Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Bad Things

by Michael Marshall

     

This story will keep you guessing from beginning to end. Welcome to a small town in Washington State with the perfect backdrop: woods, pond and a lot of strange stuff going on. John Henderson, his wife, Carol, and their two children live in a great house on the edge of Murdo pond. Scott, the 4-year-old son of John and Carol, temporarily goes missing, but is soon discovered on the dock looking out over the pond. John calls and calls, but Scott does not react. John runs to the edge of the pond up to his son and sees the most eerie sight: his son's face looks like death. There is no expression on his face; it’s almost blank. The only thing Scott says is, "Run Daddy Run!" then he dies and falls into the pond. When the autopsy is concluded, all they know for sure is that Scott died. No more specific cause of death was ever found for this healthy, playful, 4-year-old little boy. He just died.

This puts a strain on the Hendersons and, like so many marriages before theirs, this one ends in divorce. John moves to a town outside of Portland, Oregon, and Carol moves to Renton, Washington, with the surviving son, Tyler. The family does not stay in touch and for years John does not see his son Tyler.

One day out of the blue John receives a strange email message from an unknown sender. All it says is, "I know what happened." I don't know about you, but if something tragic happened in my life and I received a cryptic message like this, I might do exactly as John did—head back to Black Ridge.

From that moment on, the strangeness intensifies. This is a good book, unique and compelling and well-written—the sort of story where you have to pay atttention to every word. I have never before read anything by Michael Marshall but I will definitely be looking to read more.

The Book

William Morrow / Harper Collins
May 2009
Hardcover
978-0-06-143440-2
Thriller
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Sandie Vega
Reviewed 2009
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© 2009 MyShelf.com