Three boys enter a shack, and although they all seem to feel that it is more than it appears to be, one boy falls helplessly under it's control. I can't say I ever figured out exactly what the shack is or how it chooses it's victims.

Mark has always had a mean streak, a short fuse that is easily lit, and maybe that is why the shack has latched on to him. After their initial discovery, Mark's friends don't want to revisit the shack, but Mark is compelled to return, to the point of obsession. As Mark's friendships begin to deteriorate, so too does his school and home life, making the shack feel like the only good thing in his world. I felt that one reason Mark may have been easily swayed was his own proclivity towards violence but another may have been the implied physical abuse at the hands of his father. Although one of his friends is obviously abused repeatedly at home, the shack does not have the same hold over him so my theory could be wrong. It's possible that in addition to a supernatural element Mark may have suffered some form of mental illness because there were times I was not sure if he was hallucinating things that I thought his mother should have seen, if it were real. I guess this left me with more questions than answers, as to whether this is a dark descent into murder and madness, or a supernatural entity taking control.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review. ( )