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A review by teamredmon
Curse of the Pigman by Asher Ellis
3.0
Jason Dillion has just moved to East Valley, Vermont when a tropical storm makes landfall and knocks a tree onto his new house. While looking for help from his neighbors, he comes across a little girl bound and gagged in the woods. Clearly, she has been kidnapped. Jason cuts her free and attempts to bring her to safety, only to be chased by the cult that was going to sacrifice her. When the sacrifice doesn't take place, the town falls victim to a curse leaving everyone in town ravenously hungry.
Things I loved: This book opens with a bang. The first 50-75 pages are unrelenting, interesting, and fun. I absolutely loved the action and pace that the initial scenes provided. Once things started to settle down, we are treated to some highly entertaining scenes, in particular, the scenes in the local diner and scene with a man and the neighbors' cat. We also meet some other well fleshed out characters, including some delightful teenage stoners. The characterization in this book is quite good as all characters felt that they had individual voices and logical motivations. I always appreciate it when I can see where the 'bad guys' are coming from.
Things I didn't love: the inconsistencies. There are several moments during this book that I found myself saying "wait but I thought..." and while that's not a deal-breaker, it is something that I noticed. The dialogue is also somewhat unrealistic or juvenile at times, it's rare but when it happens the word choice is jarring and took me out of the moment. Finally, I found the middle of the book to be a bit of a slog. While there is a ton of action that is supposed to be happening, there are long swaths of pages where nothing really happens. There's lots of walking and talking and I found those sections to be boring. I also wanted more from the actual Pigman but what we got was great.
That said, I quite enjoyed this book and the time I spent in East Valley. I really REALLY loved the idea of a town going banana pants crazy because of a failed cult ritual. I thought the beginning of Curse of the Pigman to be exceptional and the conclusion to be wildly entertaining even if it was a scosh too quickly resolved.
Recommend this to fans of folk horror.
Things I loved: This book opens with a bang. The first 50-75 pages are unrelenting, interesting, and fun. I absolutely loved the action and pace that the initial scenes provided. Once things started to settle down, we are treated to some highly entertaining scenes, in particular, the scenes in the local diner and scene with a man and the neighbors' cat. We also meet some other well fleshed out characters, including some delightful teenage stoners. The characterization in this book is quite good as all characters felt that they had individual voices and logical motivations. I always appreciate it when I can see where the 'bad guys' are coming from.
Things I didn't love: the inconsistencies. There are several moments during this book that I found myself saying "wait but I thought..." and while that's not a deal-breaker, it is something that I noticed. The dialogue is also somewhat unrealistic or juvenile at times, it's rare but when it happens the word choice is jarring and took me out of the moment. Finally, I found the middle of the book to be a bit of a slog. While there is a ton of action that is supposed to be happening, there are long swaths of pages where nothing really happens. There's lots of walking and talking and I found those sections to be boring. I also wanted more from the actual Pigman but what we got was great.
That said, I quite enjoyed this book and the time I spent in East Valley. I really REALLY loved the idea of a town going banana pants crazy because of a failed cult ritual. I thought the beginning of Curse of the Pigman to be exceptional and the conclusion to be wildly entertaining even if it was a scosh too quickly resolved.
Recommend this to fans of folk horror.