Lots of fun in the first Oxrun Station novel. Engaging quirky "normal" suburban characters acting totally insane so we can get a story (just run away from Oxrun Station for heaven's sake). Tell me you don't like Natalie and Marc and I'll prove you have no heart. The payoff turns out to be less menacing, in my opinion, than the buildup, but it is a fun roller coaster ride nonetheless. Kudos for Grant not loading us with a lot of post-climax BS about the protagonists' future life. Quit while you are on top.

Listening to Babylon's Burning by The Ruts. ( )

Most of the time, if I've read a book two or three decades previously, I'll usually remember the gist of the plot and two or three specific scenes. That wasn't the case with this novel. I could remember nothing of it, so reading it again, I was essentially reading it for the first time.

The first thing that struck me was the writing. Languid, well-constructed, beautifully written. Very much in the Ray Bradbury vein. That's a huge plus.

The second thing is, Grant is prepared to take his time and make you wait for stuff. Again, not a bad thing. As long as there's payoff at the end, a slow build can be a wonderful thing.

Now, while this novel was marketed firmly in the horror genre, I felt it was really only peripherally horror. It was very much more a mystery with horror undertones. In fact, until the last 20-30 pages, it really didn't have much in the horror area either. The entire book was quite successful in conveying the thinly-veiled threat of ruling body of Oxrun Station, but most of the time, that was it, only threats.

And then there's the areas I ended up pulling stars off for, that I must hide under a spoiler tag:


The first thing is, the book opens with the death of Natalie's husband. Later, it's explained that he was part of the secret society, but everyone knew his wife (Natalie) would never buy in. So why kill the guy who is bought in, and leave the dangling thread of the woman who is a threat? Why not just kill her at the beginning? Oh, right, because there would not have been a story...

Next, you've got this really really important book, the Eye, that basically drops the secret society into a massive tizzy when it goes missing. Why does it go missing? Because the dumbasses decide it's safe when it's stored in public on a library shelf. Seriously. Don't keep it under lock and key. Hell, don't even give it to one of the society members for safe keeping in their home. Put it on a shelf in the public library. You're fucking kidding me, right?

Both are plot holes that simply could not be ignored and destroyed the entire book for me.

Like I said, a slow build can be a wonderful thing if the payoff at the end warrants it. In this case, it more felt like Grant had written himself into a corner, had a word limit he couldn't surpass, and shut it down quick. So, in the end, it was a well-written, but poorly plotted novel, but it's only the first in the loosely-connected Oxrun Station series, so I'll give a few more a go. ( )

Very good, once again. A little slow going but still quite atmospheric. Ending was a bit sudden and felt almost like the author got bored and simply wanted to put an end to it as quickly as possible.

Wasn't a bad read.
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