Book Review: The Backwoods

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Backwoods     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Edward Lee
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Mystery   Horror   Thriller   Adult Content
Cemetery Dance, 2005, $40.00

Forty something DC attorney Patricia White takes a leave of absence from her job, leaving her spouse Bryan behind, to return to her hometown of Agan’s Point to comfort her sister, Judy, whose husband, Dwayne Parker was brutally murdered there. Patricia feels pretty good for her sibling as she always felt Dwayne was a crappy person and Judy deserved better. She also has bad memories of the quaint Chesapeake Bay town where as a teen she was raped by an unknown attacker, but her dad blamed her.

It has been five years since she last returned to these BACKWOODS and nothing has changed as Patricia’s first action is to puke as nightmarish memories of when she was sixteen and the assault flood her mind. However, she soon finds the town has other dangers with corpses missing body parts and children vanishing. Passion has hit Agan’s Point with erotic tendencies coming out into the open, but even as Patricia finds the lure difficult to resist especially with her seventh grade boyfriend Goober, she wonders if fervor means brutal homicide by a shadowy malevolence.

For most of the tale readers will wonder whether the evil is psychological or supernatural as fans will consider an avarice developer behind the murders, but then ponder the out of control sexual needs of for instance normally sedate Patricia. The story line is fast-paced as dark murky secrets begin to see the light as lust grips the townsfolk. Not for everyone as there are some graphic moments when the corpse count grows, Edward Lee paints a nightmarish town where evil reigns.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner