Part social commentary, part dark comedy, Ramsey Campbell’s 2006 publication of Secret Story is mostly just a good old-fashioned page turning thriller about creepy adult children and their absentee fathers and oblivious and enabling mothers. Let’s get one thing straight; Dudley Smith is not Dexter Morgan from Jeff Lindsay’s fabulous novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter. No one but a fellow sociopath is going to root for Dudley to get away with his murders, because he is a sociopath in the truest sense. He lived his life cocooned in his own self-absorbed world. The people around him are there only to reflex his superiority in all things. Dudley is smarter, more talented, and generally just better than anyone. This belief is fostered by his self deluded mother. Dudley can do no wrong in her eyes. His misogyny knows no bounds. All women are potential victims and any perceived slight is enough to get his murderous juices flowing. Of course the irony of it is Dudley is not smarter, and is not even a good author because he is unable to create a fictional story and is able to write only after killing someone.The social commentary in this novel is this. When Dudley Smith writes a short story about a subway murder, that mirrors the tragic “slip and fall” death of a young actress several years earlier. We get to see the spectacle of social media, and exploitation of tragedies by Medias. But these are minor points. The true skill of this novel is how Mr. Campbell managed to write both a page turner and a slow burn thriller at the same time.Secret Story builds and builds on Dudley’s anxiety. We as the reader know that Patricia, the reporter doing an article on Dudley for a local magazine is going to his next victim, but Campbell’s pacing is the slow build-up to the actual abduction which does not occur until page 257 of the 400 page novel. And yet the sort chapters lend themselves to a quick pacing of the scenes. I’m not sure if the manners of the deaths in the end were meant to be ironic but that is how I took it. And that is how this novel ends, with dark irony.
Has enough dreaded creep to it to fill a half-dozen books, but its plodding (not in a bad way) and unrelenting story telling can make it rough to read through it bit...by...bit. A serial killer whose secret writings are sent into a contest by his overbearingly zealous mother goes from being terrified by his predicament to delighting in the fame he is sure he deserves. He starts being drawn to a woman assigned to work with him. Where other (and in his mind, lesser, I am sure) men would get flirty and/or shy, he begins to plot how he can add her to his list of "stories". Campbell reaches the top of his game as he describes Dudley's breakdown from the inside. Looking at the victim that he has taped up, covering her entire face, he blames the victim for not looking human enough. Little frustratingly accurate insights like that can make this a hard book to read, as can the slow as molasses nature of the ending, but it is worth it if Campbell and/or serial killer books are your thing.
What do You think about Secret Story (2007)?
Ramsey Campbell has a unique ability to write very compellingly about a naturally despicable character. The protagonist of the book is Dudley Smith, he's sort of like an anti-Dexter. He's neither clever nor interesting by himself, he lacks imagination or a moral code, yet I enjoyed reading a 398 page book about him, which is a credit to author. There is quite a bit of very dark humor in the book as well. It reminded me a lot of Overnight, another recent Campbell book, oddly compelling despite tedious characters.It's grotesque yet entertaining and I liked it, it's a 3.5 star read for me easily, though recommending it would be a different story.
—Bandit
