When I went to get this book from Barnes & Noble, I found it arrayed with all Wellington's other books on a riser on the New Paperback table in the middle of the main aisle. Seeing them all together like that, and given so much coveted prominent real-estate in such a gargantuan retail chain, it really drove home to me that Wellington is no longer a promising up-and-comer, but is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the most solid brands on the horror market.If tonight's premiere of Walking Dead on AMC stirs your interest in zombies, I'd highly recommend Wellington's zombie trilogy:
If you need a break from sexy vampires, he's got your unsexy ones right here:
And if you're looking for some wintry monster fare to carry you into the post-Halloween horror season, start with werewolf novel Frostbite and continue with this sequel.
Apart from strong general storytelling and character work, Wellington brings a few special angles to the table. Where the monsters are concerned, he has a knack for refocusing on certain aspects, turning up quirky related details through painstaking research, and then deftly working those details into the story in a way that makes his reinterpretations and extrapolations seem unexpectedly natural and continuous with established lore. Thus, his monsters come across as fresh and provocative, while yet remaining conventional enough to satisfy a purist (and I do count myself as one).
Werewolves, for example, are almost never depicted as turning into wolves, pure and simple. Even when they're more canine than anthropomorphic, they're fearsomely exaggerated. When this is addressed at all, it's usually just chalked up to the werewolf's malevolently supernatural quality. Wellington, though, goes the extra mile in Frostbite, and roots their more frightful appearance in something still magical, but with an unexpected basis in reality:
The curse was cast ten thousand years ago, right at the end of the last ice age. There were timber wolves here then, but they were smaller and not so fearsome. The shamans who created this curse wanted to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies, really mess with them. So they picked an animal they knew would scare anyone--the dire wolf. They had huge teeth for crunching bones and enormous paws for walking on top of snow. That made them look like monsters to your average Paleo-Indian. Dire wolves are extinct now, but in their day they used to bring down woolly mammoths and giant sloths. They were tough sons-of-guns, see? Everything was bigger back then. And nastier.In Overwinter, he delivers a stunning twist on the silver motif, that is based in a real phenomenon, makes the mental image of one character especially vivid, and lends itself to further narrative-propelling twists as the characters are forced to deal with it--and some do, quite cleverly.
Wellington's other chief strong point is the meticulous research and careful thought he puts into the confrontation between ancient horrors and modern institutions. How would FEMA deal with a zombie apocalypse? How would 21st century law-enforcement deal with vampires? How would BP and the Canadian government clear werewolves off a tundra so drilling could commence? I'm not qualified to say whether he gets it all completely right or not, but my impression is that he really sweats the all the bureaucratic, operational, technological, etc. details where such institutions are concerned, and it lends them a verisimilitudinous texture I've rarely encountered outside of Tom Clancy novels.
I'm trying not to say too much about Overwinter, because you really should read Frostbite first. But for more summary-based reviews, see Bookgasm and Famous Monsters.
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