It’s no secret that I have Opinions about assembly-line books. You know the kind, devised by old white men sitting around a board table.
“What do the kids these days want? Rich, naughty Upper East Side school girls! Rich, naughty Upper East Side school girls who are also vampires! Rich, naughty Upper East school girls from the nineteenth century! Yes!”
The old white men agree that this is what kids today want, and then an editor writes up an outline and sends it off to a starving writer who is desperate to be published.
It makes me cry. I have this whole concept of the-writer-as-artist in my mind, of the book as a baby borne of its author’s imagination and ink, and I suppose that’s old-fashioned.
But the worst part is … sometimes these books end up being good. Case in point, Simon Holt’s The DeVouring.
Well, the novel is ostensibly by someone called Simon Holt. The copyright is owned by Star Farm Productions, a Chicago-based company that “creates and develops branded entertainment properties,” according to its own website.
… So the novel may have come from a farm. But it’s got heart anyway. And so I’m forced to set aside my Opinions — which have been proven wrong again and again — and tell you about this chilling tome.
Yes. For the first time (to my knowledge, at least), we have an assembly-line horror novel, about spirits that suck out your soul and turn you into a demonic entity. Our heroine Reggie, a fourteen-year-old horror buff, discovers the Vours when she picks up an old diary at the second-hand bookshop where she works. Reggie begins reading the story of these spirits — who feed on fear and attack once a year — to her younger brother Henry. But he’s so disturbed by the story that she stops.
And then, of course, he becomes the Vours’ next victim. So Reggie, accompanied by her best friend Aaron (also a horror buff), sets out to De-Vour her younger brother.
I swear, the night I read this book for the first time, I couldn’t go to sleep. And the night I read it again, I couldn’t get to sleep either. I myself have read very little horror, but this tale was chock full of terrors. Clowns, for example. Very, very scary clowns.
I really hate clowns.
Ahem. To sum things up: I have to recommend The DeVouring. In fact, I recommend you buy it and save it for the Winter Solstice (known in this novel as Sorry Night), and read it then.
I read this book not too long ago, and I had no idea it was written as an assembly-line book. Of course, this explains why I couldn’t find anything at all about the author online. I really enjoyed the book and I’m glad you did as well.
Also, do they have to be old, white men? Why can’t there be women involved too? Or even young white men? lol
BC, you know that was a metaphor. I’m sure there are even young women involved. But old white men hold all the power.
But really, what I’m saying here is that perhaps my prejudice is not quite fair. Because obviously these novels can be and often are very good.
I am so happy to finally see a review for this book somewhere! I have been sitting on the fence about buying it since I first saw it in the store the day after it came out. I have issues with spending the money on a hard cover book if I am not sure that it will be 200% worth it. It has intrigued me since I read the cover flap and saw the cover itself, but I didn’t know what I should do about it.
Though, I am not a huge fan of scary clowns.
BUT, I might just pick this up and read it on the Winter Solstice though like you suggested, sounds like a fun idea.
I’m so glad you reviewed this — I’d been on the fence about reading it (I have an ARC) for the very same reason you mentioned.
I bought the book because of the cover and the title’s wordplay. This was so full of exceptional imagery…the similes were fantastic! I could feel what was happening; could see everything in such vivid detail–I absolutely love the style. The idea for the novel (way to go Mark Allen Smith) proved more entertaining than I had hoped. (This novel was just supposed to help postpone grading papers and now I want another one…as long as it’s written as well as this one was.)
Alrighty then. I also own the book, and what a great buy it was. I thought’d it be one of those sappy idiotic, terrible ideas for a novel type of deal. And like you, I thought wrong. This book is amazingly written. And I honestly wish the people I see everyday in school with their noses buried in their ‘Twilight’ books can see the greatness of this novel. It shows such a great image of what’s happening at any given moment, and it grabs you, holds you, then makes you crap your pants. This book was scary. Genuinely scary. Also like you, the first couple nights I was reading it, I was just… Gah. Terrified by all means. It’s not very often I pick up a book, with mediocre thoughts on it, and actually find it not only to be good, but make me shiver when I’m in a dark room.
I recommend this book to anyone who has a brain. :]
i dont really understand what you mean by ‘assembly line books’. do you mean like a ghost writer? because i’ve also been trying to find out more info on the author but theres nothing at all:(
simon holt used to blog on his preupdated devouring site