Monday, March 02, 2020

Keepers by Gary A. Braunbeck

(pb; 2005)


From the back cover



“Everything changed for Gil Stewart on the day he saw the old man die. Gil had witnessed the bizarre accident on the highway and stopped to help. The old man couldn’t be saved, but just before he died he clutched Gil’s shirt and whispered a warming: ‘The Keepers are coming!’



“That was when Gil’s nightmare began. At first he thought it was merely odd, a series of weird coincidences. Household pets started acting strangely. Zoo animals escaped. But now he can see a pattern emerging, a chilling reminder from a past that he can’t─or won’t─remember. As the true horror becomes clear, and terror builds upon terror, Gil can only await the coming of. . . the Keepers.”


Review


Keepers is a fun, oddball, sometimes unpredictable and often chatty read. Normally, novels with first-person POVs engender an instant ‘nope, not reading that’ response in me─if I want to read a YA novel POV-staple, I’ll read a YA novel. That said, in Keepers the first-person POV approach makes its main character's issues (loneliness, regret, etc.) and wild hallucinations go down easier. A mix of surreal fantasy, Biblical stories, nature-love and traditional horror, this is a unique story that could’ve been edited better, but still worth reading for its fast pace, mostly good writing and effective mood-setting.

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