Rice stares at the dead animal struck by the human resemblance.
Atmosphere, as its opening so impeccably indicates, is everything inBearskin.
This is not exactly the page-turning thriller so overstuffed with twists it leaves you dizzy by page 100.
Credit: Ecco
Its a slow-burn by design, a tale of suspense that reels you in through McLaughlins scrupulous skill.
So begins a revenge saga, sufficiently propelled by one mans animalistic instincts.
Its all in service, at least, of a less conventional and infinitely more intriguing novel.
Rice, for his part, had turned predatory, goes one compelling passage.
McLaughlin ties the story together nicely, too, inBearskins final pages, and imbues them with ghostly undertones.
But when its imagery, so stark and often poetic, takes center stage,Bearskinis elegiac, hypnotic unshakable.B
