Isolation

Is there a name more readymade to pen a horror novel than Travis Thrasher? It’s like Richard Ripper or Gary Gutter, except real. He’s the author of ISOLATION, which is a Christian horror novel — and no, kids, the phrase doesn’t have to be an oxymoron like “jumbo shrimp” or “military intelligence,” although this case isn’t likely to convince newcomers to the genre.

With its elements of a strained marriage and a family spending a winter in a remote lodge that is not their own, ISOLATION immediately reminds one of Stephen King’s THE SHINING — an association that very well may be on purpose, given Thrasher’s reference to the book in his own, as well as a thank-you note to King on the acknowledgments page for a career influence.

The family in question is the Millers. Jim and Stephanie are missionaries, with two young children, and they just recently returned stateside following a few years’ work in Papua New Guinea that ultimately failed and involved an exorcism that enabled Jim to stare directly into the face of Satan.

With a lack of intimacy in her marriage, doubts in her mind and pressure put her on by the in-laws, Steph hasn’t been herself lately, especially since she’s been plagued by strange visions, which later will include blood-dripping walls (à la THE AMITYVILLE HORROR — another cited work). A temporary move would do the family good, and so they do — to a sprawling, out-of-the-way lodge on a mountain in North Carolina. It was intended as a retirement home for a super-rich executive who unfortunately died before he reached that age.

Nine-year-old Zachary is the one who first discovers that secret passageways and rooms snake through its walls, accessible via tiny, 3-feet-square panels that reveal themselves in a closet when, say, the thermostat dial is turned just so. There’s an entire wing of the house that no one has even visited, until Jim finds a key. Those rooms are filled with signs of evil, like torture paraphernalia and pornographic magazines.

But that’s nothing compared to the force of evil that’s making its way toward the big ol’ log cabin. And it has its eyes dead-set on Zachary. With all that’s being thrown at the Millers — and will be thrown at them — Jim and Steph start to wrestle with matters of faith. If that were as far as ISOLATION went, it’d be a thriller without thrills, but Thrasher knows to balance the spirituality with the supernatural.

That said, the balance goes out the window in the overdone climax. The sermonizing grows awfully heavy-handed, which disagrees with Thrasher’s claim in the book’s Q&A that “I don’t consider myself to be a ‘Christian novelist,’ but rather a novelist who happens to be a Christian.” Don’t take that as an attack on his faith. Let’s just put it this way: We may believe in the same God, but we definitely don’t attend the same services — and I can respect those differences.

Yet it’s disappointing to see faith used as what I perceive as an easy out to a tale that builds a fair share of suspense. You’re left with a feeling of, “Oh, that’s all they had to do? Pray?” I love stories that pit people against fear in secluded locations that put them out of reach of the rest of the society. Just add snow — as this one does, with a power-crippling storm — and all the better.

There’s a terrific turn that I have to admit I didn’t see coming, and Thrasher is able to weave in some disturbing flashbacks to Steph’s childhood that I wanted to see played out even more. ISOLATION marks a promising start to this phase of the author’s career — one which began with a love story, yet will continue with another thriller, GHOSTWRITER, next summer. It’s a reasonable read, if not entirely satisfying.

I just wish he hadn’t resorted to pulling one of the oldest tricks in the book, when Steph dreams of walking through the forest, than wakes up to find … her feet are dirty! AAAAAIIIIIEEEEE! —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.