreads records but that feature went away. So who knows where I found this one! I had to buy it, I know that, and it was cheap.
I likely won't read another Gray novel: the first one has Native American characters and I feel like we should leave those stories to actual Native Americans. The second one sounds like it is all about trash??
If you want a solid horror read AND have a desire to learn trucker speak, this book is, likely, the only one for you!
But this book is what I consider true horror. No punches were pulled, nothing was smoothed over with humor or any other kind of plot finagling. It's definitely possible that I shy away from true horror since, like any genre, I'm only going to read books that interest me. Similarly to a formulaic romance, there is formulaic and poorly written horror. You can make anything disgusting but there has to be a reason behind it. Again, I might shy away from books that are considered true horror simply because the plots are too similar to other books I've read.
For this one, I don't even know how it got on my list. A 1997 book from a Scottish author set in rural America where the main character is a long haul truck driver?? I used to indicate where I found the book on the Recommended part of book's Goodreads records but that feature went away. So who knows where I found this one! I had to buy it, I know that, and it was cheap.
I likely won't read another Gray novel: the first one has Native American characters and I feel like we should leave those stories to actual Native Americans. The second one sounds like it is all about trash??
If you want a solid horror read AND have a desire to learn trucker speak, this book is, likely, the only one for you!