Our narrator is teenage Melanie, and her family (mom, dad, little brother) is piling into a bathroom to wait out a tornado warning. The twister and a fallen tree decimate the house in a manner that traps the foursome in the bathroom together with no ability to escape. That’s the setup. The novel takes place in the john with no food but plenty of running water.
Much of the paperback consists of watching this dysfunctional family fight and interact with cruelty to one another. Ravaged by hunger and board games, nerves begin to fray. Also, dad is a straight-up asshole. You need to be comfortable with twisted family dynamics and a failing marriage narrative told from the eyes of a teenage child. The author certainly meant this to be a reflection on the COVID lockdowns happening shortly before publication.
Over time, it becomes clear that whatever is happening outside in the world is far more insidious and dangerous than repairable storm wreckage. The reader is only provided with clues, but the uncertainty and speculation reminded me of Stephen King’s The Mist. The few encounters with the outside world also serve as the novel’s most terrifying, and highly-effective, moments.
Meanwhile, Mel has a secret and a plausible theory about what caused all this to happen, and it ain’t a simple tornado. This storyline is delivered in small bites throughout the book until a fuller - but incomplete - explanation is provided. Leave it at that.
There were parts of this novel I loved (the horror) and parts I hated (bickering family dynamics), but I was never bored. Booth is clearly a talented author, and the paperback’s film adaptation looks intriguing. The paperback is 162 big-font pages, so it was short enough to never overstay its welcome during my spooky season horror novel binge. This is not a masterpiece, but a solid choice for a few great scares. Get the book HERE.
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