65. Afraid by Jack Kilbourn

Afraid by Jack Kilbourn (US) - (Canada)

Pages: 346 pages
Ages: 18+
Finished: Apr. 13, 2010
First Published: Apr. 1, 2009
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: horror
Rating: 3/5

First sentence:

The hunter's moon, a shade of orange so dark it appeared to be filled with blood, hung fat and low over the mirror surface of Big Lake McDonald.

Acquired: Received a review copy from Library Thing's Early Review Program.

Reason for Reading: The plot intrigued me.

Summary: A small town in Wisconsin which has so far only needed a sheriff and a drunk tank to keep the peace is going to find itself sorely lacking in defences. A helicopter crashes into the backwoods and unleashes a terrible horror that absolutely no one in town is safe from. It unrelentlessly attacks in the method it knows best: Isolate, terrorize, annihilate. The town is cut off from the rest of civilization but a few find out that the terror does have a purpose and they try, against all odds, to fight back.

Comments: This book is all action. Right from page one to the end terror and horror continue non-stop with lots of blood, gore and page-turning excitement. This is the type of horror that uses science for its basis making the possibility of its reality not entirely beyond reason. The book also plays upon modern society's fear of terrorism, creating quite a heart thumping reading. The actions of our heroes are a bit over-the-top at times and the characters are two-dimensional with little depth or the ability to capture the reader's emotion. But in all reality this book doesn't try to be anything it isn't. It is simply a non-stop horror story which is worth the ride if you enjoy that sort of thing. This would make a good beach or plane read. I would read another book by the author.