Eerie

I was recommended this book from a Goodreads forum for good horror novels; so, after seeing how many stars it has on Goodreads and Amazon, I was excited to get my hands on a copy. I did my usual “Let's read a couple of chapters and see if it grabs me,” and before I realized it, I was 1/3 done. (It's a fast read.) But by that point, I had to really think whether I wanted to even continue. I read that much in one evening, and so far there's only one book I've ever read that I've intentionally stopped reading, so I figured I'd shoot through this one just to see what happens.

I didn't realize it when I got it, but EERIE is a self-published novel. After the first couple of pages, I got a feeling and checked the publishing page and discovered that detail. It certainly could have used an editor! The writing was mediocre at best, and littered with illogical actions and embarrassing gaffes. For example (not a big spolier), a character's hands get soaked in blood. Then, he sits down with his head in his hands, thinking about what just happened. His head should be smeared with blood now, right? He talks to someone who takes a while to notice the blood on his hands–evidently no blood on his head. Gaffes like that that would have been caught by beta readers at least, if not an editor.

Then, the ending. It felt like the authors wrote without a plan until they got themselves stuck with how to end it. Then, came up with an ending that sort of explained everything that happened before... but very, very poorly. It's not that it's just a twist – twists are OK. But this was pulled out of their...hat, and run through a deus ex machina machine. Nothing that happens in the last quarter of the novel matches up with what went on before. It was a cheat. And the final ending, the fate of some of the characters, make no logical sense at all regarding why what happened did. There's holes and questions abound. Not your standard, “Ooh, that's ambiguous–I need to think about that” way that's a good thought-provoking ending, but in a “WTF?!” sort of way.

(Here's what bugs me: As a self-published author myself, and huge supporter of independent publishing, I agree that what is vital to the legitimacy of independent publishing is good editing, quality control. Which is why I workshopped my novel, got beta readers, edited the heck out of it. But this EERIE book reads like it hadn't, and yet, has 4/5 stars! (Not to mention the success of the “50 Shades” books and Amanda Hocking.) Makes you wonder if the naysaying of the defenders of the status quo, the established system, is irrelevant when obviously poor novels like these can still be so popular.)