The Harrowing
by Alexandra Sokoloff
St. Martin's Press
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Reviewed by Mayra Calvani
The Breakfast Club meets The Shinning in this engrossing, hard-to-put-down novel that will give you a fair amount of chills and shivers on those dark rainy days.
It's Thanksgiving break at Baird College and most students are getting ready to visit their families. But this is not the case with Robin Stone; she'd much rather stay alone in the silent, creepy, one-hundred-year-old residence hall and kill herself. However, right before taking her own life, she discovers she's not alone. A few other students have chosen to stay as well--handsome football player Patrick, beautiful tease Lisa, eccentric Martin, and brooding musician Cain.
In spite of all their differences and initial antagonism, a mutual rapport soon emerges as they begin playing with an old Ouija board from the 1920s...and discover that there's an invisible sixth presence among them. Who is this being--and what does it want? Is it benign or malevolent? Could it be the product of their own twisted and collective subconscious?
The author maintains a quick pace and the various characters are each distinct and interesting. The desolate college campus, gothic halls, and relentless storm create a deep sense of creepiness and menace, and serve as an ominous backdrop for the story.
Although the last quarter of the book is somewhat predictable, lacks some originality, and doesn't do justice to the beginning and middle--which were deliciously woven with elements of Jungian psychology--The Harrowing is still the perfect novel to be read this fall while cuddling in a cozy armchair by the fire.
Armchair Interviews says: A cozy armchair to read in, hmmmm, sounds good.