This is somehow a pleasure to read all the way through, without ever delivering on the twin promises of alien invasion or Lovecraftian horror it floats from time to time. Its almost a Silver John story, set in the mountain town of Sky Notch, with a reclusive family who carry out strange baptisms under the full moon the only thing differentiating this town from a bunch of hardscrabble hamlets where the main hobbies are hunting and drinking "blockade whiskey". Our hero, of sorts, is Gander Eye Gentry, trickster, banjo picker, tracker, and man otherwise appearing to lack of gainful employment.
He's in love with Slowly Kimber, but doesn't quite know it, and in this background a new man with a secret moves into town, and some...things...start stalking people by day and night. But then the background comes to the foreground, and the whole sci-fi/horror story gets a little lost by being forced into the background, and the ending is both too brief and too off-screen to really grab you in. So what you are left with is a beautiful little story of place, regional Americana, which has a little problem with an alien invasion and deals with it. There is occasional brooding dread or foreboding, but not a lot of dread happenings or things in fact being all foreboded in the end.
There are some hilarious moments: Gander Eye talking his heartbroken best friend out of suicide and into unexpected matrimony just about steals the book. I realise now I'd have loved to have read a whole lot of stories about Gander Eye - a little rougher than Silver John - but I don't know how you'd frame it. Its not an action piece, so if that's what you want, don't expect it here. It is almost as good as Silver John, in its own little way, and if you liked that, there is a good chance you will like this too.
