Hex

Horror book come in two basic types, there is the "grab-you-by-your-throat" and the "slow burn." Done well, both novels can be terrifying, and if a novel is able to give the horror reader both in the same book, that author should be dubbed a master of their field. Well I say hat's off to "Master" Thomas Olde Heuvelt for the American debut of his novel Hex. I was hooked by this glorious piece of work from the very start. I finished it in 4 days, and probably would have finished it sooner if pesky things like work, food, and sleep had not gotten in my way!

This novel brings to mind Stephen King. Not so much in writing style but in his ability to strip away the picturesque façade of Small-Town "America." Black Spring is a typical Up-State New York town. If they read the book jacket the reader goes into this novel knowing that the town is hiding a secret from the rest of the world. Katherine, The Black Rock Witch, has been haunting the village for over 300 years. She appears randomly anywhere in the town, and when I say anywhere I mean in the towns peoples living room while enjoying a movie, or in their bedroom while making love. The residents of the town have learned to cope with her appearances. There is an entire quasi-military organization called "HEX" to deal with her, and deal with her they do.

Hex grabbed my attention for the very beginning. The best way to describe this novel is like frying food. I know, bear with me. When a cook first puts the oil on the heat, there really is not much to see. I mean, they know the oil is heating up, but there is no real action. Then the cook will start to see the occasional bubble lift to the surface or a wisp of smoke, but add the food and all that energy and force that has been hiding below the surface flares up in a riot of bubbles and foam. The reader knows there is a terrible problem forming in Black Springs, heck the characters know it also, but like the reader, they are powerless to stop it.

What drew me to this story was the dichotomy of small town life and modern technology. Hex had established a high-speed internet service for the entire town and all residents were issued a smartphone so they could have access to an app, documenting the location of the witch. The entire town is complicit in keeping the secret of the witch from the larger world. Because this novel is sent in present day, the reader is able to watch the members of the community and Hex specifically deal with the possibility of the witch's discovery through technology.

Why is it so important to keep this witch secret? Because the curse is more than the witch. People who are born in the town and people who move into the town can never leave. If they try to leave, even for an extended vacation, they become suicidal until they return to the town. At some point in the history of the town, the elders managed to sew-up the witches' eyes and mouth, and bind her hands in chains. This was because listening to her causes the residents to also become suicidal. The couple of times residents tried to remove the bindings, there were deaths in the town.

In the end it was technology and misunderstandings that is the downfall of this community. As a reader, I spent most of this novel alternating between horror and sadness for the residents of Black Springs, all the residents the living and the dead.

Now this is a translation of the 2013 Dutch original, and the author chose to "Americanize" it as opposed to a direct translation. This version of the novel is set in an American village. I don't speak Dutch, so I have no way of telling how close this comes to the original, but this was a version of the novel written by the author himself, so I am going to go out on a limb and say that the spirit of the original is going to be included in this translation.

The translation of this novel is being released on April 26, 2016. Run do not walk to get this book. I promise you will not be sorry.

Thank you Tor Books, for providing this book for an honest review.