A man and woman are driving through the night. Billy Smith and Angel are anything but amorous; she is his handcuffed prisoner. He is haunted by nightmares. Their path has taken them from Salt Lake City to North Carolina by the time this novel opens, but it is far from over. That path will not end until after they have reached the small town of White Falls, Maine..

Meanwhile, in WhiteFalls, another young man (Jeboriah Taylor) is going to the prison where his incarcerated father has died to retrieve the suitcase containing his dead father's possessions. There is a legacy behind him and a growing anger about him.

The town itself is a haunted place, home to a legacy of darkness dating back to the 1700s. As these three characters pursue their own mysteries, they will discover that legacy to play a profound part in their Fates. The dead do not rest easy in this small town. However, the inhabitants of this town are complicit because of their actions, their desires, their day to day casual cruelties. Something stirs, here, something bound to an ancient artifact called the Bloodstone, and should that dark presence fully rouse, all Hell will break loose.

As with painting and music, first novels often run the risk of hearkening too closely to the style and themes and technique of those who have come before them. Imitation is the oldest way to learn an artistic craft, and the sincerest flattery can be had in being the Master those budding artists imitate. With enough time, a writer's own voice should shine through. For an example in the field of horror fiction, we need look no further than Ramsey Campbell, whose first collection (released by Arkham House as Inhabitant of the Lake, later titled Cold Print) offers up a plethora of tales told very much in the H. P. Lovecraft vein. By Campbell's second collection, Demons by Daylight, his individual voice found its way free.

Here we find Nate Kenyon, first time novelist, spinning a story that veers quite close to familiar territory. Bloodstone, like hundreds of novels in the last thirty years or so, is very much in keeping with the style, the interests, the tone, and the technique of Stephen King. This is the novel's single, leading shortcoming, and a mighty one it is.

While the town itself feels more like Derry (from It) than Salem's Lot, the townsfolk themselves and the scenes they are involved in are straight out of King's second published novel. In one scene, we find a cuckhold wielding a shotgun on the adulterous spouse and lover. In another, we find evil taking a life in the junkyard (though without rats, this time around). Geographically speaking, we find the creepy old mansion acting as source of the town's dark legacy and a beacon to its current situation. The comparisons go on and on...

I have read and loved King's Salem's Lot. It was revolutionary when it came out over thirty years ago. It is still a delightfully eerie read nowadays (this reader just revisited that peculiar, doomed little town, only a few months ago). However, do we horror readers need yet another attempt to retell this same story? I offer an emphatic no.

However, this is not to say that there is nothing of interest about Bloodstone. If all it had to say was "It's Salem's Lot, but with [INSERT DIFFERENT MONSTER HERE]!", then I would be completely panning this book; it would be an absolute waste of time. I am not, however, because Bloodstone does have something going for it. What might that be? Why it offers an interesting structure pertaining to the journey taken by its three main characters.

From the description above, which is how they are introduced, certain roles are established, and a formulaic genre weary reader will find ways to pigeon hole those characters into expected slots: one character will side with evil, one character will find inner strength to combat evil, and one character will be the helper/guide (in Joseph Campbell speak) to inner strength.

With the exception of the prediction for helper/guide character (who really gets little to do in this book), the other two follow very different, nonlinear paths. This reader found his expectations turned, if not completely around than certainly enough to continue reading. I was curious to see how things played out. Ultimately, the ending comes as no surprise, the plot (like its cast of secondary characters) prefers to stay within the realm of the familiar, but the players roles in the end sequence of events were a surprise from my initial expectations.

Nate Kenyon's language is certainly readable. Dialogue sounds natural, the descriptions are just enough to paint a good picture and propel the events. The language is that of a storyteller, and this author tells his tale of small town evil with quite a bit of energy and emotion. Along with the nice characterization and twists (at least around the three leads), he shows he has the talent to spin a really good horror yarn.

Upon closing the covers of this book and considering what I had read, I was reminded of Roger Ebert's comments in his review of director Quentin Tarantino's first film, Reservoir Dogs.  The film critic said something to the effect of: Now that you've shown you can make a movie of this sort, show us that you can do something different with it. Well, Mr. Kenyon, now that you've shown us that you can tell a classic horror story (providing that "classic horror" only dates back to 1974), I strongly urge you to break from the familiar.

I understand that Bloodstone (a reprint of Kenyon's hardcover novel from 2006, published by Five Star) is the first of a multibook deal with Leisure. This copy contains an excerpt from his forthcoming novel (The Reach) due out in 2009. Though the name is also, coincidentally or not, also that of another Stephen King story, the chapter excerpt shows plenty of promise. I am certainly curious to see what this author does and where he goes. For his next couple of books, at least.

Bloodstone by Nate Kenyon
352 page
Leisure Books
May 2008

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