Review: Usher's Passing

Usher's Passing by Robert R. McCammon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I STILL HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Great read, though.

Unsurprisingly, this book draws its influence from Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. A while back, a friend introduced me to Bradbury's Usher II and I fell down the Usher/Poe rabbit hole and ended up here. So I was very much looking forward to this one.

This novel creates an entire history for the Usher clan and fills it with mystery and intrigue with a decent dose of horror to wash it all down. I was captured from the beginning - particularly with the way it threw out so many questions that needed to be answered.

We begin the tale with Rix Usher returning to Usherland at the news his father is dying. Naturally, the place is super spooky, surrounded by secrets and superstition. Walen Usher's imminent death means everything must be passed on to one of his three children - Boone, Katt, or Rix. But strange things are happening around Usherland: children going missing, a murderous panther is rumoured to lurk, and then there's the mysterious Pumpkin Man. But how does it all tie in to the Usher family?

Honestly, there is so much to unravel. I loved how there were so many different elements to the story, and I kept wondering how everything was going to come together. There are little tidbits about the previous generations of Ushers, too, so it's interesting trying to puzzle out the secret history of the family. I really could have used a family tree, though.

I was quite interested in the history, and really wanted more of it. Erik Usher was a fascinating character and I wanted to know everything about him, Nora, and the rest of their generation.

The pace was quite enjoyable as it set things up really well to begin with then slowly kept upping the stakes and increasing the tension. You get to know the characters a little at a time and, well, they're all kind of despicable. I think New was the only one I actually halfway liked.

I do feel like I missed a few things, which meant by the time I finished it I really was still left with things I wanted to know more about. I felt like some things still weren't explained properly, and other things were neglected. This may have also been because I was switching between reading and audio, though.

On that note, the audio is pretty terrible. I liked that it meant I was more likely to pick it up (I'm notoriously slow with e-books) but it also meant I missed things when I got distracted, and also the voices get so ridiculous that it saps most of the terror from the story. Plus, the narrator just seemed to read the story differently to me. I would describe the narration as the film version of Dumbledore asking Harry if he put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Just a totally different vibe to what the words on the page give.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, and how tangled it all was, but I really wanted to know more. I'd be tempted to read it again just to see if I pick up any extra info. I also would have enjoyed more reference to Roderick, Madeline, and the events of Poe's tale. That really would have tied it all together nicely for me.

Thanks to my friends over at HA for the Buddy Read :)

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