My joints also reacted to the descriptions in this here book. I feel old.

54. The Keeper – Sarah Langan

There is a somewhat obvious comparison to be made when a writer sets a horror novel that encompasses quite a few perspectives in a small town in Maine. That nearly avoided, I really enjoyed Sarah Langan’s debut novel; it’s creepy and weird and bizarre and she created a wholly immersive experience. And, thankfully, I can’t say that she’s used solely stereotypes and cookie cutters to create her female characters, they’re not just there to react either. There are some definitely multi-dimensional, relatively reprehensible ladies doing some things in The Keeper. However, it’s the attention to the environment- how the rain makes the people of the town feel, the smells, that sets Langan apart. Now that I’ve finished three novels of hers, describing the environment in all its mineraly, sulphur-stinking glory seems to be her trademark and it has occasionally made my eyes burn (my allergies have that powerful of an effect on my psyche).

The chocolate-faced Abyssinian about to be eaten by a fake alligator skull is Ozma. She’s from Milwaukee. She and Peregrine almost get along. Lady pigs are awfully complicated and apparently completely unintimidated by fake alligator skulls.