Post by Bartwald on Nov 5, 2004 13:57:23 GMT -5
Shaun Jeffrey "Evilution" (2003) **1/2
In my never-ending search for new horror authors I recently came upon Shaun Jeffrey – a truly new writer, as he has just one novel published so far. Reading books written by unknown authors is always some kind of a risk; you like the cover and the title which pushes you deeper into the novel and then, sometimes, it turns out you are stuck in the middle of a story that is not particularly exciting anymore, but you feel obliged to read on, even though you could as well use the time re-watch the first five Friday The 13th movies. Thankfully, Evilution is NOT one of those disappointing novels.
It starts mysteriously: an attractive young woman, Chase, receives a letter with an information that she has won a house. The only problem is that she doesn’t actually remember entering any competition that would offer a house as the main prize. However, since the name on the envelope is that of Chase, she decides to find out what will happen eventually; even more eagerly so, as her female friend talks her into joining the game, and a recent break up with a man is a good reason to get out of her small, boring house in the city. Soon a limousine takes her, and her friend, to a new house. Or rather – it takes them to a helicopter in which they go the rest of the distance to the house, because, as we soon learn, the town of Paradise for which they are heading is surrounded by a fog so thick that it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to get to by car. When the women finally arrive at the place of their destination, they seem to be quite satisfied with the main prize Chase has won—until it turns out that, according to the rules of the competition, Chase has to move into her new house immediately. Saying “yes” to the offer would be much easier if it wasn’t for the fact that Paradise is rather far away from the civilisation as we know it and, to put it mildly, the neighbours seem slightly psychopathic. Then there is the fog – which has been surrounding the town for nearly two years now...
Jeffrey’s writing style is very smooth (though at the end of the novel there are several careless passages, too), he doesn’t forget about adding humour to his story, is able to create an atmosphere that is fittingly mysterious, and often pushes the plot in unpredictable directions. The scenes that stand out in the book are the ones where Chase starts discovering strange qualities of the town and tries to communicate with its inhabitants – a neighbour throws cakes at her as a means of punishment for being late to a tea party, a shop attendant forgets who Chase is every several minutes – and so on. What is wrong with Evilution then? First of all, the characters sometimes act in, so to speak, not exactly natural ways; that is especially true for Ratty, a boy who made his way through the thick fog to find his grandfather. The Houdini tricks that the boy uses to continue his journey have certain charm, but I think any reader will question the boy’s extraordinary courage. Secondly, I think it would be better not to reveal the secret of the town as quickly as it happens here; the atmosphere of the novel fades when everything suddenly becomes explainable.
One way or the other, Evilution is a horror book definitely worth reading. Several small drawbacks spoil the overall effect a bit, but the world created by Jeffrey is no doubt very magnetic and some of the book’s scenes will dwell in any reader’s memory for a long time. In my personal opinion, one should rather try to get Evilution than to go the easy way and buy another book by the prolific, but a bit repetitive, horror master Graham Masterton.
In my never-ending search for new horror authors I recently came upon Shaun Jeffrey – a truly new writer, as he has just one novel published so far. Reading books written by unknown authors is always some kind of a risk; you like the cover and the title which pushes you deeper into the novel and then, sometimes, it turns out you are stuck in the middle of a story that is not particularly exciting anymore, but you feel obliged to read on, even though you could as well use the time re-watch the first five Friday The 13th movies. Thankfully, Evilution is NOT one of those disappointing novels.
It starts mysteriously: an attractive young woman, Chase, receives a letter with an information that she has won a house. The only problem is that she doesn’t actually remember entering any competition that would offer a house as the main prize. However, since the name on the envelope is that of Chase, she decides to find out what will happen eventually; even more eagerly so, as her female friend talks her into joining the game, and a recent break up with a man is a good reason to get out of her small, boring house in the city. Soon a limousine takes her, and her friend, to a new house. Or rather – it takes them to a helicopter in which they go the rest of the distance to the house, because, as we soon learn, the town of Paradise for which they are heading is surrounded by a fog so thick that it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to get to by car. When the women finally arrive at the place of their destination, they seem to be quite satisfied with the main prize Chase has won—until it turns out that, according to the rules of the competition, Chase has to move into her new house immediately. Saying “yes” to the offer would be much easier if it wasn’t for the fact that Paradise is rather far away from the civilisation as we know it and, to put it mildly, the neighbours seem slightly psychopathic. Then there is the fog – which has been surrounding the town for nearly two years now...
Jeffrey’s writing style is very smooth (though at the end of the novel there are several careless passages, too), he doesn’t forget about adding humour to his story, is able to create an atmosphere that is fittingly mysterious, and often pushes the plot in unpredictable directions. The scenes that stand out in the book are the ones where Chase starts discovering strange qualities of the town and tries to communicate with its inhabitants – a neighbour throws cakes at her as a means of punishment for being late to a tea party, a shop attendant forgets who Chase is every several minutes – and so on. What is wrong with Evilution then? First of all, the characters sometimes act in, so to speak, not exactly natural ways; that is especially true for Ratty, a boy who made his way through the thick fog to find his grandfather. The Houdini tricks that the boy uses to continue his journey have certain charm, but I think any reader will question the boy’s extraordinary courage. Secondly, I think it would be better not to reveal the secret of the town as quickly as it happens here; the atmosphere of the novel fades when everything suddenly becomes explainable.
One way or the other, Evilution is a horror book definitely worth reading. Several small drawbacks spoil the overall effect a bit, but the world created by Jeffrey is no doubt very magnetic and some of the book’s scenes will dwell in any reader’s memory for a long time. In my personal opinion, one should rather try to get Evilution than to go the easy way and buy another book by the prolific, but a bit repetitive, horror master Graham Masterton.
