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Book Review: The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell

Doubleday Books, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0385544368

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Historical horror can be a fascinating subgenre, if it is done right, but it is a balancing act. The amount of detail for the period often overshadows the atmosphere, with information overloading story and character. When the author successfully balances the elements, the result can result in a treasure.

The Devil Aspect reads like a perfect offspring of The Alienist, Silence of the Lambs, The Exorcist, and Shutter Island.  It is a stunning novel that captures the best of these, yet adds to it a flavor all its own, leaving the reader with a chill that feels like it needs to be washed away.

In the shadows of the rising tide of the Nazi movement in 1935, Czechoslovakia is a dangerous country. Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane exists as a state of the art hospital outside of Prague, but holds a horrific reputation in local lore as having been built on the mouth of hell. When Viktor Kosarek arrives with a new psychiatric approach, the tiny town cringes as they sense the horrors that brew within the stone walls. Viktor believes in “The Devil Aspect,” a method he believes can cure even the world’s most heinous creatures, while Hitler’s crew infects the country in a slow-moving plague, its tendrils snaking inside the walls of the castle to infect some of the staff.

Within the walls themselves exist the Devil’s Six–  The Woodcutter, The Vegetarian, The Clown, The Scionancer, The Glass Cutter, and The Demon, each with a detailed backstory. None can be dealt with without full restraints, and even so, attacks on staff still occur, events that defy logic.

Outside the castle, another murderer is feeding on the citizens of the city: Leather Apron, a Jack The Ripper type serial killer. The suspects can’t recall committing the murders, and swear a shadowy figure is mocking them, forcing them to witness its horrors.  Detective Lucas Smolak scours the streets for clues, and grows frustrated as every clue leads to a darker truth. He senses a connection to the legends around him, yet holds onto the assertion nothing is supernatural in these crimes.

How the two storylines intertwine is brilliant, as are the characters. Smolak and Kosarek are imperfect, both committing errors that could end more lives as their humanity holds them back from achieving their goals.

Russell’s novel is one of those rare entities that is intelligent yet readable, full of historical accuracies and folklore but somehow still relatable, and scary as the hell that may exist beneath the castle. What brings the story success is the ambiguity of the horror. Russell keeps the supernatural aspect on the periphery of the reader’s psyche. He plays his cards close and the revelation of which evil is worse, human or demonic, burrows beneath the skin as the mysteries begin to unravel.

The reader must wrestle the secrets away from the characters with each alternating chapter, the clues muddy yet fitting together. The story’s serpentine descent into madness is a challenge that is worth the effort.

A highly recommended novel for the new year that will linger long after the final page is closed.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

 

Posted on March 5, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: The Hunger by Alma Katsu

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-0735212510

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

The release of Alma Katsu’s new historical horror novel brings with it comparisons to The Terror by Dan Simmons, even including both of them in social media ads. Do not be fooled. Yes, both authors bring impeccable research to fine stories and put you right there in the moment with ease, and both examine the human condition and how people can easily be turned to embrace their shadow selves, the monsters within the person.

However, there are a couple of major differences. First, The Hunger will not take the entire summer to read. At nearly a thousand pages, The Terror, while amazing, could be used as a weapon to literally knock someone out. Katsu’s story trims the fat, leaving a lean but thoroughly detailed and realistic story that doesn’t skimp on the details of the western mountains or pioneer life. Instead, she focuses on the relationships and the rot that crisis can reveal.

Many readers will be at least partially familiar with the story of the unfortunate Donner Party, a caravan of travelers who attempted to traverse the Sierra Nevada mountains, but were ill-prepared for the journey.

In a story where the ending is already written and most of the facts are substantiated, Katsu keeps the reader’s attention with compelling characters, and takes her time in building the burn. She introduces the many characters and allows them to maneuver through the plot, growing and festering in readers’ minds as they turn the pages. Her weaving together of the players in this horrific chunk of history creates a bloody tapestry that will intrigue the reader.

The most vividly drawn characters are Charles Stanton, a bachelor with the dark secret; Tamsen Donner, wife of George, who strongly believes in the supernatural and witchcraft;  James Reed, another party leader with a dark path; and Tamsen’s youngest daughter, who can hear the dead speak to her. Toss in some other players, and the stew simmers to a rich boil that threatens to destroy the group even before the true tragedy hits.

Katsu inserts the supernatural, or at least the vibe of it, which elevates the novel from pure historical fiction to historical horror, but she keeps the story lean. Reading it, one can almost feel the desolation of the mountains and the desperation their journey. By the time the climax unfolds, Katsu delivers on the promise hinted at in the beginning– a bit of a twist,  but just enough to create wonder Recommended reading for any thriller or history fan.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: The Hunger is a nominee for the 2018 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel.

 

Posted on March 1, 2019 by , Reply

Musings: Writing From The Heart: Strange Star by Emma Carroll and Out of the Wild Blue by Blue Balliett

Strange Star by Emma Carroll

Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-0399556050

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

 

In a recent interview, R.L. Stine expressed his frustration with the writing advice “write from your heart.” To paraphrase, he said “I don’t write from the heart. I write to entertain.”

You may argue that Stine writes formula fiction, which can be predictable, and that it’s shallow to write only to entertain. Only you can make that decision, but know that just because you are writing out of love, that doesn’t mean your writing will be loved, or even understood, by the audience you are trying to reach. I’m writing about children’s books here because that’s what I love and where I’ve recently seen examples of this, but if you’re writing for any audience, this still applies. In general, people who read to escape are looking for a good story, one that flows. They don’t want to have to work for their chills and thrills. I think that’s particularly true for children and teens.

I’ve come across two books this month that illustrate this perfectly. The first one, which I recently reviewed here, Out of the Wild Blue, by the outstanding children’s author Blue Balliett, was a tribute to Nantucket and its ghosts. It is clever and literary, and the worst book she’s ever written. I read it because I was asked to by another school media specialist who couldn’t get through the first 20 pages. Both of us are baffled at the amazing reviews this book has gotten from other librarians and reviewers. Heavy on atmosphere, this book shorted us on character development and plot. It was WORK for me to get through it, and what kid wants to have to work for the creepiness and chills you expect in a ghost story? I mean, the story is practically a love letter, but it’s not successful as an accessible ghost story for children. Or, for that matter, for at least two other adults with expertise in children’s literature.

The second, Strange Star, by Emma Carroll, has a lot of originality, although it’s not necessarily successful at getting the reader to fully suspend disbelief, and some of the pieces don’t connect as smoothly as they could. Strange Star centers on the events of the “haunted summer” during which Mary Shelley first conceived of Frankenstein. The first point of view character, is Felix, a free black servant boy working for Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati, whose goal is to convince Byron to take him back to England as a footman. His story is told in third person. We get Felix’s impressions of Byron, the Shelleys, and their friends, and some pretty detailed information on them is communicated through him. Felix isn’t only used as a way to communicate information, though. He is a character with agency and his own motivations. The second point of view character, Lizzie, an English village girl who was struck by lightning, blinded, and kidnapped by a scientist obsessed with using electricity to resurrect the dead, speaks in her own voice. Her experience of the same group of people that Felix admires is a terrifying one.

The author named many of the fictional characters in the book after characters in Frankenstein as well, even naming the scientist Francesca Stine. She managed to include historical figures like William Godwin, Mary’s father (a relatively minor part of her life after she ran away with Shelley) as a character, whose motivations and actions help move the story toward its conclusion. The messages of and ideas behind the creation of Frankenstein come through clearly in the book—clearly Carroll did her research and used it creatively.

As someone who’s read Frankenstein and also read a lot about Mary Shelley, I found this to be really well done and clever. It is vivid, not just in its descriptions and setting (the title is Strange Star for a reason), but in its portrayal of terrible emotions, particularly grief. Carroll also did a nice job of seamlessly integrating diversity into her characters. But I am not the audience. This is a book written for middle-schoolers, most of whom will not yet have read Frankenstein or heard of Mary Shelley. They won’t even yet have encountered the work of Percy Shelley or Lord Byron. They will miss most of the references and won’t be able to connect the dots when things are implied rather than stated outright (okay, maybe you don’t want them to figure out that Claire Clairmont has a thing going on with Byron). You would have to love Frankenstein and be fascinated with the life of Mary Shelley to write this book, but so much of it will be above the heads of the readers it is targeted for!

I’m sure there are more readers for this than for Balliett’s book, because Carroll handles plot and character development much more effectively—parts of the book are disturbing and even terrifying—but while Strange Star is definitely one to remember, and certainly one I’d recommend to fans of Mary Shelley, it’s more the book that Carroll wanted to write than the one her target audience will appreciate.

As an adult choosing or reviewing a children’s book for a child or teen, it can be easy to forget that we can’t read these books as if they’re written for us when making recommendations. And as an adult choosing to write a book for a child or teen, or really anyone looking to read for pleasure, it’s important to recognize that, if you want to reach readers, writing from your heart is not enough.

 

Posted on September 21, 2018 by , Reply
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