This was the first book I’ve read by Ed Lee and I was pleasantly surprised. Lee explores horror in a very real, man-made way. While there are supernatural elements to ‘Backwoods” it is the humanistic horror that is front and center in a very brutal and in your face way, further emphasizing the fact that there is no worse monster than man and no worse influence than greed.
Patricia White is a high profile real estate lawyer in Washington D.C., living a very comfortable, if not altogether satisfying life with her rather plain, restaurant critic husband Byron. Patricia has just heard the news that her sister Judy’s husband Dwayne has been murdered. While she has sympathy for her sister, she holds none for her abusive, womanizing husband who most people feel got exactly what he deserved. Patricia returns to her childhood home of Agan’s Point for the funeral with a lot of trepidation. Something very bad happened to Patricia there some 25 years ago. We will later learn that she was brutally sexually assaulted as a teen and her attacker was never caught.
Judy runs a crab processing plant and employs a group of people known as the “The Squatters”. The Squatters are an uneducated, yet harmless group of people who live in run down shacks on land Judy owns and provides rent free to them. The Elder of the Squatters Everd Stanherd, hints at an almost primeval origin of the Squatters by proclaiming that they’ve always been on the land. The Squatters are a superstitious lot who practice a rather arcane mysticism that seems a cross between voodoo and Wicca. Patricia discovers first that there were some very strange circumstances to Dwayne’s murder. First he was decapitated and his head was not found. But that’s not the strangest thing as she will learn later. Patricia also finds out that a wealthy construction developer has started to build luxury condos in the area. Gordon Phelps wants to buy Judy’s land but Judy is reluctant to sell as this would displace the poor squatters. Yet in recent months, several of the Squatters have turned up missing and the local law believes they’ve simply left town although there are hints at something much more sinister.
Meanwhile, ever since Patricia has returned to Agan’s Point she’s been plagued by powerful sexual fantasies, not only at night in her dreams, but also during the day, mainly centering on her unexplained lust for Ernie Gooder who is the family gardener and handyman. No matter how hard she tries to subdue these powerful sexual urges, she soon finds herself throwing herself at Ernie in the middle of the woods. This is the last thing that Patricia expected to feel back home where she suffered the assault so many years ago. As Patricia continues to try and find out what’s going on in the small town, more and more bodies turn up, killed in sadistic fashion.
“Backwoods” pulls no punches. There are several gruesome murders including a woman hacked in half at the waist, people burned alive, and others suffering a much worse fate. The Supernatural elements linger just below the surface and are only hinted at until the books climax. Most readers won’t have too much trouble early on figuring out the plot although it’s not something that Lee necessarily tries to hide. The characters, with the exception of Patricia are a bit one-dimensional: greedy construction developer, red-neck trouble makers, overweight small-town sheriff, etc…, but there’s definitely enough there to enjoy and it’s a very brisk read that never bogs down.
– TIm Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
