Hello internet! Miss me? If you're one of the few people who read this blog don't worry I'm not dead. Rather this year has been..... challenging. Between the state of our actual world right now and events close to home I really couldn't bring myself to write let alone finish a book to write about. But as this year comes to an end I hope to get a few posts up. Now before getting to the review I have some housekeeping to discuss about the blog. From the beginning I have tried to divulge edition information about the books I review so you can find them yourselves but I have decided to take that one step further. If you go to the drop down menu on the blog there is a search bar that you can look up books I review and it will take you to bookshop.org to possibly purchase them. Yes, I have joined the horror of affiliate links but outside of me receiving a small commission a portion of every purchase on bookshop.org goes to funding independent bookstores in the US. I also have a curated storefront there that shows some of my favorite reads organized by theme. So please, if you enjoy the content here support it by subscribing or purchasing one of the books you're introduced to here through the drop down menu's search bar. Now without further ado on to the review.
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| Warner Books 1989 Mass Market Edition |
Did you know the state of Maine had TWO horror authors? I sure didn't until I stumbled across the eye catching cover of Winter Wake by Rick Hautala. Featuring a truly inaccurate plot synopsis when searched online, Winter Wake is the classic tale of a "normal" guy grudgingly moving back to his dead end town to care for his ailing father and proceding to be haunted figuritively and literally by a horrifying secret he's held since high school, jeopardizing his family. If I had to describe this novel with one word it would be irritating. Let me give some explanation. The story idea itself is good, there is imagery that works what derails everything are the exclamation points. Hautala appears incapable of not using them. Every character's inner thoughts are so overwrought due to exclamation point usage you expect to start hearing soap opera stings. Hautala's descriptive prose also suffers from this abundance of exclamation points and combined with the human garbage that is the main character, John Carlson Winter Wake is not enjoyable.
The real kicker is that buried in the bloated mess that is this novel are some really great elements. The early chapters really play with the visceral nature of guilt and how the simplest events like moving back to a place tied to that guilt, can turn it on like a switch and change a person for the worst. There's some very well done uncomfortable imagery and building moments of unease that stick the landing because Hautala doesn't use exclamation points. The characterizations as a whole are weak but some emotional depth and realistic connection is developed between the character of Frank Carlson (our main character's father) and Bri, John Carlson's step-daughter. Praise is also due to Hautala's initial handling of the haunting aspects. For a decent amount of the novel he leaves it ambiguous whether John Carlson is actually being haunted or whether he's being slowly eaten alive by guilt. As a character though guilt or not, Carlson is an abusive scumbag who makes the reader root for his demise. Ultimately, the sum of this novel's parts comes up short and reader's should give Winter Wake the cold shoulder.
Well those are my thoughts on Winter Wake. As always the comments are open and if you enjoyed this review make sure to subscribe or follow to be notified of the latest posts. Til next time!
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