Review: Evokes Faulkner, Poe, and King
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 22, 2013
"The Crooked House of Coins" combines that eerie feeling of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" with Poe's penchant for the obsessive - all within a ghostly and fearful setting a la Stephen King! Not that this story has it all, but it has one thing done well: a sense of suspense that drives the story to an unearthly finish. Chapman's purposeful prose is descriptive and evocative, if at times expansive. His writing can be complex, but as a writer myself, I found myself trusting his syntax to lead me deeper into the story's premise, which he does admirably. I'm a plot-driven reader and I enjoyed the ghost story within the context of a mysterious treasure hunt. Given the tension between the two characters and a spooky backstory, this story can easily be the seed to a longer novel. Four and a half stars and a recommended read for a lunch break at work!