Snowblind: A Novel

I always read reviews before I purchase a book. If the majority of reviews are negative then it's usually a safe bet that the story is weak. I read quite a few reviews, not the majority, that expressed disappointment, that this was not one of Golden's best, nowhere close. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but thankfully I didn't listen to them. Snowblind is an excellent read! If blood and gore is what you crave in a horror story, this is not the book for you. Christopher Golden beautifully weaves the characters through the story. It's a page turner but not in the sense that you must find out what happens next, although the last 50 pages or so are like that but rather you want to get to know the characters more. Although you immediately feel a familiarity with them the first few pages of the book, you want to know more, you need to know more. That and the fact that it's simply beautifully written. Snowblind will keep you spellbound all the way to the end. So, grab some cocoa and a blanket and prepare yourself for the chills that will inevitably come and the belief that redemption, that second chances truly are possible if we've the courage to take them.

Twelve years before, the small New England town of Conventry experienced a snow storm that left dozens of people dead. These individuals died, not because of the extreme weather conditions, but by what was inside the snow…creatures that flew in the wind and kamikazed unsuspecting individuals by grabbing them, lifting them high into the sky, and then dropping them to their deaths. Some of the people, however, disappeared into the snow, never to be seen again. Then, twelve years later, another snow storm approaches the town. Those who lost a loved one before must now fight for their lives, because the creatures are back. But even more astounding, the people who disappeared into the snow over a decade before are now back, hoping to escape the things that are after them. What Christopher Golden has done with the horror genre is to create a new, exciting, and utterly terrifying ice creature that comes during a heavy snow and kills those it can get its hands on. Suffice it to say, that the beginning of Snowblind is a frenzy of death as is the ending. I wish the novel had been longer with the last third running an extra fifty-to-sixty pages. Though the middle was good, it seemed to drag in parts, especially with regards to the robbery sequence. A longer ending would have balanced this out. One thing that ranks Mr. Golden with the top writers of today is his sheer brilliance with the written word. His style of writing is simple; yet, poignant. It would appear to be easy to emulate, but is actually quite difficult and takes years to master. This is a gifted writer at work. He should already be on The New York Times Top 10 Bestseller List. He’s that good! Great story development, fantastic characters, and bloody frightening creatures that are the stuff nightmares are born of. Get Snowblind and read it during the next blizzard if you can stand the branches knocking against your window at night. Who knows…maybe it’s not the branches at all.

I saw the cover in a Barnes and Noble and saw the quote from Stephen King and knew I had to read it. I am a HUGE King fan and will read anything he recommends. Came home, bought it on my Kindle and started. LOVED it, couldn't put it down. I was so intrigued about what was causing the deaths and I loved the characters of Ella and TJ and Jake. And then I got to around 70% and the book drastically changed for me. I no longer wanted to keep reading it, it seemed to go on forever. The story line got too much for me to believe. When the ghost of Neiko appeared and everyone could see him, I was done. I would blame it on the writing and not making it believable to me because w/ King, I believe a car can kill you. I believe a clown can kill you. I believe in the Green Mile and the idea of burying your child and having it come back as a demon. It all made sense to me, Stephen King made me believe. Mr. Golden lost me at the most important part of his book and turned it into a non believable story that I had to force myself to finish. It clearly sets you up for a sequel which I will not be buying as the last 30% of this book was so disappointing. I felt almost like he was in a hurry to finish the book that he just rushed through it. How else do you explain 70% of a book being amazing and brilliant and then the last 30% being dull, not believable and hard to read. I feel let down as I wanted to love the entire book and I couldn't.

In the small New England town of Coventry, a massive snow storm is about to strike. Before it's over, the lives of many of the residents will be changed forever. For this is no ordinary snow storm. Besides the usual snow, ice, and wind, there is a terrifying supernatural presence within the storm itself, and it is about to unleash its fury on the unsuspecting townspeople. Fast forward twelve years. Another storm is approaching Coventry, and along with it comes the memories of the storm twelve years earlier. For on this night, the strange supernatural beings are back, and they have come to claim the souls of those who survived the earlier storm. On this night, heroes will be made, families once shattered will be drawn back together, and the town of Coventry will never be the same again. Simply put, "Snowblind" is a fantastic book. Author Christopher Golden has done a masterful job of combining sheer terror with empathy and tenderness. There are many characters throughout the book, and Golden has developed each one perfectly. The reader gets to know each one intimately, and the story is exciting throughout. If you're a fan of good, scary novels, then don't miss "Snowblind". It will definitely scare you!

I had previously read the authors novel Ararat, which absolutely blew me away and has recently won a book an award! When we had the snow (March 2018 UK), I decided to read a novel with a theme of a storm/blizzard and picked up Snowblind from my tbr pile. The novel has an eerie horror/mystery feel and has received praise from Stephen King! So, here’s my thoughts on Snowblind. The snow is set in the small town of Coventry, Massachusetts during a brutal winter. My favourite thing about the novel is the character depth. The characters are detailed, but not overly so. Just enough to get you invested in their stories and intrigued on their journey within the novel. ‘Snowstorms provided the most beautiful and haunting images of all’ The novel opens with restaurant opener Ella having a cigarette break alone as the snow falls. Ella is lonely and vulnerable as the blizzard moves in. Allie is a young widow, a mum to two young boys and currently dating handsome doctor Niko. They gather as a family to watch movies and eat popcorn, whilst the storm hits Coventry. Allie’s husband died in combat and she is apprehensive about her new relationship with Niko. How her sons Isaac and Jake will adapt to the new situation, and also Niko’s daughter Miri. They read incredibly well as a family just trying to survive what life throws at them. But their pain is far from over! Joe Keenan is a rookie cop for the Coventry PD. He is on patrol during the blizzard, dealing with the typical complaints and thinking back to the last aggressive storm of 1978. When Joe hits something in his patrol car, something he can’t see. . . Doug Manning is a local mechanic on route to an evening with his workmates to watch the game. His wife Cherie remains at home awaiting his return. When some ‘jokes’ get out of hand, Doug finds himself fired and cast out from his workplace. TJ Farrelly is a local singer at Ella’s restaurant, he harbours romantic feelings towards her but has previously held back. He is supposed to be spending the evening of the storm with his elderly mother Martha. But when there’s a power cut in Ella’s restaurant he can’t resist the urge to bring her comfort. Cherie (Doug’s Wife) is alone at home on the telephone with her best friend Angela. When her dog begins howling she must venture into the yard during the storm to bring him in. She hears strange whisperings of ‘Let’s get in’ and her dog bites her hand. The night is full of strange occurrences for the townsfolk of Coventry. ‘The city of Coventry had given itself over to the storm’ The evening continues to get more and more creepy. Joe is dealing with the 13 power lines that are down, when he is summoned to the Wexler’s residence The Wexler son and his two friends have gone missing. Joe must find the teens as the snow continues to fall down around him. Allie and Niko discuss their future, trying their best to consider everyone in the family’s feelings and where they go from here. Down the hall in the boy’s room, Isaac has become terrified of a presence outside of the window ‘There are monsters in the yard’. Despite the comforting words of his brother Jake, he opens the window. A mistake that will scar them all, one way or another. At this point the novel has a huge twist and it is not one I am willing to give away. What I have described above is actually, only a short part of the opening of the novel. The beauty of this novel is within the first twist! This novel has a subtle eerie feeling and is perfect to read when the snow is falling. As stated above the descriptions of the characters are brilliant. They draw you into their individual stories and they are all unique. The novel maybe of the horror genre, but it does have a strong emotional edge also. The theme of personal grief and emotional longing for a lost relative, is beautifully written. When you add in the eerie feeling and the flash horror scenes, you have the recipe for a 5* novel.

A solid book. An odd but heavy mystery and so much snow it made me feel cold when reading it.

I bought the mass paperback version.. the book is a bit small.. i wish they had the paperback version... Nevertheless the book is excellent.. Received in excellent condition, great packaging and all..

Great writing and an original story. A slow ticker, but definitely a sequel on the way.

Released earlier this month, Christopher Golden’s new Snowblind is my first ‘proper’ horror of the year, and my first for a long time. The horror starts early in this book, but quickly falls into mediocre about midway through. It’s not a bad book, really, just not a good one, either. We begin in the small town of Coventry, somewhere in New England, where a snow storm is coming. We are introduced to quite a few characters in quick succession, all bolting down for the oncoming blizzard, as well as those alone, waiting for their loved ones to return home. Within fifty pages, we see some of these characters forced out into the storm, and taken by something out there. First, the wife of Don Manning, a mechanic who, having just been fired from his job, doesn’t want to go home is looking for her dog. Then, TJ, a musician who decides to spend the night with the owner of the restaurant he plays at, Ella Santos, instead of going to home to his mother. His mother later receives a knock at the door, and vanishes. Rookie policeman Joe Kennan fails to save a boy in a sledging accident, and then watches the father of that boy disappear into the storm. Finally, the Schapiro family loses not just Isaac, Allie’s youngest son, to the storm, but also her new lover, Nico – a loss for his daughter, Miri. As you can see, there are a lot of characters to keep track of here – at least seven of which are kept as point of view characters, and a few other characters get one or two POV parts. It’s a headache to even try to remember most of their names (and I had to check for quite a few, including Ellie, despite really enjoying her as a character). The voices are not quite distinct enough to be separated easily, especially since point of view changes frequently within chapters. The characters are, broadly, easy to sympathise with, and likeable, with the exception, perhaps, to be made for Doug, who can be frustrating at times. The main story takes place 12 years after the above described storm, with a new storm coming, to which Coventry does not take kindly to, after memories of their last. Doug is taking the opportunity to rob houses, now that, without his wife Cherie, he has no moral compass (apparently), until his ex-girlfriend Angela (also the ex-wife of Nico and the mother of Miri – phew!) arrives on his doorstep, acting strangely. Allie is alone, and still mourning for her dead lover – though she could have sworn she saw his ghost outside her window… Joe Kennan, now a detective, is investigating a young boy who is missing from a car accident in the local lake, and one of his constables, Torres is acting strangely. But that’s nothing, when when of the other policemen – oh, god, I absolutely can’t remember his name now – starts becoming suspicious of Jake Schapiro (the brother of the dead Isaac – are you guys still following me?!), the police photographer. And TJ and Ellie’s daughter has been acting very strangely later. See what I mean? I like a bit of interconnectivity among characters, but this was a bit too much. I feel like I regret not taking notes on this damn thing, because there are more links I’m sure I’m missing. Character confusion aside, the build up is great in this. Coventry is overcome with some ominous creature that we don’t really see in action until about half way through this book. It’s all very creepy, and kept me gripped – until we start seeing them properly. They are ice men. And that’s what the characters call them too – ice men. Seriously? With huge ice claws and terrible eyes etc. etc. The felt more suited to a fairy tale that an adult horror book. Ice monsters just felt silly. There were no psychological elements either. The characters were scared, and anxious about them getting in…and that was it. As soon as the main plot started kicking in, I stopped caring because none of the character’s believably reacted to these horrors. There were no clever twists, either, nothing that had me excited. It was just a straight “race against time” story most of the time. Meh pretty much sums it up – one big, sputtering sparkler of a book, instead of a firework. However, the book did have potential, and I did care enough about the characters to carry on reading. But mostly because I wanted to see how Ellie and TJ ended up, and if Joe’s wife would ever actual turn up (she was like Columbo’s wife – spoken about, but always mysteriously off-screen). I also slogged on to see if it would be saved before the end. (Hint: it wasn’t.) I may read more by this author, if he comes out with anything new, because the writing was solid, but this was not in any way an impressive piece of work. It doesn’t do anything for the horror genre, and was generally just not very good.