Scream meets The Shining in this page-turning horror tale about an aging actor haunted by the slasher movie villain he brought to life.
Decades after playing the titular killer in the 80s horror franchise Night of the Reaper, Howard Browning has been reduced to signing autographs for his dwindling fanbase at genre conventions. When the studio announces a series reboot, the aging thespian is crushed to learn he’s being replaced in the iconic role by heartthrob Trevor Mane, a former sitcom child-star who’s fresh out of rehab. Trevor is determined to stay sober and revamp his image while Howard refuses to let go of the character he created, setting the stage for a cross-generational clash over the soul of a monster. But as Howard fights to reclaim his legacy, the sinister alter ego consumes his unraveling mind, pushing him to the brink of violence. Is the method actor succumbing to madness or has the devilish Reaper taken on a life of its own?
In his razor-sharp debut novel, film and television writer Brian McAuley melds wicked suspense with dark humor and heart. Curse of the Reaper is a tightly plotted thriller that walks the tightrope between the psychological and the supernatural, while characters struggling with addiction and identity bring to light the harrowing cost of Hollywood fame.
Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff
When I saw the cover of Brian McAuley's Curse of the Reaper on NetGalley I just knew that I had to hit the request button. It just screams cheesy old-school slasher flick, doesn't it?
Around this time last year my son decided that we needed to watch (or re-watch, in my case) all of the "classic" horror franchises from the beginning -- Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, etc. I think Halloween is the only one that we've completely caught up on (because we followed the shortest "watch in this order" list), but we're both hooked.
I thought this would hit the spot and be the perfect homage to those classics. I loved Howard even with his issues (maybe especially with his issues), and bits and pieces of scripts from the original film series were probably the highlight for me ... but overall it fell a bit flat for me. I really didn't care all that much about Trevor and could easily have cut out everything that was just about him. It would have made for a much shorter book but, for me at least, probably a more enjoyable one.
2 comments:
Well, this sounds like a hoot. Enjoy! (Hope it's not too scary.)
The Cartographers is this week's featured book
Sounds wicked! :-) Happy weekend!
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