I picked up this slim novel a few weeks back at my favourite horror bookstore in Toronto (shoutout to Little Ghosts Books!), but a few days ago, the publisher offered the audiobook version if you retweeted about the book. True to their word, ten minutes after the retweet, I had the audiobook link.
And it came at a perfect time. Circumstances led me to be driving most of the day last Saturday, so I listened to my brand new audiobook.
And instantly fell in love with this novel and its cast of characters.
Is it horror? Yes, it’s soft horror, but there’s definitely horror there. But more than that, it’s just an absolutely perfectly written, gorgeously remembered love letter to being a teen in the late 80s. I enjoyed it, despite being about 8 years older than Mark in the book, but I have to tell you, McGregor nailed so many of my teen experiences, especially when it came to being at parties and being that awkward guy that wandered between the groups, an empty beer bottle in hand so I wouldn’t get abused for not drinking.
He also nailed the small town movie theatre getting the movies so damned late, and the screw ups, and the hot girl working the ticket booth. It was like McGregor plucked a bunch of stuff right out of my head, pushed it forward about ten years, and wrote it into his book.
Seriously, though, Mark’s budding relationship with George, his relationship with his father and stepmom, and the secret that he carries throughout the novel…all of it was just perfect. I’ve read a few wonderful coming of age stories…McCammon’s Boy’s Life, Simmons’s Summer of Night, and King’s The Body all rank very high on that list. But this one? Yeah, this one now has a place of honour there too.
Well done.
Weird little anecdote: While halfway through my day of driving, and halfway through this book, I stopped at an author event at the aforementioned Little Ghosts bookstore, and several horror authors had come out. While talking to one author, I mentioned that I was listening to a fantastic audiobook and was about halfway through it. He asked which book and I told him the title.
Then he turned to his left at the man standing right beside us.
That man was the author of this book. Bizarre, huh?
