A Sudden Light

July 7, 2014
In a complete change of pace from his dog-centric The Art of Racing in the Rain, Stein transports the reader to Riddell House, a 100-year-old mansion made entirely of wood overlooking Puget Sound. Jones Riddell and his 14-year-old son, Trevor, move there following the failure of Jones’s business and his ensuing separation from Trevor’s mother. Jones has come to Riddell House to help his younger sister, Serena, persuade their Alzheimer’s-afflicted father to sell the family land, which is worth a fortune, to housing developers. But supernatural forces stand in the way of the deal. Clever Trevor, as he is called, begins to see ghosts and have visions. Researching the history of the Riddell clan—rapacious timber barons—he finds that it is rife with sexual secrets, incest, illness, and even madness, which forces him to realize that his dream of seeing his family whole again might come at too great a cost. With its single setting and small cast of characters (ghosts not included), the story’s feeling of claustrophobia adds to the tension. Stein dramatizes the various tensions between his characters well, although narrator Trevor comes off as a tad precocious for 14. The history of the Riddell family fails to shock after a while, even as events in the present lead to the tragic denouement.

Effective ghost stories are always about atmosphere and characters who struggle to uncover secrets that are best left undiscovered. In this one, master storyteller Garth Stein finds a consummate collaborator in talented narrator Seth Numrich. Fourteen-year-old Trevor, who is trying to keep his divorcing parents together, has moved into a mansion on Puget Sound with his father. As the story unspools, Numrich's smooth delivery, caring tone, and perfect pauses allow the growing horror to creep into your psyche. Numrich shines at portraying Trevor's teenaged angst, especially his longing to understand adult decisions. Goosebumps are guaranteed as Numrich's performance elevates this tale of twisted terror to heights attained by Poe and Lovecraft. It's that good. R.O. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine