Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice-for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Bartz hits all the gothic highlights, but, far from feeling stale, they work.Īre we not men? We are-well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).Ī zombie apocalypse is one thing. Or is there a much more sinister (and human) plot behind this writing retreat? Despite Alex’s somewhat whiny nature, the book's pacing-a slow roll of dread and horror, especially in the first half-is exceptional. When one of the other writers disappears, Alex can’t help but wonder whether occult history is repeating itself. For Alex, the sense of disquiet grows as her research deepens with Roza’s urging, she has decided to write a novel about the original inhabitants of the house, a wealthy tycoon and his waitress-turned-medium wife who were both found dead after the wife apparently channeled a demoness named Lamia.
Despite the trappings of luxury-food and wine and an unparalleled library-there’s no ignoring the fact that the writers are trapped there’s no Wi-Fi or cell service to be found. Each writer must craft a proposal for a full-length novel, then crank out 3,000 words a day to be critiqued. From the very first night at Blackbriar, though, it’s clear that this is no warm and fuzzy workshop, and Roza is no gentle mentor. Then, a call from the blue: A writer friend has finagled her a space at an elite writers retreat at the estate of the mysterious, glamorous novelist Roza Vallo. Having just turned 30, Alex has to face up to some hard truths: She hates her job she’s been miserable since breaking up with her best friend and she’s mired in writer’s block, which makes it pretty hard to be discovered and published.
Five writers, four weeks, and a $1 million book deal for the lucky winner.
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