Todd Curry wants nothing more than to spend Christmas with his son. But when a brutal snowstorm cancels his flight from Chicago to Des Moines, Todd and a few other stranded passengers decide to rent a Jeep and make the trip on their own. During the drive, they pick up a man wandering through the snow, who claims to be searching for his lost daughter. He is disoriented and his story seems peculiar. Strangest of all are the mysterious slashes cut into the back of the man’s coat, straight down to the flesh… When they arrive at the nearest town, it appears deserted. Windows dark, car abandoned, fired burning unattended. But Todd and the rest of the travelers soon learn the town is far from deserted, and that they are being watched…
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Malfi’s narration and descriptive abilities are superb…”-- Horror World Reviews
“Malfi's florid descriptiveness and taut writing style grip the reader right from the get-go.”—Rue Morgue on Passenger
“An immensely talented writer.” —Literary Strange Digest
“Complex, chilling, surprising and thought-provoking. The Fall of Never is what horror should be.” —SFReader.com
About the Author
A writer, visual artist and musician, Ronald Malfi used to front the Maryland-based alternative rock band Nellie Blide. Malfi has previously been published with Medallion and Delirium (among others). Most recognized for his haunting, literary style and memorable characters, Malfi's horror novels and thrillers have transcended genres to gain wider acceptance among readers of quality literature.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Amongst legions of vampires, werewolves, zombies, vengeful spirits of evil entombed ancestors and Lovecraftian water monsters with lashing tentacles, it's gratifying to encounter a creature that's fresh and original, and - though detailed - not over explained to the point of:
"Oh, I see. It's a brand-new twist on an ancient Native American Algonquin Elder Myth of Very Old Beings From Before Time! How silly of me!"
In other words, it's nice to be surprised by something new and still be left hanging at the end, wondering what that thing was, and where and when it'll strike next. Ronald Malfi accomplishes this in "Snow": He uses the always effective horror environment of a small town cut off by a blizzard; then he gives ample reason to fear the snow itself...down to even the tiniest flake.
Todd Curry is a newly divorced dad trying to make up for lost time and wasted opportunities, but torrential snowstorms have canceled all flights from Chicago, ruining his chances of seeing his only son for Christmas. Determined, Todd joins a woman named Kate and an elderly couple as they try driving to their varied destinations. It's risky, but he's desperate enough and Kate seems crazy enough for it to work.
A car accident becomes the least of their worries after they pick up a confused man wandering in the snow, claiming that his daughter is lost in the woods. By proxy, he leads them to a snowed-in town, dark and empty, save for a few barrel fires...and something that darts in and out of the shadows. Something awful and ethereal waits for these four travelers; something that wants more from them than just food...
Malfi's handle of the craft is rock-solid; he crafts a wire-taut, suspenseful atmosphere. Also, potential sparks between Kate (engaged to someone else) and Todd are handled respectfully, and Malfi clearly understands the concept of providing resolution without explaining everything away. Readers who can love the journey without a detailed map drawn for them at the end will love this.
"Oh, I see. It's a brand-new twist on an ancient Native American Algonquin Elder Myth of Very Old Beings From Before Time! How silly of me!"
In other words, it's nice to be surprised by something new and still be left hanging at the end, wondering what that thing was, and where and when it'll strike next. Ronald Malfi accomplishes this in "Snow": He uses the always effective horror environment of a small town cut off by a blizzard; then he gives ample reason to fear the snow itself...down to even the tiniest flake.
Todd Curry is a newly divorced dad trying to make up for lost time and wasted opportunities, but torrential snowstorms have canceled all flights from Chicago, ruining his chances of seeing his only son for Christmas. Determined, Todd joins a woman named Kate and an elderly couple as they try driving to their varied destinations. It's risky, but he's desperate enough and Kate seems crazy enough for it to work.
A car accident becomes the least of their worries after they pick up a confused man wandering in the snow, claiming that his daughter is lost in the woods. By proxy, he leads them to a snowed-in town, dark and empty, save for a few barrel fires...and something that darts in and out of the shadows. Something awful and ethereal waits for these four travelers; something that wants more from them than just food...
Malfi's handle of the craft is rock-solid; he crafts a wire-taut, suspenseful atmosphere. Also, potential sparks between Kate (engaged to someone else) and Todd are handled respectfully, and Malfi clearly understands the concept of providing resolution without explaining everything away. Readers who can love the journey without a detailed map drawn for them at the end will love this.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By Apronikoff
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Malfi's Snow is the best horror I've read in quite a while. I picked it up off the shelf to kill a few minutes while I was waiting for someone and ended up reading the whole thing that day.
Several of the previous reviewers praise this book's originality. The funny thing is that it does feel shocking and new, despite the fact that it wears its influences on its sleeve, so to speak (a heady mixture of John Carpenter's remake of The Thing, Romero's zombie movies, and Lovecraftian cosmic horror.)
The best thing about it is the characters -- all the important characters feel well rounded and interesting, and with the leads especially you get that essential sense of what their lives are like outside of the events of the book, so you know what's at stake. Too many characters in horror books and movies seem to only exist within the confines of their stories, giving you no reason to root for them or care whether they live or die. Malfi reminded of me of Stephen King in that sense (characters always being King's biggest strength), with none of the latter's self-indulgent tendencies.
Living in the midwest, not that far from where this book is set, I'm sure to think of this one again with a shiver at the next major snowfall.
Highly recommended.
Several of the previous reviewers praise this book's originality. The funny thing is that it does feel shocking and new, despite the fact that it wears its influences on its sleeve, so to speak (a heady mixture of John Carpenter's remake of The Thing, Romero's zombie movies, and Lovecraftian cosmic horror.)
The best thing about it is the characters -- all the important characters feel well rounded and interesting, and with the leads especially you get that essential sense of what their lives are like outside of the events of the book, so you know what's at stake. Too many characters in horror books and movies seem to only exist within the confines of their stories, giving you no reason to root for them or care whether they live or die. Malfi reminded of me of Stephen King in that sense (characters always being King's biggest strength), with none of the latter's self-indulgent tendencies.
Living in the midwest, not that far from where this book is set, I'm sure to think of this one again with a shiver at the next major snowfall.
Highly recommended.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Ronald Malfi, Snow (Leisure, 2010)
I had Snow, Malfi's most recent novel, on my list of stuff to read in 2011. Then I found a copy at a library book sale, in good enough shape for me, but not for the library. (It had suffered some water damage.) Considering this providence, I bought it for a quarter, took it home, and then tried to resist reading it until 2011. As I'm writing this on October 1, 2010, you can see how well that worked out. I've been hearing Malfi's name around and about for a few years now, but had never checked out any of his fiction before; while it does suffer from a few of the shortcomings common to the genre, that won't stop me from checking out his stuff again in the future.
Snow starts in one of the places in the world that, when you consider horror novels, is the least scary, but when you consider real life, is terrifying--O'Hare Airport. It is Christmas Eve, and a number of passengers headed for Des Moines (actually, all points) are stuck in a snowstorm. Todd Curry, the book's protagonist, attempts to rent a car capable of making it to Iowa in a snowstorm, but finds out the last four-wheel-drive was just rented by Kate, a perky redhead he'd just met in the airport bar. She offers to give him a ride, along with Fred and Nan Wilkinson, an elderly couple similarly stranded, and the four of them head off into the night. Things don't get odd until they get into Iowa, but then they come upon a guy stumbling around in the snow. He says he's looking for his daughter, and our intrepid crew decide to help. But there are things about both his story and his demeanor that don't add up...
I didn't really grasp it until I started writing this review, but there's one monster plot hole in this book that drove me up the wall; after I'd finished the book, I knew there was something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it till just now. Since it involves both the very beginning and the very end of the book, it's impossible to talk about in a review without giving away a major spoiler, but if you do notice it, it'll probably drive you up the wall, too. Which is not at all what I was going to say in the third paragraph. Consider this a diversion.
I've noticed over the years that genre fiction, especially genre horror, is far more plot- than character-based. Having read Snow, I think I'm going to add a third category to this, the pace-based book (think Douglas Winter's Run or the novels of Jack Priest, for example), because while Snow is a plot-driven book indeed, and some of the subplots suddenly disappearing will drive you to distraction, Malfi at least tries to give you three-dimensional characters here, far more so than a Winter or a Priest (or for that matter, the modern master of the cardboard character, Brian Keene--though I rush to add his books are the best guilty pleasures you can get your hands on these days). He doesn't always succeed, and every once in a while you'll run across a character with "kill me" tattooed on his forehead (what Star Trek fans call redshirts), and those tend to be transparent. But put all that aside and what you've got is a fun little horror novel with a pretty durned nifty monster; it's fun, if shallow, and worth a read for genre horror fans. ***
I had Snow, Malfi's most recent novel, on my list of stuff to read in 2011. Then I found a copy at a library book sale, in good enough shape for me, but not for the library. (It had suffered some water damage.) Considering this providence, I bought it for a quarter, took it home, and then tried to resist reading it until 2011. As I'm writing this on October 1, 2010, you can see how well that worked out. I've been hearing Malfi's name around and about for a few years now, but had never checked out any of his fiction before; while it does suffer from a few of the shortcomings common to the genre, that won't stop me from checking out his stuff again in the future.
Snow starts in one of the places in the world that, when you consider horror novels, is the least scary, but when you consider real life, is terrifying--O'Hare Airport. It is Christmas Eve, and a number of passengers headed for Des Moines (actually, all points) are stuck in a snowstorm. Todd Curry, the book's protagonist, attempts to rent a car capable of making it to Iowa in a snowstorm, but finds out the last four-wheel-drive was just rented by Kate, a perky redhead he'd just met in the airport bar. She offers to give him a ride, along with Fred and Nan Wilkinson, an elderly couple similarly stranded, and the four of them head off into the night. Things don't get odd until they get into Iowa, but then they come upon a guy stumbling around in the snow. He says he's looking for his daughter, and our intrepid crew decide to help. But there are things about both his story and his demeanor that don't add up...
I didn't really grasp it until I started writing this review, but there's one monster plot hole in this book that drove me up the wall; after I'd finished the book, I knew there was something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it till just now. Since it involves both the very beginning and the very end of the book, it's impossible to talk about in a review without giving away a major spoiler, but if you do notice it, it'll probably drive you up the wall, too. Which is not at all what I was going to say in the third paragraph. Consider this a diversion.
I've noticed over the years that genre fiction, especially genre horror, is far more plot- than character-based. Having read Snow, I think I'm going to add a third category to this, the pace-based book (think Douglas Winter's Run or the novels of Jack Priest, for example), because while Snow is a plot-driven book indeed, and some of the subplots suddenly disappearing will drive you to distraction, Malfi at least tries to give you three-dimensional characters here, far more so than a Winter or a Priest (or for that matter, the modern master of the cardboard character, Brian Keene--though I rush to add his books are the best guilty pleasures you can get your hands on these days). He doesn't always succeed, and every once in a while you'll run across a character with "kill me" tattooed on his forehead (what Star Trek fans call redshirts), and those tend to be transparent. But put all that aside and what you've got is a fun little horror novel with a pretty durned nifty monster; it's fun, if shallow, and worth a read for genre horror fans. ***
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
More like 2 1/2 stars
Wound up flipping through a lot of the book waiting for more to happen..Didn't keep me engaged. Decent passable read.
Published 7 days ago by LYNNE TEDALDI
5.0 out of 5 stars
Original
This had an original menacing horror to it that had me finishing this ebook in one reading. The characters were like people you know in everyday life. YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOK.
Published 14 days ago by Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good read
I never read this author but I took a chance and didn't regret this book is a fast exciting read from beginning to end good characters and good story I recommend it you won't be... Read more
Published 16 days ago by luis
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creepy good read!
I've read Ronald Malfi before and thought I couldn't go wrong with another book. I was right! The story doesn't dwell too long on the set-up in the beginning, but it gives the... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Monkeybut
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ok for fans of sci-fi
I didn't realize that it was going to be more sci-fi than horror. Probably will skip The Mourning House
even though it's already in my library.
even though it's already in my library.
Published 27 days ago by Sandy DeFreece
5.0 out of 5 stars
awsome book
This was another good book,real scary,a real nail biter.I like scary books,and this one did not disapoint me.If you like scary this is a good read.
Published 1 month ago by eve stone
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun read. Creepy and creative.
I enjoyed this book. I was looking for something like this for my bed time reading and found it captivating. I recommend it if you're into the creepy unknown.
Published 1 month ago by Russell
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wierd but interesting
Malfi got you to care about the characters so even when it got pretty wierd, I still wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Read more
Published 1 month ago by sandarella
2.0 out of 5 stars
Author shoots the story in the foot within the first few chapters...
...By revealing what the monsters are right at the start! The book starts off great. It's very well written and the characters are believable and likable. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sarah
4.0 out of 5 stars
Freaky
A good read. Could be a movie, although a little choppy. Lots of unanswered questions.
You will finish it in one sitting..
You will finish it in one sitting..
Published 2 months ago by June I. Hetznecker
