Review: The Faceless One by Mark Onspaugh
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2013
I was intrigued by the description for this book and requested a copy to review. I have to confess that I found the cover to be a little dark and indistinct. The description drew me in, the cover did not.I initially had quite a bit of trouble getting into this book. It seemed to start off quite slowly, and drag. This is not one of the usual genres that I read frequently, but that being said, I rather enjoyed this book. There did, however, seem to be something lacking, perhaps a certain momentum, that I felt it required. This could have been the result of the multiple viewpoints employed, breaking up the narrative, but more likely was just a matter of personal taste.I very much liked the main character Jimmy Kalmaku, and in particular the fun and easy relationship that he enjoyed with his fellow retirement home resident and friend, George. The way that Jimmy trusted George and introduced him to the secrets of his culture and the world of the shaman was well handled. This provided an interesting view of the shaman's relationship with nature and magic, and gave the reader a good insight into the world view of the Tlingit, and their Gods.The character of Stan Roberts was, I felt, indicative of the nature of this story. The internal struggle fought in the mind of Stan Roberts, with the faceless one, T'Nathluk , echoes the overarching theme of this story, that of the age old battle of good versus evil. The faceless one's sporadic control of Stan Roberts and Stan's indomitable desire to protect even a small piece of his mind, along with his readiness to carry out an unthinkable act, in order to foil the faceless ones plans, was for me, one of the most interesting threads of this story.I would recommend this book  to anyone interested in reading horror, albeit rather tame horror, in my opinion. It was an interesting story built around an intense struggle of good versus evil, fought in the present, but ultimately dependent upon the shamanistic power and skills of the last real survivor of the almost extinct Tlingit tribe.This review is based on a review copy.