BOOK REVIEW | THE CLATTER MAN | JANELLE SCHIEKE

BOOK REVIEW | THE CLATTER MAN | JANELLE SCHIEKE

 

DESCRIPTION

It’s the summer before senior year of college in the early '90s, and Abby’s boyfriend has just booked a weekend away with friends at a rustic lakeside cabin. Located in northern Pennsylvania, the dwelling is tucked away and boasts a breathtaking view.

 As drinks are flowing on a moonlit evening, paranormal stories begin to be told—and when talk of the Clatter Man comes up, his grisly tale draws attention. He’s an urban legend with a grim lore, notorious for the ways his victims are slain.

 Tensions rise when these friends realize their dark curiosity about the Clatter Man may have gone too far, and what began as a relaxing getaway turns into a battle for survival.

REVIEW

It is without a doubt that the slasher genre is not going away, and it seems that every other book seems to be taking this premise and running with it.

The Clatter Man by Janelle Schieke is the first in her Clatter Man series. The book revolves around four teens who rent a cabin in the Pennsylvania wilds who end up being hunted by a demonic killer straight outta urban legend who they summon after a night round the campfire.

Now it is the first time I have read Janelle Schieke’s books, and I have to say the book did not hit home with me at all.

I don’t know if I have had an overload of slasher novels of late, but this one was one of those that I could happily throw on the DNF pile and was totally prepared to consign it to the slush pile, but for some reason I wanted to see how it all panned out, mainly due to the fact that Schieke wrote with a warm style that did have enough of an emotional hook to see how the book played out in the end. 

For me I couldn’t get along with Janelle Schieke’s writing at all. I found it exposition heavy and instead of show don’t tell, there was too much guiding the reader in both how to feel in circumstances and background events.

The main antagonist seemed to be a composite of different slasher figures. He was a bit Candyman, a bit Jason Voorhees, a bit Ben Willis (the fisherman) and then just for good measure let’s chuck in a bit of Freddy Kruegar, which unfortunately lessened the impact, and much like the rest of the book threw far too much stuff at the reader, making it feel too cluttered. I just wish that things had been refined to a central theme instead of throwing too many tropes at the reader.

When looking at other reviews, it seems that there was a large percentage of people that liked this book. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. I wish I did, and was willing to give it every chance because it is quite obvious that Janelle Schieke has a deep love of horror and her enthusiasm for the genre shines through on every page. However, writing wise, it wasn’t for me.