Jun 28, 2015: The Night is fairly new, only having 9 chapters, none of which are particularly long, so far. And all of it is really just setting up the characters, so the action has only just begun, so I can’t really get into much of the story, but I’ll try my best.
M.J. Kane, has five characters who, while not identical all have some problems. There’s Finnegan, screw up and well on his way to alcohol poisoning. Sara, college student who really likes to drink. David, a VERY unpleasant fellow with a veneer of being nice. Ray, your friendly drug dealer looking to start making connections and moving up in the world. And finally Melinda, end of the world, homeless woman, who is ready and willing to defend herself.
In a surprisingly short amount of time, most of these characters are actually nicely developed, particularly Finnegan and David. They aren’t likable characters, but you get a good idea of where they’re coming from, and an understanding of what drives them. I don’t think I’d want to be friends with them, but none of them come off as being a special little flower, a truly impossible to like jerk ass, or any other major turn offs. And since they’re in a horror story, they can either improve or die. So that’s a definite plus.
The start of the actual disaster happens at the end of the fifth chapter with Melinda. And at first it seems rather strange with a lot of car crashes. We see a bit more with Sara and Ray, both of whom have near escapes from friends turned monsters.
This is actually the place where having longer chapters would probably help. There weren’t pages of a single fight scene, which I like, but having a bit more of a description of what happened before, after and what the characters are feeling and how they’re reacting would have really helped build up more tension. Because right now it’s interesting, the promise of a good read is definitely there, but it’s not quite hitting the right notes.
So I’m tentatively giving this four stars, as the characters are good, and with just a bit more work on descriptions, this is a solid read.
4 of 4 members found this review helpful.
Help us improve!
Register or
log in to rate this review.