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pinkiepie81's review against another edition
it was okay. not really my cup of tea.
charshorrorcorner's review
5.0
4.5/5 stars!
A beautifully written and touching story of what happens when the dead of the town of Merridale are suddenly visible and blue. They're visible in the places in which they died or in the places that meant the most to them when they were alive. At first, people are freaked out, (wouldn't you be?), but then they get used to it. Well, some do and some don't.
The characters in this story are well drawn and believable. This is a story about guilt, and about making the most of the short time that we have here on earth, among other things.
I'd classify this as a quiet horror tale, not too many bloody, ugly scenes and that's the type of horror I prefer these days-the quiet, atmospheric, and psychological kind. This book just hit all the right notes with me. Bravo!
Highly recommended!
You can get a Kindle copy here for only $2.99!: https://www.amazon.com/Ash-Wednesday-Chet-Williamson-ebook/dp/B003WEAJ70/chashorcor-20
A beautifully written and touching story of what happens when the dead of the town of Merridale are suddenly visible and blue. They're visible in the places in which they died or in the places that meant the most to them when they were alive. At first, people are freaked out, (wouldn't you be?), but then they get used to it. Well, some do and some don't.
The characters in this story are well drawn and believable. This is a story about guilt, and about making the most of the short time that we have here on earth, among other things.
I'd classify this as a quiet horror tale, not too many bloody, ugly scenes and that's the type of horror I prefer these days-the quiet, atmospheric, and psychological kind. This book just hit all the right notes with me. Bravo!
Highly recommended!
You can get a Kindle copy here for only $2.99!: https://www.amazon.com/Ash-Wednesday-Chet-Williamson-ebook/dp/B003WEAJ70/chashorcor-20
mikekaz's review
5.0
Death. This novel is about death. Not just what happens after but how death affects the living, the before. This shouldn't be anything surprising though considering the story is about the dead returning as ghosts.
Specifically, overnight the town of Merridale has semi-transparent blue apparitions appear; these are 3D snapshots of the last moment of the dead. Sometimes appearing at their place of death; sometimes they are at someplace important to their lives. And while the dead don't cause any physical harm, the mental fatigue is significant. Jim Callender who lost his son in a school bus accident sinks into a guilty depression; Brad Meyers who lost his son in the same accident has his rage go from a simmer to a boil. Some come back to try to get closure while others run to get away from what they fear. Either way, the spirits have a lasting affect on the town.
Getting back to death though, while near the end of the book Williamson does an excellent job of dwelling on the impact of death, the point him me much sooner. Jim was telling his back story and what happened to Terry, his son. I was actually thinking that the novel was moving slow, that for a novel about ghosts returning to town as blue, hovering spirits that we were spending very little time on those ghosts. Then Jim's story sunk into me and I was floored. The book turned from a slow moving story to something that left me wondering and thinking and near tears. That was the point where I realized that the characters were complex with good and bad, that they had their issues to work through, that they were real. From that point on, I could hardly put the book down. Not because it was a page-turner full of excitement but because I had to know what was going to happen. I had to know how people were going to deal with the impact of the ghosts. Needless to say, the book is highly recommended.
Specifically, overnight the town of Merridale has semi-transparent blue apparitions appear; these are 3D snapshots of the last moment of the dead. Sometimes appearing at their place of death; sometimes they are at someplace important to their lives. And while the dead don't cause any physical harm, the mental fatigue is significant. Jim Callender who lost his son in a school bus accident sinks into a guilty depression; Brad Meyers who lost his son in the same accident has his rage go from a simmer to a boil. Some come back to try to get closure while others run to get away from what they fear. Either way, the spirits have a lasting affect on the town.
Getting back to death though, while near the end of the book Williamson does an excellent job of dwelling on the impact of death, the point him me much sooner. Jim was telling his back story and what happened to Terry, his son. I was actually thinking that the novel was moving slow, that for a novel about ghosts returning to town as blue, hovering spirits that we were spending very little time on those ghosts. Then Jim's story sunk into me and I was floored. The book turned from a slow moving story to something that left me wondering and thinking and near tears. That was the point where I realized that the characters were complex with good and bad, that they had their issues to work through, that they were real. From that point on, I could hardly put the book down. Not because it was a page-turner full of excitement but because I had to know what was going to happen. I had to know how people were going to deal with the impact of the ghosts. Needless to say, the book is highly recommended.
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