I enjoy the slow burn of Grant’s storytelling. If you know anything of him, you know that he doesn’t bludgeon you over the head with nonstop gore and action. He teases you with the horror, slowly building up into a final crescendo. I’ve been reading his Oxrun Station series in chronological order and The Grave is my latest in the journey. Up until now, my complaint has been the weak, shallow and helpless female characters. The kind that have a conniption if they break a nail or are helpless unless a big strong male rescues them. I realize that this stereotype was common in quite a few horror novels from the late 1970s. It still doesn’t help me enjoy it. In The Grave, the female characters can stand on their own two feet and even though the male lead is kind of a dingbat, he’s not so bad that he’s annoying. But what has always been Grant’s strength – a wonderful slow burn of a strong storyline – is miserably empty of plot. In an attempt at being murky to keep you guessing, it actually is an exercise of patience. Nothing, and I mean nothing, happened until 40% into The Grave and then the plot was muddy and incoherent at best. This continued on and on and then at the end, it felt like Grant tried to explain it all as quickly as possible so that he could bring the story to a close. Unfortunately, the explanation doesn’t help or make it any more interesting. You’re just kind of “meh” and closed the book.
2 Unmarked Graves out of 5
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Into The Macabre 