Highway Twenty is Monster Goodness
I am always open for a good monster invasion story. The more horror I read the more I realize the things I like and the things I love. There is a lot of stuff that I like: ghosts, demons, the devil, evil strangers and reality based horror are all things that I like to see in books I read. But then there are the things that I love to read about. The things that make me fall in love with a book before I’m even halfway through it. Historical horror is one of those things, I have always loved it and I always will. Monster stories are right up there alongside historical horror as an absolute favorite. There can be all kinds of monsters, larger than life monsters are always good but lots of human-sized monsters are just as good.
Highway Twenty by Michael J Moore, is a good old fashioned monster story with a twist and, naturally, I loved it. Not everyone can see the monsters in this story, but our main character, Conor Mitchell, can and that’s really all that matters. Other than the monsters, this novel has its protagonist Conor to make it very good. Conor is written perfectly in my opinion and it makes the story that much more believable. Once you start reading about Conor, you buy into him as a person and you want to root for him no matter what happens to him, and it takes the novel to the next level.
Conor’s girlfriend and then his dog go missing and that is when he starts to realize something is wrong. On his way to work one morning he witnesses an assault, possibly a murder. Conor is a good guy and does the right thing and alerts the police even though he’s not sure if he should. When he returns with the police to the scene of the assault, there is no evidence it happened. Conor starts to think he’s losing his mind. But his police report only makes matters worse for him because the monsters that have taken control of most of the town of Sedrow Woolley are now after Conor.
There are multiple story-lines running through this book at all times and we get the story from every point of view but it always comes back to Conor and his struggle against the monsters that have taken over his life. One scene in particular, involving a group of elementary aged school kids is both terrifying and inspiring and is incredibly well written. In this book Moore is a master of continuing to up the ante and raise the stakes higher and higher as you read.
What starts out as a story affecting just Conor and those around him, turns into something much bigger and more sinister that I thought at the beginning of the book. While Moore does a great job creating his protagonist, he also creates some strong, horrific monsters and the reader is positive at many points throughout the book that there is no way Conor will be able to take them all on by himself. This is a great fast-paced read and well worth your time.
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