Originally published on hobby blog on 18 May 2018
Spoilers be ahead
When you are known as a bookworm in the family, you can generally expect well-meaning family members to buy you books, even if they don’t know what books you actually like. As was the case when my aunt when she went out east and picked up Terror in the Highlands. Then again, this should have been a book I enjoyed. I’ve only been out to Nova Scotia once when I was young, and I’ll unashamedly admit to being a fan of Stephen King. If I were to judge this book by the cover, this very much would be a book I should have liked. The book is not afraid to say it’s set in Canada, there are plenty of nature elements in it, as well as a diverse group of characters to get to know.
The plot is simple enough, and in the right hands I think it could have had a lot of potential. The protagonist, Harry Morgan, and his family are going on vacation back to Morgan’s place of birth, Cape Breton Island. However, there is trouble in the idyllic community of Iverness, as they are under attack by a monstrous creature with only their wits to try to stop it.
The book is a light read, good for something to relax with. However, I really couldn’t enjoy the book because of several grammar mistakes and spelling errors throughout. I don’t mind seeing that type of thing on blogs or social media because they’re not professionally published products, but they were very distracting here. I’m not sure if Eagles had an editor, as it was self-published, but if he did, that editor should be fired.
My issues with this book boil down to one simple thing. This book does not follow the #1 rule of the writer: show, don’t tell. I believe there are ways to break the writing rules to the benefit of the prose, but it doesn’t happen here. The book does a lot of talking, but not a lot of describing. For example, when the Morgan family first arrive in Cape Breton, it is a return home for Harry, and the first time his wife and two children have ever been there. They are all taken aback by the beauty of the place as they travel along the Cabot Trail. Normally, this would be a great time to set the mood. Talk about the lush forest surrounding the road, the breathtaking view of the ocean while driving cliff-side, the feeling of awe the children might have from seeing the ocean for the first time, etc. How Eagles goes about doing this is just having the family members exclaim the view’s beauty over and over again through dialogue. The book mentions landmarks like Inverness, Cape Smokey, and Kelley’s Mountain, but those mean nothing unless you know them. Cape Breton isn’t like New York City or Mt. Everest, it isn’t an iconic place that everybody is going to know. You can say Nova Scotia is pretty as much as you like, but it means nothing if you don’t describe how it is pretty.
My trip to the Martimes, even though I haven’t gone since I was 11, has stuck with me since then. The first time I saw the expansiveness of the ocean and tasted the salt of the water was almost too much for my pre-teen sense to handle. The power of the tides I witnessed at Hopewell Rocks (yes I know that’s in New Brunswick) was slightly terrifying as I realize the force of the water that had shaped the odd rock formations. I still can remember the taste of fresh haddock I had at a little diner. I never thought I would describe fish as fluffy, but that’s the only way I could describe it. The thing I most remember however, is the unearthliness of the fog over Peggy’s Cove. I could hear the beating of the waves against the rocks, but couldn’t see them.
The point of my tangent is to show that Nova Scotia is a great place is write about. While Lynn Coady’s Strange Heaven doesn’t really talk about the landscape of Nova Scotia, she showcases the small cast of colourful characters well. They cuss, they have odd hobbies and fixations, they show love through a multitude of different ways. While my experience in Nova Scotia was short, I remember the locals being friendly, hard-working people, and they are set on this beautiful backdrop while still being at the mercy of the tides and fog. I could imagine Nova Scotia to be a great place to set a thriller or horror story.
I have a hard time calling this book a horror or a thriller. The monster is revealed within the first few chapters. That doesn’t leave room for much build-up. The human mind is its worst enemy: no matter how talented a writer is, the reader will be able to concoct something even more terrifying in their own mind if you give them the chance to, but readers aren’t given that chance here. Also, characters that get hurt or killed by the monster aren’t important to the plot and have usually not been “on screen” long enough to build up a connection with.
There’s a lot of subplots that don’t go anywhere in particular. The book mentions the people of Sydney dealing with birth defects, cats and dogs with deformities and an increase in cancer due to the pollution caused by the Sydney Steel corporation’s tar ponds, where one can easily make the connection that that is the monster’s origins, but nothing further is done with it. Likewise, characters like Benny Hill and Joe Little Crow are talked up to be excellent hunters and protectors, and Little Crow especially is given several pages of backstory about how he moved from the states after beating up some guys for harassing a first nations girl, but it all feels unnecessary because they don’t have much role in the story. Characters feel less like people and more like cogs in a greater machine, moving it along. Terry Hall in particular is an interesting display in characterization. He’s a scientist from the University of Toronto, and seems to be an asshole just to be an asshole. He’s trying to research the creature while keeping it all hush-hush, not giving the townspeople any information they might use to protect themselves Anyone who is genre-savvy won’t be surprised by his death, but it’s not satisfying either, because we never learn his motivations or his reasons for acting superior.
Reading all this, it feels I’ve ripped Terror in the Highlands a new one, but this is mainly from a writing standpoint. Time and time again, I’ve been shown that a book doesn’t have to be especially well written in order to be enjoyable. Just look at the Twilight series for instance (low blow I know). As a teenager I loved the series because it was the first time I’d read something that was so unashamedly for a teen girl. It played into my shallow wants of having hot guys be at my beck and call and to feel I was special even though I was an average girl. I think what Terror in the Highlands offers is somewhat similar. You’re not reading this prose for its art or poetry, but for the journey. I personally didn’t get anything out of that journey due to the lack of build-up and bland characters, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a good book to read to pass that time without have your brain challenged. It’s alright to be a what I call “pop-corn book,” but this time, I just found it too buttery.
Some Quick Stacks:
Author: Richard G. Eagles, Sr.
Published: 1 June 2016, Tellwell
Pages: 170