CHION by Darryl Sloan is a short but exhilarating quest for survival by two teenagers who find themselves "stuck" in a winter horror-land, when the new snowfall halts society to a standstill in Ireland and begins to take lives.
CHION has to be one of the most unique thrillers I've ever read. I mean, how many thrillers will there be that rehash, dinosaurs, sharks, killer viruses, aliens or rampaging beasts? Well, never fear, because Mr. Sloan has made a monster out of pristine white snow, of all things and this story will grab you and hold you just as fast as the fluffy flakes themselves!
The cover is professional in quality and notice that it has everything to do with what the story is actually about. It draws you in, curiously wondering why the snow is blood tinged. The title of the book makes me curious...what in the world is CHION and what does it have to do with snow? You see folks...how everything is meant to draw you in and get you reading? Now, a good book is more than its cover and when we delve beneath the surface we find an engaging and unique situation. Snow has fallen, but this snow is unlike anything we've ever seen before. Anyone or anything which comes into contact with even a single flake is held fast in an iron grip. And be it clothing or skin, you'll be giving it up before the snow releases you. So we have an isolated doomsday scenario with people struggling to survive and our heroes have the unique vantage point of lovestruck teenagers who must figure out a way to survive among hordes of people, even their own teachers, who are willing to do anything they can to remain alive.
The interior is pure quality. I have nothing bad to say about this book at all. On every level, it delivers right up to the end. Whether or not that is a happy ending, I'll leave you to discover. I won't bother to put up any textual snippets because I'd recommend you do something a little different this time. You see, Mr. Sloan has given us a very professionally done podcast file that you can download and listen to and this is exactly why I'm reviewing this book now. I'm in the middle of another good book, but with the MP3 file listened to and a mere 145 pages, part of which is covered in the audiofile, I couldn't help but want to find out what happens. This podcasting thing is something very few authors are making use of at the moment, but having experienced it from the listeners perspective, let me just say, "I like it, I love it, I want more of it."
This novel may be short, but it's well worth what little effort you have to make. It scores big on every level of quality for production and with an engaging well voiced narrative. And let me say again...visit the website and get the podcast file first (see Darryl's sidebar for the link)...it's free and it will have you wanting the rest, which is also available for a lower than amazon price at Mr. Sloan's site. Now, how can you beat that?!
2 comments:
Great review P. Master. I'm looking forward to this as well.
This book was well worth the effort and one of the reasons why I do this...Also another book for other self published authors to learn some lessons from. Do it right and the reviews are glowing, do it the way that has created PODs stigma and the reviews will reflect it.
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