Review: The Rascal by Eric Arvin

Lana is a faded movie star who lives alone in a big house on a hill that overlooks the sea. She has lived this way since the death of her daughter and the disappearance of her husband.

Jeff and Chloe are a couple who live in a cabin below the big house. It was Chloe’s idea to strengthen their marriage; but she see’s now that it isn’t working. Jeff has become obsessed with the cabin and the old water well. Chloe only sees strangeness around her.

One night while talking on the computer with Ethan, Jeff’s brother, a feeling of dread comes to the fore. When Ethan sees a figure behind Chloe, he leaves his boyfriend and baby and sets out to save Jeff.

Chloe, Ethan and Lana come together to fight an evil that would destroy Jeff. Will they succeed or will all of them fall to the taste of a young cannibalistic ghost?

If you like being scared silly then this is the book for you! A warning though, it really isn't a romance, so if you're looking for some romance in your reading you aren't going to find it here. What you will find is a beautifully crafted, scary as fuck, story.

I love Eric Arvin's writing - it speaks to my soul. He is a writer who doesn't waste words, but instead uses them to sculpt the perfect story. This one is the perfect example of that. Ghost stories often veer to the side of melancholy, at least the kind I read seem to, this a one though filled me with good old fashioned fear. 

I have no idea how it was going to turn out. I had no idea how I wanted it to turn out - I was just swept along in the words and took each twist and turn with gritted teeth and half shut eyes. You know when you watch a horror film and that creepy music starts playing - you know you're about to be scared witless but you still jump when it happens. somehow Eric Arvin manages to write the screenplay (the story) while also writing the fright into the undertones (the music score). It's a talent I envy.

One of the ways he does this is writing amazing characters. I never knew who I liked. Who I didn't like. Who I felt sorry for or whose side I was on. Not one of our characters was written as a clean cut goodie or baddie. 

Chloe and Jeff, the main couple - well it would seem that they would be the ones to love. But they have their secrets, their own pasts. The marriage they - or at least Chloe - is trying to desperately save should be the focus, should have me rooting for them but...

Gah.

No spoilers. No spoilers. Just - if horror does it for you, then this is a  must read. It is everything I've come to expect from this author and more.

For more information check out Goodreads.

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.