MaryAnne Carpenter gets a phone call informing her that her good friend Audrey Wilkenson and her husband Ted are dead. MaryAnne has been named the guardian of their only son, Joey. So MaryAnne travels to the Wilkenson’s ranch home in Sugarloaf, Idaho, with her two young children (Logan and Alison) and her husband, Alan. MaryAnne is having trouble with Joey, who goes out a lot at night in the forest. Then, some campers are brutally murdered. Sometimes MaryAnne feels like they are being watched. Should she stay at the ranch or go back home? This story was interesting and captivating at times, but I just didn’t enjoy this book as much as other books I’ve read by this author. I found Joey to be an unlikable and annoying character and I didn’t really like his backstory with the mountain man, etc. A so-so read. ( )

Un teléfono suena en el silencio de la noche, anunciando el comienzo de un viaje hacia el terror. Mary Anne Carpenter, divorciada recientemente y luchando por sacar adelante a sus dos hijos sola, escucha las inquietantes noticias: a 2.000 millas, sus amigos, los Wilkenson, han aparecido inexplicablemente muertos y su único hijo, el ahijado de Mary Anne, ha quedado huérfano.
Aun cuando ella se decide a cuidar a este muchacho, las preguntas se suceden con gran rapidez: ¿Se trata de una casual -aunque trágica- desgracia la que ha terminado con sus vidas? ¿O ha sido un asesinato?
Pronto, Mary Anne comenzará a sospechar que una siniestra fuerza está trabajando. Joey Wilkenson, un triste y callado adolescente, parece albergar ciertos secretos detrás de sus oscuras fantasías.
Llega el invierno y el solitario lugar en donde los Wilkenson habían construído su hermosa casa, se transforma en un lugar prohibido, de terribles tormentas y peligrosa oscuridad. Mary Anne comienza a conocer el verdadero significado del terror. Deberá proteger a sus hijos de un cada vez más insaciable asesino, uno que está preparado para atacar..

I've always enjoyed John Saul, and I like how he made the 'child-horror' theme his own. When you're dealing with kiddos, things can get more emotional. Here it's hard to know what to think of Joey, but I liked how it ended and wrapped things up with the character. Saul jumps from having the villain one-layered to being full fledged and sympathetic. There's not many cliche characters, although Saul seemed to have struggled a bit with the parents. The standard jerk father is overboard and not terribly convincing, while MaryAnne doesn't seem that bright.

The book's pace is great, starting right away with personal angst and tragedy, ending with great loss and astounding grief, leaving the door ominously open for a potential sequel. From a fear factor point of view, suspense was there but there was never much that was too frightening. More violence wouldn't have hurt, but the violence that was there counted in a semi-chilling way, even if it was not gory and was short-cut. One death in particular was very surprising and emotionally gripping.

On the negative side, the book isn't the most believable story for it's setting, ruined in part by some of the mother's actions. Sometimes things slow a bit to where they could be helped with a spruced up death sequence, or else more hints laying with Joey and his involvement in it all. If Saul had included more government agencies or anything along those lines, the book may have picked up a more intelligent high. In the end it was a fun read though, a light horror book that took an interesting twist on an age-old horror theme. I won't give away what that theme was for fear of spoiling the 'mountain-man murders', but I liked how this small surprise was saved for the end. I for one would enjoy a sequel. ( )

Very entertaining! ( )

book ended horribly! Not the greatest book anyway. ( )