Review: Seven Cleopatra Hill

Seven Cleopatra Hill by Justin Holley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow this was absolute chaos and I kinda loved it.

I mean, there is a lot going on. We're stuck in a small town in the middle of a crazy snow storm, the likes of which have not been seen for 30 years. The grand hotel is haunted by ghosts already, but now suddenly something evil is getting about town, shredding people in its wake.

I liked that the ghosts were such a side character in this. Personally I tend to prefer to think of ghosts as mostly benevolent, so their role in this book really interested me. They're a connection between the world of the living and the evil that's currently terrorising that world. There's a fair bit of curiosity about who they are and what they want, but they're not the main focus. I would have loved more about them, though!

The big bad is pretty hard to get a read on, but it seems he's known to a few of the town inhabitants, who have rituals prepared for this kind of event. Only they're all old and useless so things don't really go as planned, leaving a bunch of newcomers in a whole world of trouble. Messy, messy trouble.

The characters were a real mixed bag, but aside from the kids I didn't really take to them. First you've got school teacher, James, and his sex-crazed wife, Vic, who are in town for Vic's romance convention. James is such a classic school teacher dude throughout, which I really appreciated, although he and Vic both flit between cowardly and brave, which was a little jarring. More on that later.

Robbie is the local cop, fairly new to the role, and he has a really tough time believing this is all the work of a mythical monster. If he can't shoot it, it doesn't exist. I did like that about him but he sure did take a lot of frustrating convincing, considering how many people were being slaughtered in unusual ways.

Angela is also a cop and unfortunately something about her just grated. I think because she was so fair-weather. She's recently been through a trauma and it colours her character so completely at the start but then suddenly a new relationship takes front and centre and her life becomes all about that? It was a bit too harsh of a transition for me to properly be on board with it. Aside from that, though, I liked her bravery and ingenuity, and her willingness to listen to people who had useful things to say.

The real stars here are Miles and Janey who have seen some crazy stuff in their meagre years and ain't afraid of no ghosts. They're kids with a wealth of knowledge on all things supernatural and bizarre, and they handle the chaos better than all of the adults combined. Janey has an unfortunate potty mouth, and I personally would have preferred something more mild than the c-bomb, but that's just my own aversion to vulgarity. Janey is the conduit and Miles is the action hero and together they make this story a lot of fun. It also helps ease the tension when things seem to be getting a little too serious because Miles says whatever he's thinking, and he and I apparently think alike.

The story jumps between James and Co at the hotel, and Angela and Co out about town. It gives us a nice contrast between action and history lessons, although this did feel a little messy at times. I did feel there were a lot of moments that were over-told, leaving me a bit detached from it all, but that certainly wasn't the case the whole way through as there were some passages that I really loved. I guess a good example would be the snow - it was constantly mentioned, but I often forgot that permeating cold because the snow itself seemed to bother the characters more than the cold. Living in Australia, I don't have any actual experience with snow storms so I don't think I got to fully appreciate its presence in this story.

There were also times were I felt the action stalled because the author felt the need to defend what he'd written. For example, during the chaos James asks a question then is proud of himself for still being able to ask important questions in the face of danger. I wonder if maybe these thoughts could have somehow been transferred into character development, so that we know how he feels without him having to consider it for us? There's also the constant shifting between bravery and cowardice for both James and Vic, which just got confusing after a while. They take turns in supporting one another, but the constant changing is jarring and after too much repetition becomes a little unbelievable. James is a little whipped at times, and Vic is constantly talking about sex, but then they switch and Vic is scared and James is the solid, dependable man, which is all well and good but it just makes it hard to properly understand these characters. I think maybe they needed to be developed a little more before all the chaos started. Again, I feel that a lot was justified in thoughts instead of by their character. If that makes sense. *nervous laugh*

Overall it was an entertaining story, but I think the characters were undeveloped in favour of grisly action. I do enjoy a bit of grisly action so that wasn't a deal breaker for me, but it did leave me a little detached from a story that otherwise sucked me right in. I think we needed a little more scene-setting and character-building prior to the storm coming in so that we could fully appreciate these people and their trials. Also more similes and feeling to help communicate the atmosphere a little better.

All the same it was a fun, chaotic ride that I thoroughly enjoyed.

With thanks to HA and the author for this group read, it was a fun time!

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