Another Review at MyShelf.Com

The Orphan
Christopher Ransom

Sphere (Little, Brown)
15 August 2013 / ISBN-13: 9780751551303
Horror Contemperary / Boulder, Colorado USA
Paperback
Amazon US - UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Darren Lynwood has a life most people would envy. A canny businessman, he has made millions out of the company he made and then sold. Ever since he was a boy, BMX bikes have been his passion, and even now he has over a hundred of them. Blessed with a wife and daughter, his life seems perfect, apart from lacking a son. But a young homeless boy called Adam shows up out of nowhere and suddenly even that gap is filled. But Darren is a man with a secret, and Adam is no ordinary boy…

I'm not a horror fan, but Mr Ransom has a good flowing style that pulls the reader in from the first page and does not often let go. As a linear story it would work very well, but there is more than that in here that shows what a good imagination the author has. He builds the pressure nicely, starting with one strange event and adding more, until the ordinary becomes the extraordinary and everything is spiraling out of control. Hints are given here and there as to what is going on, but not enough to spoil the surprises nor too few to sustain interest. This is quite a long novel, but there is more in it than the description on the back implies. The plot does not quite fit the length, and it could have stood some editing, but on the whole, Mr Ransom does a nice job with his suspense, building up the tension and scattering surprises along the way.

Reviewer's Note: Usual horror violence, sex and gore
Reviewed 2013
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