The Creeper

I just finished The Creeper by A. M Shine and this is how much it creeped me out.

Academic Dr Sparling, needs two researchers to help him with his project... He is willing to pay for them to go research a town that has been forgotten by time. A place so remote no one remembers it's even there. They are so excited to go, that is, until they arrive.

The locals are not friendly. They do not want them there. The duo have things they have to ask and the locals are reluctant to talk about the main reason they are there, the creeper.
As the town locks itself down as the sunsets, a small child gives them a small clue to what the creeper is... A nameless thing that stalks the streets... Three times you will see him, each night he comes closer...
The two go to the tent for the night not believing what they are hearing until they see a figure watching them from them both from a distance...
Man oh man oh MAN this one creeped me out to my very core. The storyline switches between the reclusive Dr. Sparling and Ben and Chloe. I really felt this was a clever way to do the story as it gives you a really well rounded understanding of why the whole thing happened the way it did. The creep factor was definitely there. 4 out of 5 on the creep scale. It was one of those slow crawls under the skin and once it was there, it never left.
Loved the descriptions of the town right down to the landscapes. I loved character build ups and how no one was perfect but knew they were flawed. Genius. I need to see more from this author now, so this book definitely put them on my radar!
4.5 out of 5 rounded to 5. I felt there could have been just a smidge more to liven up the horror but all in all, a great read for the spooky season!!
Thank you to #netgalley and #headofzeus for my review copy!

I liked the premise of this book but, dear lord, it was painful to read.

Firstly, Shine is obviously trying really hard to write poetically and that's exactly what it felt like - trying too hard. He uses an overabundance of similes (some okay, some absolutely ridiculous) and it made the writing feel so clunky to me. We're talking two to four similes a page and including highlights such as the MC arranging cheese on his tuna sandwich ‘like fresh linen' or looking out of a window to see his neighbour's windows ‘like a glowing frame hung from a star.' Just really terrible figurative language that adds nothing to the book. He also switches to the passive voice for paragraphs at a time, which again makes the writing feel very stilted and affected.

There was no character development at all and I found that I really didn't care at all about what happened to anyone. The male characters are particularly irritating and self-absorbed and all characters are essentially one-dimensional caricatures. The protagonist, Ben (or, as he constantly refers to himself, Benny Boy), meets the female main character, Chloe, for about ten minutes before falling for her and wanting to ‘protect her', while also referring to her - more than once - as his ‘anchor'. He also talks regularly about how small and child-like she is. Ick. She, in turn, seesaws between being super fun and a fragile little girl, with no other emotions towards Ben, even when he's being a total d**k. I have to draw attention to a particularly painful exchange between them:

‘So you're going to be the next Lara Croft,' Ben said with mock earnestness. ‘Eh?' ‘She's probably the world's most famous archaeologist after Indiana Jones. I just assumed you'd modelled your life on a video game.' ‘That's a pretty bold assumption.' She smiled. ‘I doubt Lara Croft ever had to scratch through ten feet of mud with a trowel for weeks on end. But who knows, maybe if I get this PhD the university will buy me a massive pair of fake tits so I can look the part.' Ben choked a little, mid-swallow, on a crust of bread. ‘Don't make them too big,' he said. ‘I hear it's not good for your back.' ‘As if that's ever bothered you men before,' she replied, tearing off some bread and throwing it at him. ‘I reckon I'm too small to be lugging around a big pair of boobs anyway. I'll just get some booty shorts and a skimpy tank top, and stuff my bra with a few socks or something.' Ben enjoyed the imagery more than he let on.

An excellent contender for r/menwritingwomen.

The publisher is independent so I'd really like to be able to write a more positive review, but it feels like this book was published about ten drafts too early. ⭐️ 1.5/5⭐️