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I absolutely adore reading - my love for books has had a huge impact on my life! I'm going to grad school to be a children's/YA librarian.

Snowblind

Snowblind - Christopher Golden

The small New England town of Coventry had weathered a thousand blizzards . . . but never one like this. Icy figures danced in the wind and gazed through children's windows with soul-chilling eyes. People wandered into the whiteout and were never seen again. Families were torn apart, and the town would never be the same.

 

Now, as a new storm approaches twelve years later, the folks of Coventry are haunted by the memories of that dreadful blizzard and those who were lost in the snow. Photographer Jake Schapiro mourns his little brother, Isaac, even as - tonight - another little boy is missing. Mechanic and part-time thief Doug Manning's life has been forever scarred by the mysterious death of his wife, Cherie, and now he's starting over with another woman and more ambitious crimes. Police detective Joe Keenan has never been the same since that night, when he failed to save the life of a young boy . . . and the boy's father vanished in the storm only feet away. And all the way on the other side of the country, Miri Ristani receives a phone call . . . from a man who died twelve years ago. 

As old ghosts trickle back, this new storm will prove to be even more terrifying than the last. (source)

Horror novels are not really my thing. With my book club, I read PsychoRing, and Misery - they were my first experience with the horror genre and while I could recognize that they were all very well-written, my experience reading them was not pleasant. Yet for some reason, when I saw this book on NetGalley, I had to try it. I'm so glad that I did, because even though this book is advertised as a horror novel - and I suppose that it is - it's not a bone-chilling horror, it's more of a winter ghost story. And while I generally dislike horror novels, I love ghost stories. 

 

At first, this book was somewhat confusing. It follows the experiences of several townspeople and it was difficult at first to keep track of who was who, what they experienced in the first storm, and how they were all connected. But after I was able to keep track of all that, I found that they actually all fit together quite nicely and I thought this was evidence of how well-crafted this story truly is. 

 

I wish we had been given a little more information as to what the ice figures really were.

At one point, one of the characters suggests the possibility that they were simply other people who were snatched in a different storm, but

(show spoiler)

this is never clarified. This isn't a huge deal; I just would have liked to have had more answers about that, simply to satisfy my curiosity. 

 

The book moved along very quickly, was full of suspense, and kept my attention. I'm glad I read it over the past few days, since my area actually just had a snowstorm yesterday and it definitely enhanced my reading experience! If possible, I recommend reading this in the winter - it makes it more real. And maybe that's not something that you really want to have with a horror novel, but I enjoyed it, haha. 

 

I loved the ending - it closed the story well, but the very last paragraph left some questions too, allowing for the reader to interpret as they will. I loved that aspect of it!

 

If you are a fan of the horror genre or are simply looking for a good ghost story, I definitely recommend that you pick up Snowblind. If it can get someone like me, who shies away from the genre, to become completely absorbed in the book, you know it's something special. I'll definitely be looking for more from Christopher Golden! 

 

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley, but in no way did that influence my review.