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Cross County
When surviving gets this hard, death comes easy...
Cross County's secrets run deep. Settlers first came here hundreds of years ago, taking the land from local tribes sworn to guard its dark secrets. The Cross family now holds the power in the region. When a grisly murderer, hearkening back to a series of killing from years ago, shakes the community, it's up to the local sheriff to get to the bottom of things before it's too late.
Part murder mystery, part supernatural terror, Cross County will appeal to fans of Greg Iles and Patricia Cornell, as well as horror fans who love Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
Cross County's secrets run deep. Settlers first came here hundreds of years ago, taking the land from local tribes sworn to guard its dark secrets. The Cross family now holds the power in the region. When a grisly murderer, hearkening back to a series of killing from years ago, shakes the community, it's up to the local sheriff to get to the bottom of things before it's too late.
Part murder mystery, part supernatural terror, Cross County will appeal to fans of Greg Iles and Patricia Cornell, as well as horror fans who love Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2008
About the author
Tim Waggoner
277 books769 followersTim Waggoner's first novel came out in 2001, and since then, he's published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, Conan the Barbarian, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Grimm, and Transformers, among others, and he's written novelizations for films such as Ti West’s X-Trilogy, Halloween Kills, Terrifier 2 and 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. He’s also the author of the award-winning guide to horror Writing in the Dark. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and he’s been a two-time finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a one-time finalist for the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 5, 2009
I have been wanting to read Tim Waggoner for a while, and I was ecstatic when I happened to be choose to get an ARC copy of his newest book, Cross County, from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. It has been a while since a read a horror novel that was as satisfying at the end as this book.
Cross County is an occult horror that can be compared back to the tapestry of imagination that Lovecraft created with his Cthuhlu Mythos and Dream Cycle. While the book is self contained, the possibilities are open for further exploration. On the back of the ARC, there is a very enticing blurb comparing the story to Fargo and Silence of the Lambs and the characters to have the same quality of Stephen King's. And while I can see the similarities, I have to say that the blurb does a disservice to the unique voice the story and characters have on their own.
The description through out the book was amazing. All the of the characters, major and minor, were distinct and came alive on the page. Waggoner controls the flow of information given to the reader with near perfection. Every time I got a new bit my mind was constantly trying to see if my theories of what was going on were confirmed or became flawed. While not a "whodunnit" by any means, the control of the over all mystery was in synchronistic with the flow of the world development and the supernatural aspect that are so interwoven in the story.
Now, even though I'm sounding like a fan boy, i will say there were a few things that through me as I read. One of them was the huge cast of characters which at some point all become a POV character during the story. It does get a bit confusing at times, especially in the beginning. Speaking of the beginning, I found that the first three chapters were tough to get through. The changing POV was part of it, the other was that I got these feeling like I was missing something. As I read the rest of the book, i found out what it was that i was missing and I really have no idea how Waggoner could have done it any better, but it was still awkward for the very beginning of the book. Finally, I had a really weird experience reading it. Usually a book will be two things for me: 1.) So engrossing I read till I fall asleep and I immediately get back to reading as I wake up or 2.) I read some, put it down, and get back to it when I want to read it. But with Cross County, I found that after chapter three i would get engrossed and fall asleep, but when i woke up, it was like it was just a norma read. When I finally got back to reading I would get engrossed again within six pages, but if that book was ever put down, I didn't have that drive to read like I did when I was reading.
If someone wants an into to modern horror, or a fan of horror wanting something really good, I highly suggest this. I've definitely become a fan of Waggoner from this book
Cross County is an occult horror that can be compared back to the tapestry of imagination that Lovecraft created with his Cthuhlu Mythos and Dream Cycle. While the book is self contained, the possibilities are open for further exploration. On the back of the ARC, there is a very enticing blurb comparing the story to Fargo and Silence of the Lambs and the characters to have the same quality of Stephen King's. And while I can see the similarities, I have to say that the blurb does a disservice to the unique voice the story and characters have on their own.
The description through out the book was amazing. All the of the characters, major and minor, were distinct and came alive on the page. Waggoner controls the flow of information given to the reader with near perfection. Every time I got a new bit my mind was constantly trying to see if my theories of what was going on were confirmed or became flawed. While not a "whodunnit" by any means, the control of the over all mystery was in synchronistic with the flow of the world development and the supernatural aspect that are so interwoven in the story.
Now, even though I'm sounding like a fan boy, i will say there were a few things that through me as I read. One of them was the huge cast of characters which at some point all become a POV character during the story. It does get a bit confusing at times, especially in the beginning. Speaking of the beginning, I found that the first three chapters were tough to get through. The changing POV was part of it, the other was that I got these feeling like I was missing something. As I read the rest of the book, i found out what it was that i was missing and I really have no idea how Waggoner could have done it any better, but it was still awkward for the very beginning of the book. Finally, I had a really weird experience reading it. Usually a book will be two things for me: 1.) So engrossing I read till I fall asleep and I immediately get back to reading as I wake up or 2.) I read some, put it down, and get back to it when I want to read it. But with Cross County, I found that after chapter three i would get engrossed and fall asleep, but when i woke up, it was like it was just a norma read. When I finally got back to reading I would get engrossed again within six pages, but if that book was ever put down, I didn't have that drive to read like I did when I was reading.
If someone wants an into to modern horror, or a fan of horror wanting something really good, I highly suggest this. I've definitely become a fan of Waggoner from this book
January 3, 2017
Cross County is a juxtaposition of horror and mystery, where a young boy's murder starts up an investigation for answers and it goes farther than anyone expected. The murder was done in a style that mimicked a previous serial killer from the county, but that man has been dead for years. Sheriff Talon, a woman, along with her local reporter friend try to find out who the killer is, while at the same time Mr. Cross (I can't remember his first name) has some paranormal skills and is also trying to find out who the killer is and is hiding all the evidence he can. Is it to save face for his family name? Whom the county is named after, and they are very rich. Or is he involved somehow?
The story seems like a mystery, then turns into supernatural, turns back into a standard mystery or crime novel, then heads back into supernatural horror: which turns out to be a lot of fun. The cross family history, the history of the serial killer, and the history of just about everyone involved in this book was very interesting, and Waggoner ties them all together and this little town at the and of the novel.
The way the novel ended was not what I was expecting, and there were plenty of surprises along the way. The book was believable even with some over-the-top supernatural scenes. I felt like I was in some little town in Ohio. I enjoyed this book a lot.
The story seems like a mystery, then turns into supernatural, turns back into a standard mystery or crime novel, then heads back into supernatural horror: which turns out to be a lot of fun. The cross family history, the history of the serial killer, and the history of just about everyone involved in this book was very interesting, and Waggoner ties them all together and this little town at the and of the novel.
The way the novel ended was not what I was expecting, and there were plenty of surprises along the way. The book was believable even with some over-the-top supernatural scenes. I felt like I was in some little town in Ohio. I enjoyed this book a lot.
July 15, 2009
This was the first book I've read by this author. This book really pissed me off, but the first 3/4 or more of the book was entertaining. It crashed and burned when it got all sci-fi on me towards the end, and only got worse until the conclusion. The conclusion was totally absurd. I mean really amazingly lame. ARGH! It had such promise and then the last 1/4 was so awful that it ruined the memory of the whole thing. And what's up with the book being full of typos? I've never seen half that many in a book before. Bottom line - if you like interesting characters, supernatural creatures, and a good mystery, than this book is for you. I couldn't handle the supernatural creatures, so it was not for me.
September 18, 2011
A page-turner; I didn't want to put it down because I was so anxious to find out what was *really* going on in the story. It's a spooky thriller that becomes a supernatural horror tale. The only criticism I have for it is that I wish there was MORE information included. A lot is eventually explained, but I would have liked a bit more of the characters' backgrounds detailed. OTOH, that indicates that I felt drawn to most of the characters, right?[return][return]A prequel would be great!
May 10, 2011
This book was a decent story. It had a lot of twists and turns with the storyline heading into supernatural areas which made it hard to guess what was going to happen. I didn't find the book as engrossing as I had hoped, but it seems like the author set up the characters well to follow up with additional books. I would buy additional books with these characters.
November 27, 2008
This was a really engaging horror novel, with lots of interesting plot twists and turns and especially well-drawn characters. The secondary characters are very well realized with an unusual attention to detail. It has a kind of lousy cover, but is well worth reading.
March 6, 2015
Fun, classic horror novel. Kind of like a horror movie from the eighties. Neat story line but more flash than substance. Still an enjoyable read. The ending hinted at a follow up, I'll have to look into that.
May 19, 2015
3 stars
January 14, 2012
I loved this book. It was really suspenseful and kept me turning the pages. It was pretty amazing.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews