The Thicket is an innocuous hiking trail at
times of the year but a series of haunted cabins and scenes while in season.
Aimed at the thrill seekers of horror, the
scenes in the cabins depict gruesome images designed to get the blood pumping. However,
a few years ago someone died here – just an unfortunate accident, they said.
This time, a youngster named Brandon meets his fate. And those that witness the
corpse, think it part of the scenery.
Norah, Brandon’s sister, can’t get over the
fact that it happened in the short time she left him alone. And now the Thicket
is open for business again, so Norah is determined to find out what happened. A
few of Norah’s classmates have decided to check it out too. But the killer has
not been caught…
I truly enjoyed this horror thriller and
the ride it took me on. The ending (but not ending) left me wanting a follow
up. The author has portrayed some very scenic imagery as you move through the
Thicket and the places and people are well described. The journey of emotions
we go through between a family torn apart by death, the ambivalence of teenage
“it’ll never happen to me”, and the fascination of the public by the macabre
makes for a deep look into how we react under peer pressure.
The editing and proofing of the book was
very good and only a few punctuation errors crept through, but nothing to
interrupt the reading flow. However, some things stood out. Norah makes mention
that they move to the town when her brother is three and she is ten. But when
he dies at twelve, she is sixteen. Then there is a section in the maize where
they are looking for Maren and Aaron, but all of a sudden, Aaron is with Jamie.
And without spoilers – what happened to Tyson?
I would definitely recommend The Thicket
not just as a serial-killer thriller, but as a look into our own psyche and
behaviours.
Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for the opportunity to review the book.
