Review: Those Across the River

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Please note: Read and reviewed in October 2011 from a copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: Frank Nichols had carried on an affair with Eudora Lehman for two years before her husband discovered them. Disgraced and blacklisted, Frank has been unable to find another job in a University, but, in what appears to be a great stroke of luck, he inherits a house from his late mother’s sister. She warns him to just sell the house – to not move down to Georgia – but he decides that it would be a good idea to write a book about his great-grandfather who, after the end of the Civil War, refused to release his slaves and treated them so badly that they rose up in revolt and killed him, his family, and all his livestock. So, he and Dora move to Whitbrow, Georgia, where Dora has been offered a teaching position to replace Frank’s aunt in the high school. However, it’s not long after they arrive that Frank begins to notice the superstitious awe with which the townsfolk view Megiddo forest, across the river. Once a month, on the full moon, they send two pigs over the river – no one is really sure how this began, although there are a lot of rumors. However, times are hard, and the townsfolk decide to stop wasting pigs they could be eating. That’s when things begin to go horribly wrong. That’s when people begin to die …

My Thoughts: I’ve read a lot of creepy books over the past couple of months; I think this is the creepiest. The build-up of suspense and horror starts slowly and subtly, with hints and clues and vague allegations. However, once those across the river are revealed completely, things progress rapidly. A crescendo is reached and it seems like that might be the end, only for things to start back up, reach another crescendo … it’s like watching a horror movie when you think the monster is dead, but they aren’t really and they pop back out at you time and again. I loved it - I think it might give me nightmares, but I loved it! If you like horror, you will LOVE Those Across the River.



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