McNally adds nuances of character and world to the classic tale of a mysterious force slowly turning neighbours into potential enemies. Containing both brutal violence and subtle dread it offers something for fans of both visceral and cerebral horror.
With all the witnesses to what really happened dead or missing, no one knows about the man in white and the mind-altering music he used to empty a farm of people. Worried about the collapse of his marriage and the impact on his deaf son, Trevor Burnette doesn’t even feel more than passing curiosity over the unexplained disappearances. However, as disappearances and odd behaviour spread through the town, he comes face to face with an evil that bears mayhem for all but a special hatred for the deaf.
Set in an ordinary part of rural America and featuring a growing number of townsfolk converted to a mysterious agenda, this novel displays similarities to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. However, with those subverted still being the same person rather than an engineered copy, this sense of paranoia is combined with a pleasing difference in what the goal of the conversion is and how matters will play out.
In addition to providing an intriguing vessel for mind-control, having transmission occur through hearing a tune rather than some more physical method adds greatly to the paranoia: if there isn’t a special toxin or device, there is no way to detect the subverted save through behaviour and no immediately obvious path toward either antidote or defence.
That the only defence that does seem to exist is being deaf builds this sense of vulnerability still further: being protected from conversion comes at the cost of severely reducing one’s ability to detect threats.
Skilfully balancing paranoia against accessibility, McNally introduces more noticeable effects of subversion as the story progresses, providing readers with more clues about what might be going on but also increasing the sense of threat.
The use of secondary point-of-view characters adds to this ongoing mix of new information and new threats, providing the reader with perspectives that Trevor lacks such that the reader knows he is unwittingly placing himself in greater danger but also providing clear evidence of bias such that the new information cannot be relied on as accurate.
While McNally’s concept is engaging and his plot filled with plenty of twists and uncertainties, his style tends toward declarative statements. As such, readers who enjoy inferring emotional states from character’s actions rather than being told what someone is feeling might find some scenes less powerful.
Also, while a possible explanation is offered toward the end of the book, some readers might find the presence of a character who has an ear condition that should make them deaf but for medically inexplicable reasons doesn’t to be convenient enough to weaken plausibility.
As befits a tale based around an insidious horror, the ending marks a significant victory for the protagonists but neither a return to utter safety nor a discovery of all. Therefore, readers seeking the triumph of good might be disappointed.
Trevor is a solid protagonist. Lacking any exceptional skills but with a strong desire to protect his son, he provides a plausible hero for the reader to empathise with. His logical acceptance that he is responsible for his marital problems is countered by a lack of experience in inspecting his emotions, both increasing his desire to keep his family safe and adding the challenge of driving them away by overreacting or misinterpreting.
The supporting cast display the same complexity of motivation and reaction. People want to do the right thing and end the threat, yet still maintain their dislikes of others over things that are petty in the face of conversion or death.
Unfortunately, this portrayal of a consistent balance between conscience and pettiness is not always perfect. In one instance, a character takes action that seems actively immoral then carries on with neither turmoil nor evidence of a change in outlook.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I recommend it to readers seeking supernatural horror with lots of paranoia and few happy endings.
I received a free copy from the author with a request for a fair review.
