Review: Apocalyptic Horror
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2013
The word `catharsis' is the act of purging emotions or relieving emotional tensions, and in the case of this book, is more a purging of evil or bad influences. Set in the small town of Spring City, Catharsis starts by introducing a range of unique characters going about their daily lives as a severe storm closes in and quickly cuts the town off from the rest of the world.As the story progresses and the residents become more and more isolated, the true characteristics of the townspeople, and the stories of the lives are revealed as tensions start to reach breaking point.The ghosts of the town past aren't the kinds that go bump in the night, but instead the type that gradually seep into the lives of the townspeople and begin to influence them to reveal their true colours.There are a lot of characters in this book, some not being introduced until nearly the halfway mark, which was a little confusing. With each character switch (unless they were obvious stand-outs), I had to stop and try and remember what part they played in the story. There are a lot of bad people in this story, and you may question just how so many psychos ended up in one small town, but it is connected to the town's past.The writing is good and the creepiness factor is high, but I found the ending quite disappointing as it seemed too fast for the pacing of the rest of the book, and there wasn't really a resolution nor a `to be continued' kind of moment. The story itself would have benefited greatly from more background of the history of Spring City. Overall this is a good book, an interesting premise but needs a little more work to be a really enthralling read.