Seed

I had to sit with this one for a day to make up my mind on it being a 4 or 5 stars read, so let's say it's a 4.5 rounded up.

The characters are compelling, the story is a bit slow but not enough so that it seems drawn out. Supernatural elements are masterfully blended with the psychological ones. It doesn't pull punches and the ending was great.

Short and Sweet: [b: Seed 11422798 Seed Ania Ahlborn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305997493s/11422798.jpg 16356035] is a character-driven horror story that takes a new angle on the concept of good and evil, and how it manifests from one victim to the next. Seed opens with Jack Winters, our protagonist, driving along a dark road with his family - wife Aimee Winters, and two daughters, Charlotte (Charlie) and Abbey. For a brief moment, he sees a set of glowing eyes that he hasn't seen in years, right before his headlights briefly flicker out. In response, he flips the car, and his childhood skeletons come flooding out of the closet, bones clacking, to target Charlie. And while this could be labeled a ???demonic possession??? novel, it doesn???t cut clear lines in the dirt like others may. There???s no priest involved, no holy water splashed onto Charlie with a dramatic reading from the Bible. There is only Jack, and his horrifying realization of what Charlie is going through- and how it may end- when she spirals.[a: Ania Ahlborn 4867939 Ania Ahlborn https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442457541p2/4867939.jpg] does a fantastic job of illustrating without becoming heavy-handed. I saw their house with minimal description and got a feel for their dynamic without pages of prose. When it came to the unusual happenings, it was straight to the point, like the difference between a found-footage film and traditional horror.Personality shined. Not only did I get a sense of each character as a whole, but I could also predict with certainty how each character would react when placed in progressively dire situations. I found myself getting personally angry with each character when they made a decision; a frustration for the reader, but a testament to the skill at which these characters were illustrated.However, because personality shines, this novel takes a bit of time to ramp up. I personally love a slow-burning horror novel, but if you???re looking for something to punch you on the onset, this isn???t it.My only issue? Even after the somewhat predictable-but-necessary conclusion, I still had so many questions ??? who is Mr. Scratch? Why Jack? What does it want? What exactly happened in Jack???s childhood place, deep in the woods, behind that dingy trailer? Ultimately, the question that this novel addresses isn???t the what where when why how, but can. Can extrinsic evil be passed down like brown hair, hazel eyes, and attached lobes? And what do you do, if it can?

A mixed bag for me. I think the dialogue and some of the observations were great, they rang true. But the parents, in particular, were all over the map in terms of thoughts and motivations. Scenes that were great in isolation made no sense in context – the story had moved beyond the characters' reactions. They seemed to forget things they knew. There's are reasons that Jack, the father character, behaves different than you'd expect, but even beyond that he seemed to be just doing things to service the plot.

But the author seems to have an innate ability to identify what's scary. And that strong, realistic dialogue goes a long way.

Nearly every character had a name that appears in Stephen King stories, and I wonder if that was deliberate, or King is just so prolific and has had so many characters, that it would be hard not to “match” him.

As a horror fan, and an animal fan, I am sick of the animals always dying. Look, I know it's horror, and all bets are off, but the only suspense created by a dog or cat appearing in horror is when exactly it will die, and how brutal the death will be. This takes away some of the enjoyment and surprise, because I can never relax when the animal is in a scene, always completely on guard, so there is no shock, just a sense of inevitability. Pets rarely serve any other purpose in these movies or novels, unlike real life. So, here is the book for me: Wonder how long the dog will live. Oh, look, flashbacks with a cat. Wonder how long the cat will last. Goodbye, kitty. Goodbye, dog. I get that this shows the horrific force aint screwing around, but it's now cliche. Not mad at the author, mad at the cliche.