Book Review: Crota by Owl Goingback
Title: Crota
Author: Owl Goingback
Release date: April 17th, 1996
What makes a book a classic book? It’s a question that readers and scholars have pondered and offered answers since the written word was formulated into a story structure and released to the wider public to digest.
I myself am no scholar. Just a simple reader with simple tastes and simpler reviews.
But, if I was asked what I consider makes a book a classic – or soon to be classic in the case of newer releases – I’d suggest the biggest aspect would be staying power or, to use a single word, timelessness. If a book, no matter when it was written or released, can solidly transport you somewhere and, within the scope of WHEN you read it, it doesn’t lose any of its luster, it can be considered a classic. Or, in ‘Crota’s’ case, a modern classic, as it’s just about to turn thirty.
Going in, I’d never read any of Owl’s long fiction, just some of his shorter fiction, but that has all been amazing, and Owl himself has always been one of the kindest folks I’ve ever come across and interacted with. I’ve had ‘Crota’ on my Kindle for some time, but just never got to it, but recently I felt a pull, and knew it was time to dive in, and boy, am I glad I did. This is a modern classic and one that has populated ‘Best Of’ lists since before it won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Debut Novel back in ’96.
What I liked: The novel takes place in a small town, where suddenly livestock is being slaughtered and soon after, some of its residents. The Sheriff, Skip Harding, wants to put a quick end to that, but when he himself has a one-on-one encounter, he knows that this thing isn’t a rogue bear, as has been suspected.
Our other main narrative, is following John Little Hawk. John’s character is what takes this from your standard creature-in-the-woods thriller and transforms this into a complex story. John takes us on a vision quest, and the mix of Indigenous rituals and their approach to, first identifying what it is they’re up against, and second, how to destroy it, was fascinating, and while I cringe to use the term ‘elevate,’ it’s John’s character and story arc that does just that when you compare this to many books that start out with a similar plot.
Along the way, we get some secondary characters that play vital roles, Lloyd, the officer gunning for Skip’s job who won’t believe what Skip saw and leads other officers below to search for the ‘bear,’ and John introduces us to his adopted father, who shows Skip how to connect with his own heritage and how to look past his ‘white man’ view of the situation and use his ancestral senses, which was such a powerful moment.
The Crota itself was a wonderfully frightening creation, and Goingback used the Devil’s Boot location perfectly, to have the humans have to confront it on unfamiliar ground.
There’s a very powerful, emotional ending to the novel, which was such a heartwarming aspect that seemingly came out of nowhere and I loved that it ended on such a high note.
What I didn’t like: It’s hard to pick out anything that I noticed when reading such a wonderfully crafted novel, but if I was forced to say something, I’d suggest that the end battle between Crota and humans suffered from the standard plot structure of long lead up with a shorter climax. With how devastating the beast had been, I’d have loved to see a longer battle, especially seeing how much Skip went through to get to that point, but on the flip side, in nature, most battles are explosive, violent and over quickly. If you’ve never seen two bears fight in the wild, go find a Youtube video. It’s a three to five minute experience that’ll never leave your head.
Why you should buy this: Well, I very well might be one of the last horror readers in the world to read ‘Crota,’ but if there are others out there who haven’t, don’t sleep on this modern classic (there I said it!). The pacing is wonderful, the narratives weave together so nicely and Owl’s command of each character is masterful. Such a phenomenal novel, and one that I took far too long to read.
5/5
