THE BONE FACTORY, Nate Kenyon’s third novel, finds the author taking greater risks with narrative structure and relying less on supernatural elements and gore shock effects. Although uneven at times, the results are exciting, and this is his best work to date.
A large hydropower plant is about to open in the small northern town of Jackson, near Quebec City. That’s good news for David Pierce, a research engineer who has been unemployed for most of the past year. So, shortly after his interview with the Jackson plant manager, David gets a call that the job is his, and he is overjoyed.
The new job means relocation from his New York home. Fortunately, the plant management has promised to move David — plus his wife, Helen; and their 4-year-old daughter, Jessica — into a remote but spacious house near a vast wooded forest near the plant. Although a bit anxious, David and Helen hope the new beginning will be especially good for little Jessica, who has suffered from frequent and disturbing nightmares. They later learn that these nightmares are actually visions of events yet to happen.
But as David and his family settle in, there are other things happening with the plant’s opening. An inspector from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is concerned about some environmental anomalies in the local water used by the plant, so he sends some samples for extensive lab analysis in Washington, D.C. At the same time, a psychotherapist is concerned about one of her clients, a Vietnam veteran currently working as a guard for the plant while it is locked down during the winter. The guard is plagued by paranoid dreams of his war experiences, and is suddenly absent from his therapy sessions.
And most disturbing of all are the recent reports of murder and mutilations of local residents, and a girl about Jessica’s age who wandered into the woods near the Pierce residence and disappeared. It all strikes home when Jessica dreams of a huge and threatening “blue man” hiding in the woods.
While David is the focal point for most of the story, Kenyon shifts the perspective to Helen, Jessica and several other characters populating the novel. It’s a treacherous technique that tempts confusion or distraction, but for the most part, Kenyon keeps the shifts brief and manages to rake up the suspense as all the diverse characters play out their roles and converge toward the conclusion.
The horror here, of course, comes from the grizzly murders and the shadowy perpetrator who haunts Jessica’s dreams. But there are also a great deal of shudder-provoking moments as a result of the environmental damage created by the plant management and their short-sighted greed. And when David discovers that his new job is putting his family in danger, there is an added thriller characteristic, complete with a race to avoid further killings.
Yet precious little is made of Jessica’s ability to envision future events. And what with everything else happening, her ability almost seems superfluous. But this is the kind of irritant that bothers you only after you’ve finished reading the entire book. And you will finish it.
It’s wonderful to experience a novelist taking risks and improving with each new book. Here’s hoping that Kenyon continues that way. If so, he’s certain to become a writer worth following in the coming years. —Alan Cranis
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BLOODSTONE by Nate Kenyon
• THE REACH by Nate Kenyon
Related posts:
