Underground

Underground is the second book I've read by Craig Spector, the first having been To Bury the Dead. Underground is quite different from my first read by Spector because it takes place in the realm of fantasy. I think this helps the reader to take a really good look at just how deeply the roots of racism remain in the United States, and how it completely destroys the lives of everyone touched by even the knowledge, let alone the participation in what goes along with it: torture, rape and killing. He describes well the development of personal empires through the use of slavery as well as the lengths to which its overlords will go in order to protect its continuance. Just as with To Bury the Dead, I was on the edge of my seat as I read quickly in order to get to the point of resolution at the end - or was it? I appreciate it when the author leaves a lot of interpretation up to the reader. I finished Underground a few weeks ago, but the characters stayed with me in the back of my mind as I contemplated their various fates. The bonus we are treated to in Underground is Craig Spector's reach back into history, including even a snapshot of the Black Panther Party. At the point that he used their true history of events to portray one of the characters, Louis, he caught both my attention and appreciation. When an author goes to the trouble of thoroughly researching actual events in order to build believable characters, especially within the context of a fantasy thriller, there is a huge hook and lots of added dimension. I recommend this very interesting read.

Being, in Publisher's Weekly parlance "an aging Gen-Xer", myself, I am greatly impressed on how Spector is able to get the details of my reality so dead on that I trust him implicitly as he moves into compelling historical detail and creates from whole cloth a unique metaphysical evil. Having been a casual fan of THE BRIDGE and LIGHT AT THE END, I've found his writing to be more intense, thanks to a tighter focus. While many novels I've read lately tend to be bloated and meandering, with little pay-off in terms of ideas, this book packs a wallop thanks to tense, sinewy prose and smart handling of racial politics. The book also benefits from an experimental way of handling exposition, "setting the scene" before launching into the drama. He also has a much better sense of drive and pacing than either is earlier work or much of his "competition." I can only imagine these improvements are a product of his screenwriting. Finally, since books should be "about something," it's interesting for a white horror writer to attack the issue of racism and the legacy of slavery in America in such a bold and sophisticated way, while keeping the bulk of the protagonists the white, disaffected males typical of the genre. The "aging Gen-Xers" once made lots of noise about racism and sexism and the like. The '60's radicals have certainly gone the way of the buffalo. Dennis Hopper is a conservative now. As the 35-45 year old set try to reconcile mortgage payments with ideals, it's nice to see a mature yet pulpy book that addresses this tension so eloquently. On a broader note, it's nice to see a writer who's prose or politics have not mellowed, but, instead, have become seemingly more ferocious and passionately felt. Sign me up for the next one.

This is the first book written by Craig Spector that I have read and I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. As I have not read any of his earlier work or any of the collaborations with his previous writing partners I cannot compare them to this well written piece. The use of such a controversial part of history to tell the story of good vs evil was an excellant choice, as was the way all of the characters were introduced and discribed.I read this book over the course of four nights, the last night taking me into the wee small hours of the morning as the soldiers of good took their fight to, and fought their fight in, evils dominion.I was so brought into the story I found it hard to put down even when my eyelids were telling me to. The descriptive way in which Craig Spector wrote this novel is exciting and thrilling urging myself to be on the lookout for more of his work.

In Stillson Beach, Virginia, Justin Van Slyke is on a tour of historical antebellum Custis Manor, a place where black slaves were slaughtered. A vandalism incident enables Justin to wander off on his own. He reaches his destination and dives through a large mirror though his right hand fails to make it through the portal. It is sliced off and left behind. Josh Custis, whose family owns the mansion, sends word to the other three surviving members of the Underground to meet with him in the Church of the Open Door. Caroline Tabb Connolly accompanied by her spouse and daughter, addict Amy Kaplan, and Seth Bryant who left his pregnant wife at home heed Josh's call. Josh explains that Justin went through the portal bringing home the nightmare of what happened in 1983 when seven suburban teens formed the Underground. One of them Simon Baxter tripping on acid tried to slice another Mia Cheever, but Justin stopped him. Mia fell through a mirror portal while Simon bled to death from cuts caused by chards of broken glass. Justin has forced them to act even while the medical examiner cannot understand how a severed hand can have a pulse. This haunted house thriller grips the audience from the moment that Justin splits from the tour to enter the mirror and never slows down until the final altercation with the evil on the other side of the portal. The story line is fast-paced, filled with action, and constantly leave readers with goose bumps. Though the magnificent seven are labeled rather than fully developed with a couple of exceptions, ghost story fans will gladly journey through the portal with the UNDERGROUND. Harriet Klausner