Chrystyna's Reviews > Pandaemonium

I've been contemplating what to say about this. Normally CB's books have a pattern: comically inept criminals, unlikely heroes, Scottish theme (either based in Scotland or characters are Scottish), but despite that, they do always feel different. A lot of these are present here, but this time the genre is 'Gothic Horror' rather than 'Crime'.... and I'm not sure that it works for me. It certainly isn't as good as his usual stuff, but having said that I did still enjoy it.

So the blurb on the jacket says:

" A gothic horror story for the twenty-first century...

The senior pupils of St Peter's High School are on retreat to a secluded outdoor activity centre, coming to terms with the murder of a fellow pupil through the means you would

expect: counselling, contemplation, candid discussion and even prayer - not to mention booze, drugs, clandestine liaisons and as much partying as they can get away with.

Not so far away, the commanders of a top-secret military experiment, long-since spiralled out of control, fear they may have literally unleashed the forces of Hell.

Two very different worlds are on a collision course, and will clash in an earthly battle between science and the supernatural, philosophy and faith, civilisation and savagery.

The bookies are offering evens. "

Personally, I felt the book took too long to get going - lots of scene setting, lots of exploration of the St Peter's characters & back story. In fact if he'd just stuck to that - the teens & teachers & the way they explored & came to terms with their feelings - it might even have been a better book. But it was supposed to be gothic horror & it didn't kick in til over halfway through the book. When it did, it was a rollercoaster to the end. Maybe a bit predictable, but this isn't a genre I normally bother with, so that was fine by me.

As always, the characters were well observed & drawn & the kids were fabulous. So funny. Was saddened with the ending. Would have liked to carry on a little further & seen what happened next. Having said that, CB has a habit of throwing old characters into new books, so maybe we'll meet some of them again & find out whether they followed up on the new relationships they forged.

The only other thing that I found a little annoying was the tub thumping anti-religion. I happen to agree with most of what he's getting at, but felt this time he forced it down our throats a little too much. We get it! Don't keep on!

Lastly, there was one para that I really liked:

"The sun that "gave birth" to us died billions of years ago in a supernova, which created the higher elements that make up our solar system. And that means that every one of us here is literally made of stardust."

Still like CB, will continue to await his next offering eagerly, but hopefully this is his one & only attempt at Gothic Horror.