Customer Reviews

Trauma

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bonnie Winter is having some personal problems. Ever since her husband Duke's job was taken away by a Mexican, he has been bitter (and won't eat Mexican food) and she has been precariously holding down two jobs: one for Glamorex cosmetics as a representative, the other for her own crime-scene (or trauma-scene) cleanup company, Bonnie's Trauma Scene Clean.

Things take a strange turn when Bonnie finds an odd-looking caterpillar at three of her crime scenes. With some research, she discovers that the caterpillar is connected to an ancient Aztec legend about a demon (Itzpapalotl) who inspires people to kill "the ones they love the most." Coincidentally, all of the victims at these houses were loved ones of the murderers, including one doting father who killed his three children.

Originally published under the title Bonnie Winter as the tenth entry in the Cemetery Dance novella series, Trauma is 200 pages of relatively large print -- which makes me wonder if Signet couldn't have lowered the price a bit -- but in the end, it's worth the extra dollar or two: a tight little package of suspense that fires on all cylinders and doesn't waste a word.

I had never read a book by Graham Masterton before, but this one will not be my last. It has everything I look for in a novel, and more. Plus, its surface similarities to my current favorite guilty pleasure all but guaranteed that I would love it. (Murder mystery aspects combine with gruesome details and entomology to make Trauma, in some ways, resemble an insect-heavy episode of CSI, but with a tone of terror as opposed to puzzle solution.)

Masterton's skill at description is what truly carries the day, however. The crime scenes are lovingly described while not verging into exploitation. Also, the author evokes the day-to-day aspects of Bonnie's professions (and the relationships that come with them), grounding this novella in reality so well that, when the story takes a shocking turn near the end, we are all the more willing to follow right along, even when it veers occasionally into the surreal. Masterton takes a banal narrative and a seemingly-minor plot point and delivers a surprise that is wild yet completely organic to the story. Trauma is a quick read, but Bonnie Winter is not a character that you will soon forget.

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I was totally surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. It's got a completely different feel and atmosphere than his usual adventurous romps. It's moody, subtle, and very satisfying. Caution - by subtle, I mean it is not overtly scary or shocking. It is, however, pretty gross. Just FYI.

This is the best book of its type I've ever read. Only two books ever made me scream by their end, and this is one of them.

Thirty-four year old Bonnie Winter is undergoing too many life crises, of late - her husband has been out of work for a year, her seventeen year old son is discovering violence to prove himself as a man, she's working two jobs to make ends meet and wrestling with the idea of embarking on an affair - and her second job doesn't make things any easier. Bonnie is a "sanitizer," one of those people who cleans up messy suicides and crime scenes, and the endless wash of blood and violence across the decaying fabric of her life's seams is taking its toll. On top of everything else, she's discovered something unusual at the scene of three messy family suicide-homicides: a rare species of caterpillar that doesn't exist in our part of the world, and is legendarily attached to insanity and familial murder...

This book is the most superior example of minimalist horror you could hope to find. It succeeds as a crime novel, as a supernatural horror story and as a tale of descent into psychological and spiritual madness. However one ultimately chooses to interpret it, Trauma is a horror story par excellence. Graham Masterton has written many fine novels of the type, but this is by far not only his best, but one of the best to be found in any of the aforementioned genres.

If someone doesn't make a movie out of this clammy nightmare of a book, it'll be a crime. But don't wait for Hollywood to discover it. Beat them to it, and treat yourself to one of the shudderiest suspensers in the English language.

Bonnie cleans up crime scenes. Bonnie cleans up some really nasty crime scenes. Bonnie Winters is the heroine of this novella by Graham Masteron, and Bonnie Winters is not doing so well.

This isn't what I would call a horror book, or even a thriller. It is more of a psychological drama. Masterton has expertly, in the space of 200 pages (if you buy paperback), woven a tight, brilliantly paced story about Bonnie, her life's work, and her life's ruin. Although what details Masterton chooses to include are sometimes confusing, they all create a flawless and suspenseful tableaux of one woman's normal, albeit desperately tragic life.

There is gore here, but pretty much only in the spare descriptions of the crime scenes which Bonnie cleans every day. The true horror and the true trauma are hidden, quite cleverly, in Bonnie's day-to-day interactions. I couldn't say enough how the startlingly realistic dialogue, how the vivid characters, and how the brilliant display of episodic discrimination lends this novella an enrapturing and consuming quality.

Although Bonnie's tale eventually succumbs to some melodrama and a few out-there hijinks, the reader is prepared for these. And, in this case, it is more Graham's finely-tuned storytelling that is the draw, rather than the exact story which he is telling. The creation of an atmosphere of tension and the release it is eventually given is as concise and powerful as Masterton's short and aptly titled chapters. Pick this book up, and you will not put it down.

Graham Masterton is the master of subtle horror. He is able to take normal looking and normal sounding characters and place them in situations of complete and utter horror. And he does it once again - and rather masterfully - with his short but extremely complex novel Trauma (aka Bonnie Winter).

Bonnie is a tired mother and wife who works two jobs to support her family. By day, she sells cosmetics and by night, she works with her crime scene clean up crew. You see, when someone dies a horrible death, the police will not clean the mess that is left behind. It's up to people like Bonnie to clean up whatever is left at the crime scene once the body has been removed.

But as the days crawl by, as Bonnie gets more and more confused by her failing marriage, her abusive husband and her strange and slightly distrubed son, and as the things she sees at the crime scenes she is supposed to clean up get weirder and weirder, Bonnie will slowly began her tumble down into dementia.

Masterton found the perfect form to tell his story. The chapters are short and often straight to the point. The descriptions are sparse though he gives the reader just enough to sends shivers down their spines. By the time the climax comes by, you can't be sure if Bonnie is really insane or if what is sees and feels is actually real.

I really enjoyed this novel. It can be quite gruesome at time, but the gore never takes over the psychological suspense. The only problem I have with this book is that I wanted more. It's very short, though I don't think that having any more would have made the book any better. It's quite thrilling and intriguing as it is. Masterton proves once and for all that he is one of the most underrated voice in horror ficiton.

This skinny book had some starkly realistic and uncommon treatments of relationships (the main character had a verbally abusive husband and reacted to his tirades with boredom and pity for his impotence rather than curling into a fetal position and crying). Still, despite her intellect, I mostly wanted to understand why this dour, overweight, 35-year-old catastrophe cleaner had men fawning over her, and what the Hades possessed the author to add the laughable Twilight Zone ending to what could have been a unique mystery, if he'd thought about it 10 minutes longer.

The premise here is very, very effective - a woman who cleans houses after trauma scenes and thus deals with horror on a daily basis; and whose own frustration will eventually and inevitably reach boiling point. Her personal life is difficult, with a lecherous boss, a selfish, belligerant oaf of a husband and a son who seems to be following in his father's footsteps - and herein lies one rather large error. In the beginning, we're told the son is 17, yet further into the story he is referred to as being only 15 years old - no explanation or reasoning, just a simple mistake, it seems. Remarkably enough, this is the second title I've read by the author that's contained such a glaring error. There are also grammatical and typographical errors, but these reflect more on the publishing house than the author, in all fairness.

Having said that, Masterton does write a very good horror story, and "Trauma" is no exception. We're sympathetic with the downtrodden and frustrated protagonist, and we can completely empathise with her situation. The storyline is a very effective study on the horror we sometimes bring upon ourselves, and there's just enough gore to satisfy the demon in us all.

3 stars, as I would have actually liked the story to be longer!

This little novella, all 218 pages of it, read by me in less than an hour was a perfect morsel of horror and brilliance. Masterton has a way with words, and setting the scene in your minds eye. I actually started to wonder how much money I could make cleaning up houses after bloody events!! Bonnie, our whiz at cleaning and dinner (love the included recipes by the way) has such an opposing life, by day she is doing what she loves by night she is feeding an ungrateful miserable husband and her 17 year old racist teenager. You immediately feel her pain, and her accomplishments. I wont give the books plot away, I will just say that I am again well fed by Graham Masterton and his delicious imagination.

Prior to reading Trauma, I'd never read anything by Masterson but I've been enjoying some lighter fiction, specifically horror, to offset a heavy workload and a long winter. Trauma seemed like it would be a good read and I was curious about Masterson, as he seems to have a good reputation. Unfortunately, Trauma doesn't live up to expectations. Masterson is able to setup a decent story with reasonably well dreamed up characters however the entire novella seems like a setup for a larger story that never really happens. I found myself waiting for the story to kick in but it never really gained speed. The ending? Marginally predictable. Having said that, it is a quick read and it is moderately entertaining.

As with anything Graham Masterton writes, it works well. Its a mystery/thriller , and I suspect Masterton rattled this one off in a week or less. My key gripe is that TRAUMA is a Paperback of BONNIE WINTER. ...TRAUMA is by no means a horror title, though it could have been, it reads more like a Screen-play submission. Apart from the detailed exposition that Masterton is a master of, the story is basically a one "joke" punchline in a supernatural sense. If you want a real jolt from Masterton, read THE MANITOU, PREY, THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. The MANITOU was the book that hooked me to Masterton, and Masterton supposedly wrote that book in one week. Anyway, TRAUMA kept me glued, its a fun read, but in my view, Masterton has heaps better Thrillers and Supernatural scares in other books. The Detail is Great, the story flows, but... not my favorite Masterton Book.

I think that the key to appreciating Masterton in this style is that he has Changed tone to suit the Characters and the

Story.
It's a page turner, and it's a real thriller, with twists that only Masterton can Deliver.
As a Master of many genres, and a brilliant creator of a style that Lives in the Moment, Masterton Plays on every edge,

quality and key Hubris in his players.

About the Only Caveat for this Book is that People should know that this is the Paperback version of the HardBack

BONNIE WINTER.

I suspect that the title Change is for a Movie Option, and I certainly hope so. Since Masterton has very many Books

that SHOULD be delivered into the Film World.

Another Master-piece by the Master of First Person Narrative Horror, Supernatural Horror, the only True Fictional

Horror there is in this realm.