Would it be too much of a spoiler to sum this up by saying that it's "The Wicker Man" meets "Rosemary's Baby"?
Perhaps not spoilers, because from the very opening pages, it's pretty obvious where this is going, and how exactly the "shock/horrors" are going to be delivered. In fact, for me this otherwise very beautifully written and atmospheric novel lost that crucial star because the concluding shocks were just so obvious and predictable from the very beginning, and the horrors just didn't deliver.
For me, it was a matter of the author trying too hard: the parts that had me me reading pages from behind my crossed fingers had nothing to do with inbred locals with funny ideals about health care (cue no banjo music, unfortunately, but there there is a pretty hard-core scene with some less than wholesome Morris dancers, believe it or not), or demonic births, but instead everything to do with Hurley's pitch perfect rendition of a family whose Catholicism has degenerated into its own kind of cult, and who sacrifice everything to the idea that a miracle will "restore" their developmentally disabled son ... or else. Been there, grew up with that. Suffered mild PTSD reading it rendered so flawlessly.
So yes, I do recommend this -- just be aware that the frights might not come from where you expect them.
Perhaps not spoilers, because from the very opening pages, it's pretty obvious where this is going, and how exactly the "shock/horrors" are going to be delivered. In fact, for me this otherwise very beautifully written and atmospheric novel lost that crucial star because the concluding shocks were just so obvious and predictable from the very beginning, and the horrors just didn't deliver.
For me, it was a matter of the author trying too hard: the parts that had me me reading pages from behind my crossed fingers had nothing to do with inbred locals with funny ideals about health care (cue no banjo music, unfortunately, but there there is a pretty hard-core scene with some less than wholesome Morris dancers, believe it or not), or demonic births, but instead everything to do with Hurley's pitch perfect rendition of a family whose Catholicism has degenerated into its own kind of cult, and who sacrifice everything to the idea that a miracle will "restore" their developmentally disabled son ... or else. Been there, grew up with that. Suffered mild PTSD reading it rendered so flawlessly.
So yes, I do recommend this -- just be aware that the frights might not come from where you expect them.
