lassic. Haunting. Blood-tingling. The plot is intricate, quick-witted, and familiar. Gripping you from the first page, Golden lures you in using your morbid fascination and empathy against you. And that’s just the first chapter. Following the two main characters on their journey to find closure and rediscover each other, you soon learn that sometimes what you leave behind doesn’t always stay there. Dipping into myth, legend and spirituality, this story will test your ability to hope, and courage to face what scares you most. I loved it! The pace in the book is measured out evenly, but substantially. The suspense is constantly building, gathering speed as the events unfold. The atmosphere is instilled with the smell of brimstone and decomposed flesh. The setting is precise, defining the backdrop without weighing the book down. A skill that even King could learn from. Golden’s style of writing is brisk, plainspoken, and prosaic. Keeping it simple, he narrates with intimacy in mind and mischief in his intent. In other words, he’s going to scare the hell out of you, but he'll always be near in case it becomes too much. The characters are common, boring even, in their history and day-to-day activities. There is nothing that makes any one of them interesting and yet, their behavior and reactions make them unique. The players are average upon first glance, but it’s their personality – their strength that makes you root for them. Here is another talent of Golden’s that I absolutely love; although you may not personally understand what they have been through, their courage and determination manage to inspire. Also, take note all you men out there, here is a man who gets us! Golden knows how to write interesting women without turning us into mindless sex kittens. Halleluiah!!!! -As posted on Horror-Web
What strikes me most about this book is that the author has a wonderful way with words. From the first page I was struck by his use of language, his deep and riveting descriptions, the almost poetic way he allows events to unfold. That alone makes a book worth reading to some extent.The story was solid, but not ground-breaking. I would put him a slight notch above most of Dean Koontz's plots (Odd Thomas excluded), and a couple of notches below Mr. King. It's an interesting and compelling read, but it's not "spine-tingling", it certainly won't give you bad dreams and the tension is, in the end, resolved a little too easily with too little cost for my tastes. However, I wouldn't advise you to avoid it. Just know what you're getting. It's an airport giftshop book--something to pass the time enjoyably, but nothing more.
What do You think about The Ferryman (2002)?
This was not at all what I'd expected. It was like watching a made for Lifetime t.v. "supernatural" love story.. It was nothing but a big tease. "Charon" fell (gasp) in love with one of the main characters and was out to destroy anyone that stood in it's way of.. geeze, "love". I managed to give it 200 pages.. More than it deserved but my rule is at least 200 before I judge.
—Sylvia Marquez
A perfectly haunting tale of “The” boatman of the river Styx; which makes you never look at water the same way again. Chris’ superb story telling carried me along, like the flow of the Styx, to place fill with danger and suspense. The tale was not too bloody or gory, as is so many horror tales today, but had just the right mix of suspense, mystery and plan old fashion fear that left me wanting more and more. I look forward to being scared again!
—Christopher Obert
Didn't feel like the back actually told what the book was like at all. Character development was...ok. Storyline was...meh. Parts would be building, building, then completely drop off. We find out about this person or that situation, then it was almost as if he completely forgot where he was going with it. The most interesting part happened in the last few chapters, but even at that it felt just as disjointed as the rest of the book. I feel as if the tense moments could have been built upon a whole lot better, the characters could have been built better, etc.
—Ashley
