The story revolves around this little backwoods crabbing town and its strange inhabitants. The main protagonist of the story is Patricia. When her brother-in-law is killed by unusual beheading she goes to the town to attend the funeral and comfort her sister in her loss. After she arrives in the small town of her childhood, a place she loathes and fears, the place where she was raped as a teenager, the carnage begins to heighten. From that point the plot of the story becomes disjointed, poorly constructed, and completely flat.
There are a bunch of different murders throughout the book that all seem pointless. We don't know who these people are or simply could care less about them. On top of that the violence is peppered with a heavy layer of sex and rape scenes. Usually if a book or movie has a rape scene (particularly if it's graphic in any way) I'm instantly done. I close the book or turn off the T.V. and walk away. Rape is never done tactfully and is almost always degrading in the media. Until authors and writers can learn to address a sensitive topic such as rape in a realistic and constructive manner they need to simply not even try. when they do it usually ends up being a misogynistic mess instead. This book is no exception. In fact, this is the most misogynistic and depraved book I have ever read. Thank you Edward Lee.
However, I continued reading this book simply because I was somewhat interested in Patricia. She had a little bit of a flare to her and seemed to be the only decent person in the entirety of the story. I was impressed initially because she seemed to be a somewhat strong female lead. This almost never happened in the media let alone in the horror genre. However, when her story becomes more about her sexual awakening than her relationship with her sister I was done. She goes from being a mildly interesting and strong willed character to a sex object for the reader in a matter of a few chapters. It was a disappointing turn of events . I was waiting for some supernatural explanation for why this character was undergoing such a deep sexual change. Unfortunately, there never was such an explanation therefore marking every sex scene in this novel stuffing to fill the empty gaps between what little pointless story actually existed.
Obviously I dislike this novel. There was pointless sex that didn't drive the plot, violent murders that seemed to mean nothing, and flat characters and story that had no nature of good in them whatsoever. However, I think the thing that bothered me most of all about this book is that it was ultimately NOT a horror novel.
Summing it Up
Deaths: The Town
Language: 5
Gore Factor: 5
Sex Factor: 5
Scare Factor: 0
Fun Factor: 0
Overall Rating: 0