Review: Horror Novel Reviews: Honesty in the Terror
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 2, 2013
The chill in the air echoes the harshness of the landscape. But the monster among man brings that harshness to fatal reality long before the cold sinks its teeth in.Rachelle Bronson's short, Frozen, is the kind of story that works as a vacuum. Read page one, and you're not taking your eyes off this gem until the final word of the final page. It's a quick, powerful tale that pits an expedition crew against a mysterious monster in a frozen and unforgiving landscape. But the lines between protagonist and antagonist quickly become blurred, as readers are forced to determine who's fighting for the good of man, and who's fighting to tear man to shreds.Brief but wonderfully nasty, Frozen combines elements of isolation, conspiracies, monsters and paranoia. The story is completely contained, which enables Bronson to tell a straight forward piece without manufacturing puzzling or confusing twists. That no nonsense approach works to keep the tale unravelling at breakneck speed.While I wouldn't have minded an additional 50 pages, simply to get a clearer outline of focal personalities, and intensify the paranoia, it's impossible to complain about a narrative that leaves the reader completely shocked. And Frozen manages that. It's intense, fast and brutal. And I love that.Fans of John W. Campbell Jr.'s, Who Goes There? should find this one quite appealing. The two stories are very similar in nature. So similar in fact, I'd find no challenge in believing that Bronson might cite Campbell's work as influential. You won't find any R.J. McReady in this expedition crew, but you will meet a few noteworthy characters, and you will stumble upon a subtle but gnarly little twist to close things out.Frozen works. It works as a throwback piece just as well as a contemporary tale, and that versatility is deeply appreciated. Bronson's prose is clean and efficient. There's no sublime writing style at work, but Bronson is an intelligent storyteller and that comes through on the page. Are we talking about a modern classic here? No, we're not. But we are talking about a highly enjoyable read that commands attention, and will more likely than not garner a respectable following.Written by Matt Molgaard from Horror Novel Reviews. Horror Novel Reviews does not receive payment for reviews. All books are promotional copies.