Ok, probably would have enjoyed it more as a conv

Another book enjoyed on Audible over a couple of days and one with crimes in it; i.e. murders though with a supernatural twist to it. I've seen it classified as horror, but I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. Horror fiction I kind of expect to be, if not necessarily scared at the very least made to feel uncomfortable and I didn't get that vibe here. Supernatural thriller sounds about right.

Small town setting, a bereaved family with a young boy and his mother relocating, a bookseller with a cruel streak and a semi-normal front, an elderly loner and a new cop in town, dreams and nightmares - a precursor to death, a certain inevitability about confrontation, conflict and a settling of matters.

I liked the characters and their stories, their histories and the paths that got them to where they were now. I liked the new connections and friendships that came from the arrival of Larry and his mum in the town. I was probably less enamoured by the supernatural bits...... the connectivity between the good Larry and the evil Hubert, the conversations Hubert had with his first human victim etc etc. I didn't necessarily dislike these bits as they were important to the story the author was telling, just they didn't really grab me. I would probably have enjoyed it more if the author had found a way of pitching the protagonists into combat through a more normal manner.

Overall more to like than dislike though.

3 from 5

Jack Maclane was a pseudonym of the late Bill Crider. Bill Crider's work has been enjoyed before - Piano Man and Outrage at Blanco

Read - (listened to) August, 2020
Published - 1989
Page count - 352 (7 hrs 32 mins)
Source - Audible purchase
Format - Audible

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