Review: Gated
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 9, 2013
Married couple Michael and Emily Torrence arrive at the beautiful and secluded town of Eden Gardens with hopes of starting a new life after the devastating loss of their unborn child. The couple who are from the UK, are making a big change by moving to the U.S. Michael is a writer, Emily a teacher.Something about the Eden Gardens community is a bit off, everything is too perfect. The hedges are perfectly trimmed, the houses are all nice and uniformed looking and everyone is very friendly in this picturesque and private community. Armed guards stand at the front gate because not everyone is allowed in. As Michael and Emily acclimate to their new home, they being to sense that something is not right. As series of events begin to unfold, letting the couple know that Eden Gardens is hiding deep, dark secrets behind it's perfect facade.As the story went along, I liked the characters inner monologues. Emily notices something isn't right straight away, but she brushes it off. Michael's writers imagination is working a mile a minute as he notices subtle things about his new neighbors. He even starts his new novel based on a picture perfect town that is hiding evil secrets. As the story flows and stranger things begin to occur, several characters join the plot, and they all add to the storyline. I found Michael and Emily especially to be well developed characters and I cared about what was happening to them.Eden Gardens has a weird vibe to it, and like the saying goes, if something seems to good to be true, it probably is.The town itself has a dirty history, and author Matt Drabble inserts chapters to give the reader flashbacks showing just how nasty this backstory is. I found this to be a great touch, it all adds to the multi-layered plot. I also enjoyed reading Michael and Emily's take on life in the U.S. as opposed to back home in the UK. They tend to compare the two places and I found that interesting.I could see Gated being turned into a mini-series for television. This is the kind of story that reveals itself layer by layer. You as the reader somewhat know what's happening, and you almost want to warn the characters. It's all slightly campy like horror stories can sometimes be, but it's entertaining none the less. This one reminded me of Rosemary's Baby a bit.As I read, it was obvious to see that author Matt Drabble is a Stephen King fan. There are references to King's work like the couple's last name, nods to Cujo and The Shining, a creepy town and Michael being a writer of horror novels. I liked it.I did however, notice a few grammatical errors and I always mention that when reviewing books. The errors didn't take away from my enjoyment of this entertaining story.Overall I found Gated to have an interesting storyline and nicely fleshed out characters. I enjoyed this creepy book about a seemingly perfect little town with it's dark secrets.Disclaimer:I am an Amazon affiliate. This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any type of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers and authors, such as this one, I am under no obligation to write a positive review.I received a free copy of Gated for a possible review.