Author: Robin Wasserman
Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Find It: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository / Goodreads
My Rating: ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Book Summary:
"They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand...except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn't even know why she killed-or whether she'll do it again.
Something is waking in the sleepy town of Oleander, Kansas-something dark and hungry that lives in the flat earth and the open sky, in the vengeful hearts of its upstanding citizens. As the town begins its descent into blood and madness, five survivors of the killing day are the only ones who can stop Oleander from destroying itself. Jule, the outsider at war with the world. West, the golden boy at war with himself. Daniel, desperate for a different life. Cass, who's not sure she deserves a life at all. Ellie, who believes in sacrifice, who believes in fate, who believes in evil. Ellie, who always goes too far.
They have nothing in common. They have nothing left to lose. And they have no way out. Which means that they have no choice but to stand and fight, to face the darkness in their town-and in themselves."
I picked this book up because the cover seemed dark and mysterious and, when I read the summary, the plot seemed very interesting. I hadn't read a horror book in a while and thought this would be a good story to get back into reading more books of this genre. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. There were thrills, violence, and suspense in every chapter. It really kept me on my toes, wondering what was going to happen next.
The Waking Dark takes place in a small, quiet town in Kansas called Oleander. One day, several people went on completely unrelated killing sprees that ended with them taking their own lives. Only one murderer survived her suicide attempt, and she can't remember a thing about the murder. This day is later referred to by the citizens of the town as "the killing day." No one can ever explain the bizarre events that happened on "the killing day," and it soon becomes a distant memory as the town returns to its normal routine.
One year has passed after the events of "the killing day" when an F5 tornado hits the town and a nearby research facility. After the storm, the government quarantines the town, completely sealing it away from the outside world. The tornado seems to awaken something very dark in the citizens of Oleander. Angry at the government for locking them in, the citizens of Oleander, lead by the town deacon, decide to take the law into their own hands.
As the citizens run rampant, acting out all of their worst desires in a mad grab for power, a small group of outcast teens band together in a fight to survive and escape the town. They are the only ones left unaffected by the madness that seems to be spreading, and in turn, the only ones who can save the town from completely destroying itself.
The Waking Dark is a very dark, suspenseful, and creepy story with lots of gore and violence. Robin Wasserman doesn't waste any time getting right into the gory details of the story. Right off the bat she opens with a gruesome twelve person killing spree which is only the beginning of a very high body count throughout the story.
The point of view in this story jumps between each of the five main characters, which really amps up the suspense of the story. The P.O.V jumping is not overwhelming though, and is very reminiscent of George R.R. Martin's P.O.V jumping in the Song of Ice and Fire series. It allows the story to be more about the town than about just one person.
The Waking Dark is not a horror story in the "you'll be terrified while reading" kind of way, but in the "you won't know what's coming next" kind of way. I enjoyed reading this story a lot and I gave it 4/5 stars. If you enjoy horror, thriller, suspense genres, then I think you should give this book a shot. I'm excited now to get back into the horror genre and read more creepy books!
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| My signed copy of The Waking Dark. |
What did you think about The Waking Dark? Any recommendations on what horror books I should read next? Let me know in the comments below!
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