March 9, 2009
This scary page-turner by Thrasher (Isolation
) features a Stephen King–like author of bestselling horror novels who, paralyzed by writer's block and hard hit by the recent death of his wife, passes off writing sent by a fan as his own. Said fan gets upset, and all hell breaks loose. There's a deep love story between the author character and his late wife interleaved with lots of cinematically creepy scenes played out at ordinary places in upscale suburbia: a home-improvement store, restaurants, a Victorian house on the river. The deranged fan adds a plausible, ripped-from-the-headlines element that Thrasher mines for tension and depth. Horror is a great genre for examining good and evil; demons need not be metaphoric and salvation can be a natural part of the plot. Some shifting back and forth in time can be confusing, particularly at the beginning before emotional momentum is established, and allusions to Pink Floyd are just sophomoric. But those are quibbles about an emotional wallop of a book. Thrasher just keeps getting better.