The pacing of this book alone makes it worth the read. It's a master's class in how to write a page-turner. You are drawn in gradually to the life of a sleepy New England town, its beauty and ugliness, its routines and its scandals. By the time you've gotten a feel for the characters, evil has insinuated itself into the fabric of the community, and its spread is quick like red dye on a white sheet.There are moments of true terror in these pages that cause delightful shivers. I think the altogether modern and normal setting established in the first few chapters makes the supernatural evil even more scary. You feel the shock the characters feel, the shock of discovering the unthinkable must be true. And there are truly blood-chilling scenes, mostly involving windows, but one particularly electric vigil in a mortuary. Stephen King updates Bram Stoker effectively. My only complaint is that, after it's all over, the book seems slight - after being compelled to read through the second half in one white-knuckled sitting, you're left wanting more.
Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 blood-chilling scenes
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