Tag Line: Now you see him...now you don't.From the Back of the Book: Step into my web...She's fascinated. I can tell by the look in her eyes. I just have to get her alone. Away from her steady boyfriend. Away from her friends at school. She's curious. Curious enough to enter my house of mystery. Through the automatic gates that lock behind her. Into the sealed room...Where escape is impossible. Now I have her where I want her. Alone. Soon she will pay for the hurt she has caused me...And then she will die.
Validity Confession: This book is not a Point Horror. It's one of the Avon Flare horror novels. I'll let you be the judge of whether PH or AF is more ridiculous.
This book was published in 1994. I've never read it. In fact, I've never even heard of this author. I have no idea what to expect. Right off the bat, I know I'm going to hate it, though, because it's written in first person.
Sigh.
We begin with our protagonist. I assume it's our protagonist anyway. I think it's two pages in before we learn that her name is Blythe (I'm assuming female at this point but I could be wrong) and she works at a Parapsychology lab as a secretary on Tuesday evenings. We learn that she's having panic attacks after an event that she's determined to forget and not think about. The long drive home on Tuesday nights really scares her, but part-time jobs are hard to find and hers actually allows her to get her homework done most of the time.
Blythe's mother is dead and her father
has been called to serve in the war in the Middle East. He hasn't
left yet and Blythe is trying to convince him that she's responsible
enough to stay on her own. The other option is to go stay with her
grandma in Oregon and Blythe thinks that's a fate worse than death.
Blythe's car is old and unreliable.
It's made out of three other cars and is always having trouble of
some sort. On her way home, the headlights go completely out. She
decides to drive it the rest of the way anyway because she can see
the white line on the side of the road and thinks that's enough to
guide her safely in the darkness.
Idiot.
Clearly she gives zero fucks about anyone else who might be on the road that night. Cars that won't see her when they're passing another vehicle. Cars that won't see her when they're turning onto the road. Bicyclists she won't see until she runs them down. She's a considerate one, our Blythe.
Along the way, she drifts across the
yellow line and almost hits a motorcycle. She's alarmed when it
turns around and starts following her. She drives faster and faster
because that's that you do in the dark while driving a car with no
headlights. Somehow she doesn't kill herself or anyone else. She drives
home, which is hella dumb because now the mysterious motorcycle
driver knows exactly where she lives.
The next morning, she goes outside to
find her car vandalized. All four of her tires have been slashed and
the seats completely ripped up. She realizes how stupid she was to
go home the night before rather than driving someplace anonymous and
safe.
She gets a ride to school from some
chick named Angela. We're told they're friends but there was no actual evidence of this anywhere in the book except for the last few pages. Angela wonders why she didn't ask Quentin for a ride and Blythe replies that she and Quentin are kind of on a break even
though Quentin doesn't know it yet. That's....bitchy. If you're ending a relationship, the person you're in the relationship with should be the first to know that. They've
been going out for over a year and she's still attracted to him but
he makes her sick to her stomach.
Am I the only one who already doesn't like this girl?
Angela wants details but Blythe isn't
interested in providing them. She rushes away only to find Quentin
waiting for her at her locker. She dashes away from him as well and
takes refuge in the girls' room where he can't follow. After she
finally emerges, a random named Elizabeth tells her that some new guy
in a windbreaker was asking about Blythe. He asked if she and
Quentin were a couple. Blythe replies that Elizabeth can tell the
windbreaker that she's single. Elizabeth is shocked. Why does
Blythe think it's okay to do this before she's talked to Quentin?
It's the coward's way out because she knows eventually word is going
to get back to him and then she won't have to do the dirty work of ending things with him.
The next chapter treats us to a
flashback. Oh goody gumdrops. Can a blogger be more fulfilled than
I at this moment?
I don't know how far we're flashing
back. I just know it's the night of “the accident”. Blythe says
this like we should know exactly what she's talking about. She and
Quentin had been at a party. It was raining and he was buzzed at
best, drunk at worst. He was driving too fast, naturally, and ended
up rear-ending another car. Quentin and Blythe were unhurt but the
young girl driving the other car wasn't so lucky.
Quentin's BAC wasn't high enough to
charge him with DUI (so that makes it okay obvi) but he was ticketed
for driving too fast for conditions or some bullsh*t. Everyone at
school felt sorry for him. Then Blythe tells us this:
“The girl in the
other car went to Southwest Enderby County High, fifteen miles away,
so none of us knew her or had to feel sorry for her. She didn't seem
to count much next to Quentin.”
Oh, sure. Why give any thought
to the poor girl lying paralyzed in the hospital bed when the
precious golden boy got a speeding ticket??? He's clearly the
victim here. So what if she never walks again? She goes to
Southwest Enderby County High and no one gives a fuck about them.
They don't deserve to walk. They're FIFTEEN miles away. It's
practically the other end of the earth and who can work up the energy
to care about people on the other end of the earth when Quentin got a
speeding ticket???
So enough of that. Quentin's moved on
so why can't you? Sheesh.
I don't know if it's the next day or
the next year. Harrell gives no fucks about timelines. Blythe goes
out to her repaired car after school one afternoon to find
Windbreaker leaning against it. Only he's not wearing a windbreaker.
He has on sneakers (the wrong brand, Blythe points out), jeans with
a black bandanna tied over one knee (snort), a flannel shirt tied
around his waist and a t-shirt with buttons. This guy is ridiculous.
Blythe finds out that he lives in the big, spooky mansion down the
road from her and that his dad and “partner” (no clue if this
means professionally or sexually or both) are magicians. I picture
Siegfried and Roy. No matter what Harrell tells me from this point forward, I will ALWAYS
picture Siegfried and Roy.
Windbreaker's name is Harry, by
the way.
Another day dawns. Or another week.
Another year? I'm just loving this loose style of Harrell's.
{sarcasm}
Blythe and Quentin have a date for the Sweetheart Dance at
the Yacht Club. I guess he hasn't heard the rumors that she dumped
him yet and she has no intention of cluing him in because she's a
lovely, caring, compassionate person. Yes she is!! Stop rolling
your eyes. They're going to get stuck that way, you know, and then
what will you do? Your entire life will be viewed through your
bangs and it will be your own damn fault for disparaging Blythe like
that. Heartless heathen.
The dance is held by two secret high
school fraternities that absolutely everyone knows about. What? Are
you trying to tell me that the word “secret” doesn't mean that
everyone knows? Really? Surely you're mistaken. Quentin brags that
he got some kind of magic act to fill in the time between the band's
sets and if you don't know where this is leading, then you must be
half-asleep.
Sure enough, when the magic act begins,
Windbreaker is on the stage. Blythe is mesmerized. He pulls scarves
out of his sleeve and a rabbit out of his hat and Blythe is so amazed
that I actually find myself wanting to slap her. She can't get to
the age she is and not know that this is all an illusion. Quentin
feels me and tries to explain it to her but she snaps at him not to
ruin it. At one point, Windbreaker climbs up some stairs that lead
nowhere and Quentin winces because he's scared of heights. Blythe
takes this as evidence of Windbreaker's superiority over Quentin
because we know that people who can go high are just better people
down deep inside. Fuck those scaredy cats who can't climb a ladder.
Their asses should have been naturally selected out of existence by
now. Eventually Windbreaker disappears into thin air and the act is
over.
I really should refer to Windbreaker by
his actual name.
Nah. It's too late now. He's just
Windbreaker and if you can't deal with that, you should exit out of
here post haste. Besides, I hate the name Harry.
Blythe gushes a little afterwards,
telling Quentin that it was super impressive and “no amateur act”.
Blythe, bless your heart. It was EXACTLY an amateur act.
Seriously. You can teach a five year old to do those tricks. She
spies Windbreaker over by the punch and excuses herself to go get a
drink. Quentin doesn't seem to notice or care. Neither does anyone else.
Windbreaker is hot and Blythe suggests
they go out on the terrace to cool off. He immediately lights a
cigarette when they get out there and she's surprised because she
doesn't know anyone who smokes. It's page 36 and Harrell has already
given us underage drinking, driving after drinking, magicians who may
or may not be gay and smoking. Isn't she just hip and down with the
social issues of the day? By page 50 Blythe will probably be
pregnant and hooked on crack.
I keep hoping that Windbreaker is
related somehow to the girl that Quentin paralyzed. Like it's her
boyfriend or brother or someone close to her seeking out revenge on
the ones who ruined her dancing career. I'm actually going to be
pretty amazed if that turns out not to be the case.
Windbreaker and Blythe chat a bit about
nothing at all, make a date for the next night, kiss and then part ways.
Blythe goes back in to Quentin like the cowardly bitch she is and
hopes that the rumor mill will take care of that relationship before
she has to.
Sure enough, word gets back to Quentin
and he's pissed. He waits until they're in the car driving home to
confront her. Blythe finally gets around to telling him that she
wants to see other people. He doesn't react well and starts driving
too fast again. I hope more dancers don't have to get paralyzed just
because Quentin has poor anger management. Selfish asshole.
Quentin chooses not to accept the break
up. First he forgets he's not actually in a Point Horror book and menacingly tells her that no one leaves him. Then he
remembers he's in an Avon book and gets repentant about taking her for granted.
Then he condescendingly tells her that she's going through a phase
like she's a toddler or something. PICK A FUCKING PERSONALITY, QUENTIN. He tells her he'll call the next
day when she's had time to think this through and she tells him not
to bother. Then she spends all the next day waiting for him to call.
Sigh.
Windbreaker comes to pick her up for
their date the next evening. They do the movie and dinner thing and
talk mostly about magic and how Windbreaker is failing Algebra.
Blythe offers to tutor him for $5 an hour. He tells her he needs her
every day because he's seriously flunking. She tells him she works
on Tuesdays but can tutor the other days. Elizabeth comes up and makes a huge deal about how
weird it is to see Blythe with anyone but Quentin. That's about all
that happens. Lots of wasted words in this chapter.
On Monday morning, Blythe's dad leaves
for the base. From there, he will be shipped overseas. Blythe is
used to doing everything around the house, but she's still a little
nervous to be on her own. After school she meets up with Windbreaker
and he confirms their tutoring session. He mentions that they have
tigers at their house but they'll be locked into their own area
before she gets there.
It's totally Siegfried and Roy. Don't
even try to tell me otherwise. I'm sticking my fingers in my ears so
I can't hear you. La la la la la...............
Blythe drives to Windbreaker's house.
She's buzzed into the huge iron gates and drives slowly toward the
three-story mansion. She thinks it looks creepy but well-maintained.
A garage door opens automatically so she drives inside. She's
looking around the garage, which is filled with magic props, when the
door opens and a blonde man with a foreign accent appears. He
doesn't seem too happy to see her but tells her she can wait inside.
The blonde man leads her up to a second floor library and then promptly locks her inside. Blythe tries not to panic and that lasts for about two minutes. She frantically searches through the desk for the key to the door but doesn't find it. She takes a letter opener for a weapon, though. The windows have bars and the fireplace seems sealed. By the time Windbreaker appears, Blythe is pretty agitated. She tells him to take her to her car immediately. Windbreaker apologizes and tells her that Karl (the dad's partner) hadn't been told she was coming to tutor and he thought she was a spy coming to steal his magic act.
Oi.
They go downstairs and Blythe sees him hang up a key with a tiger charm. Windbreaker explains that his dad made the whole place electronic but the first time the power went out, they were screwed so a locksmith came out and made everything in the house open with that one key. I'm sure that won't be important to the story later or anything. {sarcasm}
During the tutoring session, Blythe catches sight of the tigers through the window. They're white.
I'm just sayin'........
The next evening Blythe gets to work to find Windbreaker's dad in the office. His name is Jack and he's a fraud detector for the lab. He exposes people who are using magic to pretend to be psychic. Blythe is surprised when she realizes that Jack drives a motorcycle. Could he be the one who vandalized her car?
At school the next day, Quentin and Windbreaker take turns peeing in circles around Blythe. Windbreaker wins. Or loses. Depending on how much of a prize you think Blythe is. A rando classmate informs Blythe that the girl from the accident that Quentin caused has killed herself.
Before lunch, Blythe hears that Quentin punched Windbreaker in the face. She doesn't believe it at first, but then Windbreaker shows up in the cafeteria with a bandaid on his chin. He doesn't want to talk about it, though, so they talk of other things. He tells Blythe how he used to play hide and seek in the tall grass with the tigers when they were cubs. He keeps using plural pronouns like “we” and “us” but refuses to explain when Blythe asks him who he's talking about. Harrell is doing a lousy job of preserving her "twist" for the end of the book. It's so obvious by now that the dead dancer is Windbreaker's sister.
The next day Quentin doesn't show up for school. Blythe is super concerned about him. Elizabeth thinks it's because Blythe isn't over Quentin at all. Before she goes over to Windbreaker's house to tutor him, Blythe drives by Quentin's house and sees a police car in the driveway. Now she's more worried than ever. She goes to Windbreaker's house and he tells her over the gate speaker to drive slowly because the tigers are out. He meets her in the garage and they go inside. Neither of them seem too into Algebra that afternoon. Blythe is nervous about Quentin and Windbreaker just seems to be in a weird mood.
Suddenly Windbreaker suggests they go outside and meet Snowball and Pixie (the tigers). When they get outside, Windbreaker starts to clean the leaves out the pool. He keeps telling Blythe to go looking for the tigers on her own. She's understandably reluctant. Finally she hears a low growl and a rustle from a nearby bush. She tells Windbreaker that she thinks the tiger is over there. He tells her that it probably has a neighborhood cat and she should go over and chase it away from its prey. AND SHE DOES IT.
This girl gives new meaning to the word dumb, y'all. Those tigers do not know her. They may be gentle with the people who raised them, but she's a stranger. Plus, you NEVER bother an animal when it's eating....or in the process of hunting. Especially an animal that's way bigger than you and has sharper teeth.
Blythe heads over to the bush like an idiot but she's timid and not moving fast enough so Windbreaker heads over as well. They both reach the bush and realize that the tiger is chewing on a human arm. Blythe pushes through the leaves to discover that the arm belongs to a very dead Quentin. An ambulance is called and the police arrive. Blythe is in shock and Windbreaker's dad suggests that she be taken home. As they're leaving, Blythe spots the master key in the grass and picks it up, intending to give it to Windbreaker. She never does.
That night, Blythe sleepwalks. At least that's her explanation for why she wakes up standing in her kitchen with the entire house ransacked and her finger bleeding. She believes she tore the place apart in her sleep because the house is locked up tight and there are no signs of someone else gaining entrance.
Blythe goes in to give her statement at the police station the next morning. When she gets to school, she seeks out Elizabeth because she was distantly related to Quentin and Blythe figures that family has heard the real story by now. Elizabeth says that the evidence shows that Quentin fell trying to climb the fence. The head injury killed him and it was only then that the tigers ate him.
Windbreaker is more concerned for Pixie and Snowball than anything else. He's afraid that someone will shoot them through the fence. Blythe tries to remind herself that he's known and love the tigers all his life and he didn't know Quentin at all. He mentions that his family might move because Jack and Karl like privacy and they're all worried about some lunatic taking revenge on the tigers.
Blythe has a restless night that night. She keeps thinking that she hears someone in the house but no one is there. The next day she gets ready to go to Quentin's funeral. She's amazed that the world is just going on as if nothing has happened. This is a very common feeling of people in mourning and I like the real touch in such a stupid book.
During Quentin's funeral, Blythe remembers something that proves that his death was no accident. He never would have climbed the fence. He was afraid of heights. She decides that Windbreaker murdered Quentin and decides to use that key she kept to search his house for evidence.
She's going to break into a house where she knows two tigers live and often roam freely.
So dumb.
She discovers that a window in the study has been broken and shoddily replaced. She finds Quentin's pocket knife on the floor under the radiator. Before she can do anymore snooping,Windbreaker appears. She tries to play off her B&E by telling him she was there to return the key. He calls her bluff and she blurts out that she knows he murdered Quentin.
So dumb.
Windbreaker says that he didn't mean to kill Quentin that soon. He had planned to make Quentin suffer for a lot longer to make up for what he did to Caroline. As I predicted LONG ago, the girl from the wreck was Windbreaker's sister. Blythe immediately starts telling Windbreaker that she understands why he did it and she won't tell anyone. She tells him that she's going to fly out to her grandmother's and live there until her father comes home from overseas. When he asks where her grandmother lives, she lies and says Washington DC.
Windbreaker isn't as dumb as Blythe and picks up a bookend to do her in once and for all. She throws a book at him and gives him the slip. She's able to outrun him and get to her car. As she races away from the mansion, she thinks she hears a car starting up behind her.
She races through town with Windbreaker and his dad hot on her tail. She's driving her dad's old car that spews oil and the more she pushes the car, the more oil spills. Windbreaker and his dad try unsuccessfully to run her off the road. At one point, they are approaching some kind of cliff with a guardrail. There's a tight turn. Blythe barely makes it, but Windbreaker's car slides on the oil she's leaking and conveniently goes through the guardrail and over the side.
Later that night, Blythe is at Angela's house. Angela's mom insists that Blythe stay there until her father returns home. They find out that Windbreaker's car was retrieved and both he and his father are dead. Karl claims to have known nothing about the matter. The book ends as Blythe cozies up to Quentin's best friend Biff in front of Angela's fire feeling like she's finally not alone anymore.
Final Thoughts: This book sucked. Everyone was awful. I think the only characters I actually liked were Pixie and Snowball even though they never ate Blythe.
No comments:
Post a Comment