Book Review: Cutter’s Deep by Ronald McGillvray
Title: Cutter’s Deep: Welcome to Hell
Author: Ronald McGillvray
Release date: March 15th, 2023
I’ve had this novel languishing on my Kindle since release date, slowly making its way up through my miles deep TBR, but I knew I wanted to do my best to fit it in by this year’s end. So, when November rolled around, I read chapter one and got it started, making sure my brain would get back to it.
I’ve known Ronald for a few years now and had the pleasure of finally meeting him this past May in Toronto. His ‘Tales from the Parkland’ collection was fantastic, so I was excited going in to see what he’d done in the long format.
What I liked: The story takes place in the odd little town of Cutter’s Deep. According to the mythology of the town, a lumberjack – last name Cutter – seemingly uncovered a way to prosper here in the woods. Through this, he built a pyramid, formed a town and then disappeared. To the average eyes, its simply a ghost town when driving through, seemingly abandoned and run down. But if you’re wearing a special necklace or the town itself wants you to see it, it’ll reveal itself to you.
It’s kind of like the hotel in The Eagles ‘Hotel California.’ You can check out any time you like but you can never leave. Once you’re there, you’re there. And the town is filled with all types of strangeness.
We follow Arlington and Claire. Arlington is a young man who has lived his whole life in Cutter’s Deep. Claire is visiting. And when her parents go missing, she meets Arlington and the two connect. A connection that Arlington never expected, which opens up new feelings within him. This is the basis of the rest of the story. The two working together to get to the bottom of what’s going on, why things are the way they are and if there is any potential for the two of them to leave and live together in the wider world beyond.
The scope of this story is MASSIVE. McGillvray fills it with different societies, groups, creatures and all types of magic and lore. Taken in bit parts it felt a lot like the movies I grew up watching in the 80s felt, or for something a bit more modern, even how True Blood expanded from a simply vampire drama to include all types of creatures.
The ending absolutely leaves the stage open for a second novel. I’m not sure if Ronald is planning a sequel, but taken on face value, it would seem like we’d be getting more, which would allow Ronald to cover even more ground.
What I didn’t like: Two things stuck out to me really. Reading this, I became overwhelmed with just how much was happening. There’s A LOT of directions this goes in and a lot of moving parts. Taken in bite sized chunks it was manageable, but some of the random extra stuff would’ve been nice to have been paired down. I was fascinated by the parking garage sequence, but it never really got explained, and same with the hotel, or really why some were chosen to see the place and others weren’t.
Secondly, the content felt more YA (not a bad thing) than Adult, but the Adult components kind of looped me out of the YA comfort. The writing did change between those areas, with a harder edge for the Adult aspects and a bit more toned down for YA, so at times it felt like I was reading two stories that had been put together into one release.
Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a massive, sprawling, epic horror-fantasy tale that brings you into the middle of nowhere to one of the strangest places you’ll ever visit, look no further.
This one reads like McGillvray had a blast writing it and it’ll be one that’ll suck you in and not let go. Especially if you’re out past midnight and the howling begins.
3.5/5
