This book started out so strong! I had such high hopes. He did an excellent job at creating really atmospheric tension. The details of bizarre, socially inappropriate human behavior were spot on. All of it up until the time they got to the high school was fairly believable.
But the ending kind of dragged, and the suspension of disbelief lifted in some areas. It’s like he started with one thing in mind for the plot, then had to tidy it up at the end. I think the book should have ended with her finding Jake in his old classroom, in a child’s desk, crying with the long-fingered monster in the wardrobe/closet thing. Reid created that monster in the basement, then never really tidied it. He showed us the gun, but it never fired. The protagonist definitely needed to face the tension at some point, and it needed to tie everything together metaphorically. Maybe I’ve been watching too much of The Conjuring and The Nun scary movies, but it would have been creepier if the entity was trying to isolate the main character, and she/he jumped from the building. This was his first novel though, so I have to cut him some slack.
I also think it’s important to look at the cover art. The scratched out title and winter scene are great. They look psychologically creepy and that accurately reflects the book, which is important. Cover art is a potential reader’s first impression.
When a book starts to lose traction, do you push through to finish it?
I usually put it down and pick up something else. But I think the beginning was so strong on this book that I was really hoping for a satisfying ending.