Review: A Good, Relatively Quick Read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2014
“It Lives in the Basement,” by Sahara Foley begins with a bang. The noises in the house initially attributed to typical “settling” causes are followed by brief, peripheral glimpses of…something. The cats disappear without a trace, followed in short order by increasingly ominous occurrences that leave investigators stymied. This horror novella, divided into several chapters that combine to provide a multiple-years long tale of mystery, murder and horror is a good and quick reading pleasure.Police detective Flynn is the first to investigate the disappearances and, over a number of succeeding years, he is followed by a series of investigators, all of whom are drawn to the house at 1921 S. 18th Street to examine seemingly unsolvable mysteries and gruesome murders. Eventually, the detectives follow a trail that leads them, years later, to a swampy area miles from the original crime scene.The methodology used in presenting this story is interesting, unusual and well presented.  With the exception of Sergeant Alvarez, the characters are not as well as developed as they would have been in a full length novel, but certainly sufficient to carry the plot line and keep the reader invested in their fates. More fully developed, Alvarez proves to be a source for tracking down the enigmatic killer. How he comes to some of his conclusions is not crystal clear, but his assumptions and facts help drive the story forward. I thought the dialogue a bit stilted and unrealistic, especially Alvarez’s language. At times, it seemed that the author was more concerned with “proper” grammar than describing a realistic manner of speech. As a disciple of verisimilitude in fiction, these speech patterns failed to pass the test of realism and was, therefore, distracting (for me). Still, “It Lives in the Basement,” is satisfying read that I would recommend for all fans of suspense horror stories.