It does set up and use situations that the reader rather expects. And when strange things start to happen, it’s clear that this storm may be different…īeing honest, Snowblind is nothing radically dissimilar to other tales – anyone who has seen the TV series The Returned will recognise some of this – but it is done very well. We have teachers, local bar owners, local police, local ne’er-do-well’s, all hunkering down before the arrival of the Great Storm in their small community. Snowblind is full of those characters that fit the archetypes nicely: the sort of resolutely American characters that we normally meet in a Stephen King novel (and it is no great surprise that the cover gives a quote from Stephen, giving this book his blessing.). It’s an interesting take, that whilst the first part of the book seems to be what will be the main plot, after fifty pages or so the plot takes a leap forward a dozen years later. Families have been made, others have broken up, but life has gone on. However, much of the book deals with the consequences of that first storm – the people left behind, the social and emotional lingering damage that such disasters can cause. The book begins twelve years before the main event: when a great snowstorm led to many deaths, and people disappearing in the blizzard. We visit the town of Coventry, Massachusetts, as snow falls and puts its icy grip on this isolated settlement. The title gives you a pretty good summary of the plot. Snowblind is one of those books: a gripping horror thriller that’s a great Winter read (though I daresay any time of the year might have the same effect.)

In wintertime here at Hobbit Towers there’s often nothing nicer than settling down with a hot drink and a good book whilst the weather outside is something rotten. Published by St Martin’s Press/Headline, January 2014 (Review copy received.)

Snowblind book christopher golden