Review: Shudderville's Taut Prose and Seductive Plot Will Make You an Instant Zabrisky Fan
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2012
When I picked up the first installment of Mia Zabrisky's Shudderville series, I fully expected a good read; after all, it had an intriguing name and an even more intriguing plot. However, I didn't expect to be completely blown away. That was my mistake, and one I won't be making again where Zabrisky's concerned. Shudderville provides a glimpse into the darkness of the human spirit that's eerily reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe.  I apologize for the cliché, but it literally sent chills up my spine.Since the tragic death of her beloved daughter, Sophie McKnight's life has descended into a hellish blur of agony-filled days and alcohol-soaked nights.  She has no social life to speak of; just her best friend Cassie and half-hearted fantasies about the odd next door neighbor Sophie knows as the "goateed man".Cassie also has another neighbor, the elderly, frail Tobias Mandelbaum. Mandelbaum seems harmless enough, but Sophie soon learns he is no ordinary man, for he knows details about Sophie's past that she has never told a living soul.  He also claims to have the ability to make any wish come true.  When he first asks Sophie to make a request, she thinks the old man is crazy. But then she starts to wonder: what if he's telling the truth? What if she can have the one thing she so desperately wants?  Ignoring the goateed man's warning to stay away from Mandelbaum, Sophie makes her wish and learns that one cannot bargain with evil without paying a terrible price.Shudderville is a subtle yet profound story that will leave even diehard thriller fans open-mouthed and hungry for more.  It also places Zabrisky in a small, elite group of literary suspense writers.