‘Crimson’ – Gord Rollo

I really enjoyed Gord Rollo’s ‘Jigsaw Man’, when I read it earlier this year, and the excerpt for ‘Crimson’ (that was at the back of the book) looked like it promised more of the same. Being me, I managed to completely forget about it until the ARC of ‘Crimson’ (to be published in March 2009) turned up on the doorstep last night.
‘Crimson’ was a book that I had really been looking forward to and, not only that, at just over three hundred pages long it also looked like a book that would be a nice quick read and a short break away from what I’m currently reading (Brandon Sanderson’s ‘The Well of Ascension’, a good read but it somehow feels longer than it actually is...)
‘Crimson’ was a very quick read, mostly because I was so gripped by the tale that I had to stay up until I’d finished it. At the same time though, it also left me feeling strangely disappointed...

Evil stalked the streets of Dunnville in a night of terror that people don’t like to talk about, if they’ll even admit that it happened at all. Years have passed since that day but a chance encounter (that has nothing to do with chance) is about to signal the return of the terror. Four boyhood friends have uncovered something evil and they can’t get it to go away. It’s on the streets where they play and it’s in their dreams when they go to sleep. It’s with them for the rest of their lives, some of which will be much shorter than others...

The reason why I’m all tired and grumpy today is because I ended up staying up until the early hours so I could finish ‘Crimson’ off. The story may not be entirely original (at least as far as I was concerned, more on that in a bit) but top marks have to go to Rollo for how it’s all presented. ‘Crimson’ is a book that pushed all the right buttons in terms of scaring the life out of me and keeping me turning the pages to see what would happen next. Rollo is extremely adept at winding up the tension and springing a nasty surprise on the reader when they least expect it, he’s also extremely adept at winding up the tension and then having nothing happen at all... You don’t know what you’re going to get until it actually happens and I was constantly on edge trying to second guess what was coming.

Rollo also excels at presenting the reader with situations that are truly horrifying both in a supernatural sense and things that can happen in a real life setting. Where Johnny finds the last leech is guaranteed to make any guy wince and being cornered by a giant spider and a seven foot tall scarecrow are moments that are truly chilling. All of these moments are presented at a fast and furious pace that left me breathless (whilst holding my breath waiting to see what jumped out of the shadows next)!

All is not perfect with ‘Crimson’ however. There is a fine line between paying homage to another author’s work and being derivative. ‘Crimson’ is a book that came across as feeling a little derivative, to me, at times...
The ‘rites of passage’ theme in horror has been done by enough horror authors for it not to be the exclusive property of any one writer but there were elements of ‘Crimson’ that screamed ‘It’ at me, especially the moment where a giant spider says to Tom, ‘You come back and see us anytime you want...’ (I need to go back and double check but I’m sure that’s almost word for word what Pennywise says)
A monster that stalks your dreams with razor sharp claws and witty one liners is damn scary in ‘Crimson’ but felt a little too like Freddy Krueger to me... Where do you draw the line though? I guess that’s a question for another day...
What really bugged me though was the point where the evil creature (and he is evil!) sat one of the main characters down and proceeded to tell him his life story as ‘it was too late for this character to do anything about it and the creature felt an explanation was owed’. This felt contrived and placed there purely so the creature could have background history. I was left wondering if the creature actually needed its background filling in. Sometimes things are better left a little mysterious...

‘Crimson’ does have its faults but when it gets going it does it’s job very well indeed. Gord Rollo remains a horror author to watch as far as I’m concerned.

Seven and a Quarter out of Ten