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Avg. Rating: 4
I couldn't put this book down
What reviewers and readers have to remember about Shelter is that it is a first novel. Many literary awards, and that includes the Stokers, have a separate category for first novels.
These writers have been writing short stories and novellas successfully for many years as you can see from their website. To make the transition to novels at this stage in their careers should be commended.
I can't see anything misleading about the cover blurb. Leisure are well known for their very good covers and this seems no exception. It is clear the book is going to be about what lies beneath the house and not about the house itself. This is a monster story not a haunted house.
The monster they have created, The Verani, like their Tashkai in their novella Moths, is innovative and fresh.
I agree that it might have been better for Maggie to have been forced to do what she does rather than participate willingly, but I found the whole book to be an effective supernatural novel, with nothing of the scifi about it. We can all think of novels where we would have done it 'better', but how many of us actually have the skill to do it?
There seems to be a common thread here in that female readers love the book wholeheartedly while male readers seem a bit put off by the romance element. Women love romance and let me tell you Laura and Richard is pretty realistic.
Shelter starts really strongly with the back stories of the Charteris family and in modern times Laura's story being skilfully plotted out. The pace throughout is fast and furious with no wasted words. The characters are well drawn, and even the minor ones have real flesh on their bones. When the two stories merge I found this was done with great skill, and it was actually from that point on that the suspense became page turningly good. I read the book on a beach in Greece on holiday and I couldn't put it down. It only took a couple of days to read. Its not great literature but that's not what I want from my horror. It's well written, fast paced, and gripping.
I can't wait until their second novel is published from Leisure. I thoroughly recommend this book to lovers of supernatural horror.
Not greatly impressed with this one
Shelter started off strong, it kept me glued to the pages and interested but overall the sizzle dissipated and I was struggling at the end to finish the book. Part horror and part strange sci-fi the writing was smooth, and well executed but I felt like the story crumbled and failed to impress me at the end.
The tale has many interesting aspects, a rich family with bad blood and hidden secrets, an abandoned cottage that is purchased by Laura Craig for restoration, her ex business partner Brian Tanner, who is stalking her and random accidents happening at the site. I had a hard time liking Laura, she whined and threw angry fits that were plan embarrassing. She formed friendships that progressed into romance in couple of hours, hardly believable and what she found at the hidden cellar well in her cottage was nothing gruesome, to the point of giving me goose bumps. The story goes back and forth between the modern time and the 40's and 50's often losing it's momentum, with overly analyzed explanations. There were moments where a hundred pages would pass by and I was left with a big headache instead of hunger for more. Also the middle of the book felt like it lost all sanity where something happened between Brian and a certain woman, that made me roll my eyes in disbelief. From that moment on, like the last reviewer also mentioned, the whole story turned from a creepy horror to a silly sci-fi mish mash.
Overall an interesting read, but nothing that stayed in my memory for too long. I don't know if I would tackle future books by this duo. The story would have to be stronger, and not read like a PG13 fairy tale.
- Kasia S.
Don't judge a book by it's cover
Maynard and Sims' debut novel, Shelter, begins under a shroud of mystery, painting a vivid picture of a long ago extra-marital pregnancy that serves to foreshadow a modern day evil. The authors do a nice job of slowly revelaing the back-story behind this plot, but my biggest regret is that this story is nothing like the picture painted by either the cover or the synopsis.
The modern portion of this tale opens when lead protagonist Laura Craig purchases a long abandoned home with hopes of renovating it. Before long, it becomes apparent that this story has very little to do with the house, and more to do with the evil entity that was imprisoned beneath it long ago.
The "evil" itself felt very b-grade to me, and by its midway point, this book devolves into an almost sci-fi, beastly romp that is part Alien, part Species, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This is a tale of a creature seeking revenge, and the fates of those who get in its way.
Perhaps someone going into this book expecting such a story will find more to enjoy here than I did. Expecting more of a tale of a house posessed by evil, however, I was unfortunately let down. There may be a future for this duo of newcomers, but it will take some convincing to get me to pick up their next venture.
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