John Langan (2) (1969–)

This took me a long time to get through, not because of the book but because of a holiday and other things going on although I will admit I’m not a huge fan of first person, which can make some books sound more tell than show. That’s the case here, though I’m unsure if third person would have worked. The story is told in three parts, first and last by Abe, the book’s main character, and the Middle by someone Abe and his fishing buddy meet, when we learn the legend surrounding Dutchman’s Creek. This structure removes one from the story a little in that I found myself far more interested in past characters and events than those of the present ones. I also found the sex scene towards the end gratuitous. Fans of Lovecraft type literary tales should love this book. For others who don’t like the gothic slow burn they may not appreciate it so well. The world the author creates, he brought to life, and the narrative invoked all the right imagery. It’s an excellent book — fantastical, imaginative, dark, visceral in places, subtle in others, mythological, epic — and the right reader will love it. The end was satisfying, though left me questioning the fate of the world, and the possibility of one the horrors presented ever bleeding to a greater degree into our reality.… (mere)

I had some slight concerns about reading this, a bit of a marmite book and had seen some less than flattering reviews about the third part - but whilst I understood whilst reading the bit that got certain reviewers ire, that it was a bit eye rollinginly-cringey - there is a play off from this in the very last page which adds another level of horror.

The plot - although most would say horror - it's not; it's about loss and the pain of it, and to a degree the passing of time wrapped up a supernatural-ish slightly Lovecraftian tale, where fishing plays a redemptive part for the protagonist(s).

Stealing a line from another Amazon reviewer - the 1st part (there are 3 and all very separate to a degree) has one of the most well written and homely voices outside Stephen king - certainly the part that he does exceptionally - this sets the tale and the role of fishing in it. Part two gives a backlog to the story which could have had a fair number of pages lopped off. This is my only criticism; it is a bit over-written in places - I found the same in his short stories. Certainly a literary tale though in the manner of MR James and the old weird tales authors of that ilk.

In the afterwards; the author tells us that publishing houses thought the same - too literary for a horror novel, too much horror for a literary novel. I'm glad though that someone decided to ignore that and publish it.

Def. Recommended though.… (mere)