Review: Excellent Pacing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 4, 2013
I've been reading Nicole Cushing's work since we met one another at BizarroCon in 2010. The closest thing I can compare the experience of reading her new work each year to is buying a case of wine that ages well, and opening a bottle each year to see how the taste and bouquet has improved.The quality always improves in leaps and bounds, and it sat well on the palette to begin with.I really enjoyed Children of No One. It was a quick read, one you can get through in a single sitting. The characters are compelling. We have a sadistic artist who uses the body and mind as his canvas, a dark magician compelled to reveal his brand of truth to the world, and a wealthy man you'll love to hate.The mystery is introduced through our wealthy protagonist. You can't help but identify with him up front. His curiosity is your curiosity. It isn't long before you don't want to be in his shoes, however. You'll search for someone to live vicariously through, but you'll always pluck yourself out of the character you select and try again. This is a great maneuver on behalf of the author, a well-paced skill of horror writing that toys with the reader in subtle ways.The way these characters interact is what really makes this book work for me. We have a brief discourse on the relationship between love and art that hearkened back to Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show. I enjoyed the dialogue. I like a book that provokes thought. The characters have clear ideals about art, but that doesn't mean you can't take the discourse further in your own mind. Not everything to be contemplated or uncovered is spoon fed to you.The dialogue also contributes to character development. The power dynamic ebbs and flows as the conversations continue. In this short work, the powerful become powerless and the powerless . . . you'll have to read it for yourself and find out. If and when you do figure the ending out, let me know what's up. The ending left me a bit confused.There's another set of characters in this book: the children. In many ways, we're left in the dark when it comes to these children, both literally and figuratively. But the figurative darkness augments the literal. There are times when you'll feel like you're down in the darkness with these kids. That can be a little disconcerting, but this is horror. It's supposed to be unsettling at times.Overall, Cushing weaves us into a world that is tastefully dark. Almost all hope is squelched, but her characters will make you strap in for the ride even when you know it is going to introduce you to a desolate reality, one that mirrors our own in many ways. Perhaps that is the most frightening element of this book.