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Dylan, a professional rock climber who just got signed to represent a sports gear company, travels into the wilderness of Kentucky to be the first to climb a newly discovered rock wall. She's accompanied by her boyfriend (and his dog), the guy who found the wall, and a biology student.
Seven months later, three of their corpses are found in very odd and inexplicable states. One of them is reduced to a polished skeleton, with no signs of violence and every bone in perfect order! Others have parts missing but are weirdly well preserved! The book then flashes back to the four of them setting out...
The Dyatlov Pass-like premise, the intriguing and very specific rock climbing details, the author being a rock climber herself, and the killer cover tempted me to read this book. It starts off well, with the four discovering a creepy valley full of poisonous plants, many not native to Kentucky, and spooky timey-wimey effects. Apart from some terrific climbing scenes, everything is downhill from there.
I wouldn't call the book wretched, tempted as I am, but it's not very good. The characters are very thin. Bad things happen to them, they run around and scream and throw up, and that's about it. The extremely compressed time scale - the entire trip only lasts about three days - means they spend most of their time trying and failing to leave, with no room or time to develop relationships, attempt to fight back against whatever's keeping them there, try to figure out what's going on, or develop any plans beyond "hike out" and "climb to try to get a cell phone signal." And the explanation of why their bodies were in the shape they were in is a let-down.
( Read more... )
Also, the prose is not good. For instance, a character hears pangs and howls in the night. A pang is a feeling, not a sound.
Hell of a cover, though.
Seven months later, three of their corpses are found in very odd and inexplicable states. One of them is reduced to a polished skeleton, with no signs of violence and every bone in perfect order! Others have parts missing but are weirdly well preserved! The book then flashes back to the four of them setting out...
The Dyatlov Pass-like premise, the intriguing and very specific rock climbing details, the author being a rock climber herself, and the killer cover tempted me to read this book. It starts off well, with the four discovering a creepy valley full of poisonous plants, many not native to Kentucky, and spooky timey-wimey effects. Apart from some terrific climbing scenes, everything is downhill from there.
I wouldn't call the book wretched, tempted as I am, but it's not very good. The characters are very thin. Bad things happen to them, they run around and scream and throw up, and that's about it. The extremely compressed time scale - the entire trip only lasts about three days - means they spend most of their time trying and failing to leave, with no room or time to develop relationships, attempt to fight back against whatever's keeping them there, try to figure out what's going on, or develop any plans beyond "hike out" and "climb to try to get a cell phone signal." And the explanation of why their bodies were in the shape they were in is a let-down.
( Read more... )
Also, the prose is not good. For instance, a character hears pangs and howls in the night. A pang is a feeling, not a sound.
Hell of a cover, though.
