The Straw Men [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Hardcover]

As someone said earlier, Mr. Marshall (or Smith) really knows how to "turn a word." As wonderfully dark and fast-paced as this book is, I, too, kept finding myself re-reading certain paragraphs here and there, just because the author has an incredible gift of being able to sprinkle profound insights amidst a breakneck plot and non-stop progression of the story. His literary prowess never gets in the way of the story.

For horror buffs, this is a completely fresh, wonderful read, and it's indeed a shame that the author has not gained the stellar notoriety he so rightly deserves. (Although two of his prior works have been secured for VERY large sums from movie studios, including Spielberg's Dreamworks, who paid a whopping seven-figure sum for the rights to Spares.)

To the story: The book centers around two different protagonists, each tracking down what appears to be a serial killer, but in the end, turns out to be much, much more. The main, first-person protagonist attempts to unravel and come to grips with a very intriguing set of clues that shed light on an extremely bizarre past that he'd never imagined. At the same time, a pair of detectives are drawn into a similarly bizarre serial killer case that turns out to be much bigger than what appears on the surface, and as we come to learn, anything the world has ever seen. As more is learned and the story progresses, the two sets of protagonists find themselves on the same case, with a satisfying conclusion that still begs a sequel. Not to be trite, but this truly is one of those rare page-turners that melts the hours away as you read it.

One thing that I really like about Marshall's (Smith's) books is that unlike many horror stories or thrillers, his lead characters are strong and intelligent - not the typical meek, everyday Joes who end up embroiled in some kind of dark situation, as many horror novels tend to be. His characters drive the story, and are not "passive" about it in the least. I just like that. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as a must-buy, and all of Smith's past works as well (which venture more into the "light Sci-Fi/horror" realm.)

One side note: Smith is British, and if you go the amazon.co.uk site, you can find a collection of short stories published in a book called "What You Make It" by him that's not available in the states, which is also a wonderful read, and well worth the airmail surcharges to import. If you enjoy Smith's work, don't miss it.

Okay, enough of that...

This novel starts a bit slowly, setting the scene and scenario, developing characters, and slowly working towards the revelations that kick the plot into motion. Like another reviewer stated, the less said about the details the better, but suffice to say, once things start to move you won't be able to put this book down.

Also, it is a very well writen novel, and there is a fair bit of social commentary there if you want to look for it. However, this book can be just as enjoyable as a page-turner, if that's what you are looking for. But be warned, it is a very, very bloody book. There is a good deal of violence, especially towards the end, and there are some graphic scenes involving children (though not of a sexual nature).

As it stands now, this is my favourite new novel of 2002, and I only hope that Michael Marshall (Smith) won't take as long to finish his next novel as he did to finish this.