Not My Cup of Tea

Ever since reading The Hunted, Mike Dellosso has become a top pick of mine in the horror world. Darlington Woods, while many found it extremely well written and executed and it does have a strong sentimental value to Dellosso, just didn’t quite do it for me. While I enjoyed it, and it was a good story, it just wasn’t my favorite of his.

At first glance, the story and plot line appeared exciting and unique; I hadn’t heard of a book quite like it. I loved the idea behind it. I guess, for me, the fault falls within the details. The way Dellosso actually played out the plot line.

However, I am overjoyed to tell you that I can’t say one thing about any detail I did or did not like. One slip of my tongue and the entire book is ruined. Leaving you no reason to go out and buy it yourself, consequently supporting one of my most-liked authors. I love books like that. They leave you with that certain temptation to tell your closest friends exactly what happens, coupled with that gratifying agony of knowing you can’t say a word.

I will indulge and relay a short summary: Robert Shields just lost his wife and son about three months before the beginning of his story. The two were kidnapped at a local fair. Eventually the detective finds the body of Rob’s wife; shortly after, a body is found and identified as his son. Rob now suffers from hallucinations of Jimmy (his son) that slowly convince him Jimmy is still alive somewhere, waiting to be rescued.

We see Rob’s determination incessantly rebuild over and over again as he takes hit after hit, trying to make life normal again. Along with Rob’s mental battles, Dellosso throws in some spiritual warfare to top it all off. As I said, I can’t go much father into detail, one fatal mishap and it’s all ruined. Sounds enticing doesn’t it?

As Rob’s quest to find Jimmy continues, he’s introduced to Julianne (Juli for short), who was easily my first choice for best character. Juli’s sarcasm had two main functions, 1) a trustworthy source of comical relief and 2) acting as a constant reminder to think of the characters as actual people. It had an additional function as common ground where I could personally relate to her, being so sarcastic myself. I thought Rob displayed everything you would expect a man to after losing his wife and supposedly losing his son. Take for example, his blur between reality and self-comfort, his overwhelming desperation to find his son, and his willingness to go to any length at any risk.

I appreciated the fact that being a quick read didn’t hamper the story. However, my adoration and love for this book only runs so deep. Which results in my being quite confused on how I truly feel about Darlington Woods.

My confusion lies in this: realistic and reliable characters, a plot line with outstanding potential, and a talented author behind it all. Yet, still, with all these pros, something just didn’t work for me.

Some scenes became too “classic” (I guess that’s the right word) for me. Sort of like when you’re watching a horror movie and you see a scene or a twist that’s been done so many times it no longer has the original intended effect. I’m not saying the story has been overdone, not at all. More or less what I mean is that every now and then a specific scene would come along that tottered between the lines of too classic and totally new.

Almost as if he didn’t make EVERY scene is own. (Which is extremely vital in my opinion.) It’s not his writing that’s at fault; instead, he seemed to not take full advantage of each scene.

In Darlington Woods, Dellosso uses a ton of “special effects”. As they played out in my head, some just came across as too cheesy. Hopefully, you see that this flaw could be completely my own; not everyone’s going to picture it the way I did. (Hah! Another pro!) Each person who reads Darlington Woods will fill in the gaps; no one can picture exactly what Dellosso intended. No two people will see the same image or perceive the same sense from the same page. In my case, I automatically saw them as I would see them in a movie; a cool though, but a tad cheesy in production.

I’m not going to say it was a terrible book; it really wasn’t at all. I’m not going to tell you to boycott it and never even think about picking it up. Like I said, Dellosso has become a preferred author in my eyes. It’s simply not my cup of tea this time around.