PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Gage Greenwood has been a favorite author of mine since his first book, Winter’s Myths, was released. I knew immediately that I was seeing the beginnings of greatness. He hasn’t become a household name just yet, but his latest book, On a Clear Day You Can See Block Island, may be the book that gets him there. Let me tell you a little about it.
Synopsis:
Four years after the Keating family endured the darkest experiences of their lives, the children are still fighting to move on. Charlie’s anxiety has control of his life. Angela is afraid of the dark. Brian suffers from a drug addiction. Chrissy struggles to remember what happened to them, the details forever haunting the outskirts of her mind.
But when new information comes to light about what they had witnessed, they make a plan to escape their problems once and for all.
Sometimes, the only way to confront your demons is to face them head on, so the Keating siblings decide to go back to the island and call their monsters out of the darkness. They soon realize the terror awaiting is much more than they bargained for.
On a Clear Day, You Can See Block Island is a coming of age horror novel about grief, PTSD, and how some horrors never end.
Look at this truly stunning cover art by Dagan Legg Boyd:
On A Clear Day You Can See Block Island is so close to perfection that it nearly became my favorite Gage Greenwood novel. Winter’s Myths and Winter’s Legacy are tough contenders however, and refused to be edged out. On a Clear Day You Can See Block Island is filled with stunning prose and some of the most quotable passages I’ve ever read.
“Grief was a viral infection. It was as if someone injected them with extreme emotions by the needle full, and it swam in their blood, pumped through their heart, and brain, and coated their stomachs until they’d vomit it out, confused and scared by the sickness. They didn’t know what was happening inside of them; they only knew it didn’t feel good.”
Gage Greenwood doesn’t just tell stories and make stuff up. He creates doorways into other worlds, or possibly an alternate dimension. The characters who populate this world are so vivid and realistic they feel like people I know personally, and it absolutely breaks my heart when they die. And this is horror, so characters die. A LOT of characters die.
On a Clear Day You Can See Block Island is a bleak horror story which ruminates on themes of loss, grief, and difficult family dynamics. As always, Gage makes us fall in love with his characters, only to rip them from us in brutal fashion. Many readers are very upset about all of the deaths, but I think they were all necessary, or, if not strictly necessary, they at least all served a greater purpose in relation to the story.
Once again, Gage Greenwood has created a story that sucked me in right from the beginning, and has yet to let me go. I will be thinking about this book for a very long time to come. I only have one thing left to say. Fuck you Gage Greenwood. Fuck you very much.
On a Clear Day You Can See Block Island is available now in ebook, paperback, and audiobook from Amazon. Or you can order signed paperbacks and limited edition hardcovers on his website here.
Just look at this limited edition hardcover. You know you want one.
Interested in learning about Gage Greenwood and his other books? Check out PopHorror’s reviews of Winter’s Myths, Bunker Dogs, and our interview with the man, the myth, the legend, Gage Greenwood himself.
