Freddy, Chucky, Jason, and Michael are names familiar to fans of slasher films. Now, for fans of slasher books, we can add the killer from Joshua Berlin's book, Evil.
In Evil, the slasher is not given a name; he's only known as "the Intruder." First dispatching with Amanda Harrington's neighbors, the murderer sets his eyes on Amanda and her visiting friend, Lauren, and he won't let go until everyone is dead. Will the duo prevail, or will the Intruder do what no other slasher villain has done and leave no survivors?
As a huge fan of slasher films, I could not get my hands on this book fast enough. While it does not quite live up to the slasher hype, it was a good story that kept me reading whenever I had the chance. Even though I was never on the edge of my seat, I did feel my heart rate increase when the suspense cranked up. It also kept to the well-known slasher tropes that the protagonists make fun of in the Scary Movie series, including characters making illogical choices, a villain who lives through injuries that would kill anyone else, and a lot of blood and gore. One of the things I liked most about this novel was that the action was not relegated to just Amanda's house; in fact, the novel spanned several locations in a few cities, which kept my interest going during the 250 pages.
Like any good slasher story, Evil also had a decent cast with many likable and unlikable characters. I especially liked the main policeman, Officer John Campbell, who also happened to be the father of Amanda's bestie, Lauren. He was firm yet sympathetic and understanding. However, as noted above, many of the players made boneheaded moves, causing me to yell at the book much like I'd yell at my screen when watching a similar movie. It's a shame that characters have to be dim to carry the story along.
Unfortunately, Evil also included many grammatical errors. The author does list an editor on the copyright page, so I suggest that he get a professional next time, as many typographical issues were missed. The missteps ran the gamut from incorrect verb tenses to missing and/or extra words to missing commas before and after speech tags. I noted several commas where semicolons would be better and a few syntax errors too. There were also a number of formatting issues that caused me to have to reread some portions of the book. Additionally, the text included a few too many repetitious statements and far too many details in some parts, thereby slowing down the action. Therefore, a good proofreader would be a wise choice as well.
Due to the aforementioned authoring issues, I am rating Evil 4 out of 5 stars. With no hesitation, I suggest this thrilling tale to fans of slasher stories who presumably don't mind gratuitous violence and profanity.
- Amanda, EvilWhat now? How do I make this end?
******
Evil
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
