The Narrows Paperback – April 28, 2017

Good

First and foremost, I'm a huge Ronald Malfi fan. I couldn't wait to finally get my hands on this novel since I didn't grab up a signed/limited copy. Was it worth the wait? Most definitely.The Narrows reads like a Malfi novel normally does. Very intricately worded and a steadily flowing story telling style that can't be beat. What this novel does past that, is create a world you become enveloped in, and feel part of the characters within.A small town with a history of flooding and hard times is struck with a bat infestation and troubled occurrences, some of which these flood waters have brought with them.Two young boys go on a little adventure to a side of town that is strictly forbidden, to look for a dead deer out of curiosity. After finding the deer though, one of the boys sees a man by an abandoned building, and thinks it is his long lost father who walked out on him and his family. Could it really be his father, or could it be something of another plane?When a local officer finds a floating child's body (this is the tie in from The Boy in the Lot, a free short story on your eReader), questions start to surface at the condition of the body, and what could have happened to create such a horrific sight. Shortly after, the young boy who thought he saw his father has up and disappeared.A woman is driving home from a night of infidelity, and strikes... something, with her car. In a fit of terror she finds a neighboring man and asks him to help her find the body of what she thinks is a young boy she hit. When nobody can find a body or blood, and only damage to her car, questions start to arise as to what it could have been.This novel strings together a cast of characters that only a storyteller like Ronald Malfi can truly put forth. He winds together a horror story with monsters of both the human and non-human kind throughout, and keeps the pacing at a steady stream, such as the flood waters in the small town in which the story is set. I want to elaborate more, but to tell a whole lot more would be a spoiler of the book. I would say this is definitely in my top three novels of his, and I'm glad it finally came out for the masses in paperback. On top of that, to come from Samhain Publishing, the new home of Don D'Auria is great, who many of you know, is of fame from the defunct Leisure.

Ronald draws the reader in with strong description and interesting characters. I am a big fan of Horror, but not so when it relies on cheap tricks and bland characters. Ronald has a poet's mastery of language and the ability to evoke the right feeling. His pinpoint details make reading this book more like watching a movie, and it's instantly and thoroughly chilling. He makes all of his characters interesting and rich. The combination compels you to read on. I really enjoyed it.I picked this book up on strong recommendations to read Ronald, and was very impressed by what I found. His book tickled my nostalgia of reading Summer of Night by Dan Simmons, in that it has the small town feeling and young characters fighting a strange monster that has come to town. I can't express the "feeling" part enough. Both Ronald and Dan have that rare gift of character and description that makes the story live inside your mind, creating ideal escapism.What follows is a chilling experience in a dying town where nightmares, mutilated livestock, and missing children cause police and adults to scramble for answers before they lose their lives. When they're scared, you know you have problems. I enjoyed the use of the Mexican legend to make the monster seem more plausible, and the flushing out of its powers and purposes created memorable scenes of horror. Made better was the fact that I cared for what happened, and I enjoyed the twist at the end, along with the philosophical introspection about the nature of dying towns and how it affects the people that live within.My only complaint would be that I felt some of the potential of the monster and the situation it created were not as actualized as I imagined they would. There is a high body count for the small town, but I guess I wanted the battle to be more drawn out. I can't really say more without spoiling the ending, and by no means should this slight complaint detract from my recommendation to read this book. It's a great story that I really enjoyed reading. I'm very glad someone told me to check out Ronald Malfi's writing, and I plan to read everything he puts out.

Suspenseful. It didn't read like it was written in 2012. I'm glad I discovered this guy.

In reading fiction, I’m always curious about who or what has inspired or influenced an author’s work. In most cases, those creative influences are understated and don’t readily distract me from enjoying the writer’s work. However in some books those influences are so overbearing and pronounced that it is almost impossible to ignore; “The Narrows” by Ronald Malfi is one such book.I can’t really say that this is a “bad” book per se but there’s an overwhelming sense of familiarity to the style and setting of the novel that basically states “I really like Stephen King.” The unfortunate consequence of this was that instead of feeling like I was reading something fresh and original, I found myself in the midst of what felt like a King tick book exercise that took large cues from novels such as “Salem’s Lot” and “IT.”Set in the slowly decaying rural town of Stillwater, the story follows a deputy sheriff as he attempts to determine who or what is responsible for a spate of animal mutilations and people disappearances. For a good portion of the book, the plot moves along at an almost glacial pace as Malfi explores his environment and examines the lives of its lost and broken inhabitants with fleeting glimpses of what lurks in the shadows. As much as this does paint a vivid depiction of the gradual disintegration and decay of a community, I did find myself starting to lose interest at the sporadic nature of the threat and the inordinate amount of time spent on characters who are nothing more than cannon fodder.And what is this threat? Well, acidic vomit children who eat brains would be the answer but they are but pawns of the real predator hiding within the community. Alas, Malfri’s attempt to infuse the well worn vampire trope with new blood is given short thrift and the creature is briefly exposed then quickly disposed off in an anti climactic climax that made me think of IT and also wondering “is that it?”All in all, “The Narrows” isn’t particularly groundbreaking but if you are in the market for a novel that reads like a Stephen King tribute act this should be right up your street. Me? I don’t think I’ll be repeating this exercise any time soon.

I normally hate modern vampire books but this new take on the vampire legend is absolutely chilling. Malfi is great at establishing a chilling atmosphere -the floodwater ravaged town of Stillwater where the sun sets early thanks to an overshadowing mountain is the perfect background for fear and uncertainty to flourish. The book gets off to a slow start, but once the tension starts to build, it doesn't let up and by the end of the book I was a nervous wreck, jumping at shadows, not wanting to sleep with the windows open. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I didn't find the ending satisfactory, still I will definitely download and read his other books now.

Heard about Mr. Malfi via a facebook comment and tried The Boy in the Lot short story/companion piece to The Narrows. All I can say is: Wonderful. Super turn of phrase, compelling story cannot believe I had not heard of him before. Creepy and atmospheric reading his back catologue now and really enjoying the stories. If you like well wriitten suspense/horror Mr. Malfi is one of the best I have read

An enjoyable read that kept me busy for a week. Worth a read, you wont be disappointed. I have now read all his work.

Excellent book. I saved reading it for evenings and nights 🦇