sfgale

This was very interesting. An air of the slightly strange or weird pervades this novel from start to finish. It's about a man who's girlfriend, Holly, has left him, and so he takes to going on long walks at night whence he encounters various weird and wonderful characters and ends up getting himself into all kinds of trouble after his current squeeze, Eileen, gets herself kidnapped by her former boyfriend.

Some very well written characters here too. Casey was a particular favourite. She's a strange one, with an unusual night life and a personality that draws you in and just makes you want to pull her close and keep her safe. I've tried Laymon's novels before and found them a little superficial, the kind of novel you'd read between finishing one serious, engrossing novel and beginning another. Kind of like a little snack in between the main courses.

Anyhow, I enjoyed it very much. It was just strange enough to really keep you interested but not too way out there to annoy. The characters were well defined and interesting and the story was engrossing enough. It does tend to tip along at a relatively slow pace though, although this does feel very much like it was designed in rather than just the way it turned out, and I do think this pacing worked quite well for the type of story that was being told.

Was it horror? Yes, but more on the strange, subtle end of the spectrum. And I liked it.