I've been reading Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Mayberry. Here goes my take:
"Once upon a time, in a land that is way too nearby for comfort, there was a Very Bad Man whose hatred and evil went well beyond the grave and infected everything and everyone around him, like a poison that seeped into the water table...."
But the real evil is ultimately human. (Isn't it usually?)
In any case, the short verdict is that it is a really good book. Read it.
I found myself sitting up at night, bleary-eyed, the book clutched in one hand and eye drops in the other, as I negotiated with the Sleep Gods for 'just ten more pages' before I crashed. (I sound like a little kid when I argue with the Sleep Gods. I have no control over the bed time they assign me...my body will crap out at some point, and I've been known to fall asleep with nearly anything in my hand, including a half full cup of coffee, so I know at some point I have to stop reading. I just don't want to stop reading. This book makes you want to read just one more chapter...and then another, no matter how heavy your eyelids get.)
If you like being scared, read this book. If, like most writers, you only half read for pleasure and half with an eye toward technique, and you want a sterling example of how to weave a supernatural story into an ordinary landscape, read this book.
I know Mayberry has a number of other books out there already but I discovered him only recently, and totally by accident. I've already put everything else he's written on my "to buy and read" list, including several that appear to be zombie books. I haven't read a lot of horror books, at least not since Steven King's editor was still unafraid of him. I'm thrilled that I've found Mayberry. It's been a long time since I was scared enough to flip on the TV so I didn't have to try to sleep in the too-quiet silence of night once I finally put down the book.
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