Snowblind – Christopher Golden

Twelve years ago the small town of Coventry, Massachusetts was in the grasp of a particularly brutal winter. And then came the Great Storm.

It hit hard. Not everyone saw the spring. Today the families, friends and lovers of the victims are still haunted by the ghosts of those they lost so suddenly. If only they could see them one more time, hold them close, tell them they love them.

It was the deadliest winter in living memory.

Until now.

When a new storm strikes, it doesn’t just bring snow and ice, it brings the people of Coventry exactly what they’ve been wishing for. And the realisation their nightmare is only beginning.

 

Thanks to Headline for my review copy

A long time ago I had a prolonged spell of reading nothing but horror stories. Over time I read fewer and fewer until I recently realised that in the last 12 months I had only read one ‘Ghost’ story (a novella) and the total disaster which was James Herbert’s Ash. This was simply not good enough! You cannot beat a good scary story and with Snowblind promising grief, loss and a nightmare to come it was time to return to a genre I love.

Sometimes a book is enhanced by where or when you read it. I confess that Snowblind was in my TBR pile for a couple of months…it arrived during a balmy autumn and rose to the top of the pile in the cold of January. As a direct result I got to read Snowblind while the snow fell over Scotland and the wind howled over the hills – perfect conditions to enjoy a story where the weather plays such an integral part to the story.

Christopher Golden does a great job of creating an atmospheric winter storm. The residents of Coventry, Massachusetts are no strangers to harsh winters but as Snowblind opens we find that the weather is the least of their problems. Coming out of the storm we are given glimpses of icy figures who are attacking some of the vulnerable Coventry residents. By the time the storm settles there have been accidents, deaths and families are left to rebuild their shattered lives.

I particularly enjoyed how the author managed to introduce several family units in the early stages of the book, each would suffer in some way during the storm. Great writing from Christopher Golden as he establishes and assembles his cast yet still keeps the tension levels running high while the storm settles in. After the storm: the players are in place and the fallout commences.

As the story progresses we jump forward over 10 years, life in Coventry has moved on yet the locals still clearly recall the horror of the big storm which devastated their town. Winter has taken hold and another large storm has been forecast, yet before it arrives there are some unusual changes happening to some of the Coventry residents – all is not as it seems.

As always I am skirting around the edge of the story and trying to avoid revealing too much. I can confirm that Snowblind was brilliantly atmospheric – a very real feeling of being trapped deep in the winter snow came through while I read. The creatures in the snow did seem particularly evil and were used sparingly which helped to maintain their mysterious nature. Nice mix of characters meant that you were rooting for some to escape the peril yet were not too upset when the town’s more nasty elements met their comeuppance.

In short – a good supernatural thriller, perfect reading for a cold winter night. I would score it 3/5 and would gladly read more of Christopher Golden’s work.