The Island [Import] [Paperback]

Dean R. Koontz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Victor Gollancz Limited (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575046244
• ISBN-13: 978-0575046245
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Slow building supernatural suspense yarn, January 24, 2008

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Island (Paperback)

T M Wright strikes me as the US equivalent of the British writer Ramsey Campbell in that his tales of the supernatural tend to be slow building and to unfold their secrets and pleasures gradually and subtly.They share ,in short ,similar styles and aesthetics and embody what has been labelled "quiet horror.Mr Wright tends to eschew the gore and gross out going instead for conveying disquiet and tension rather than having readers seraching for the barf bag.Its not an easy trick to pull off and he does not always do so but The Island is a successful example of the pleasure to be derived when he does get it right.

It is essentially a ghost story .The dead ,asleep for many years in the depths of an island lake ,return .These revenants are not content merely to haunt their victims ,the living islanders ,and soon turn to killinh them as well .
The build up of suspense is slow but implacable and eventually reaches a high level of tension .This is an atmospheric and evocative novel which is especially good at evoking a miasma of dread.It is a very wintery book -it takes place in Winter and the season is a tangible presence in the novel

Its not a book for those wanting a quick fix of horror but if you have patience for the gradual unfolding of the yarn it is very rewadrding indeed.