THE BOOK OF ACCIDENTS (2021) by Chuck Wendig

[GRWelsh]

For the first time in a long time, today I went to Barnes & Noble to browse books. Something in the new fiction section jumped out at me by an author I don't remember reading before: a horror novel named THE BOOK OF ACCIDENTS by Chuck Wendig, published this year. The reviews were good and compared it favorably to 80's style Stephen King horror and it involves abandoned coal mines in Pennsylvania so I am going to give it a try. That browsing experience is something I love about book stores which just isn't the same online.

[Scott]

I loved the Border's in the south hills. Huge multi-level place with a giant fireplace with chairs and furniture set up around it. I spent so much time browsing and reading there.
Let e know how the book goes. Sounds like a premise with potential.

[GRWelsh]

I haven't finished this yet since I've been busy with work. I am liking it. The writing is very good. The story centers around a small family: a husband, wife and teenage son. Each character is well-drawn and interesting. The chapters are short and just sort of pull you along. There is some mysterious stuff happening but no explanation yet. Very enjoyable read so far. Some of the teenagers play D&D which I thought was a nice touch for a novel set in modern times. I'd like to keep reading but I need to prepare for my own D&D game which is tonight.

[GRWelsh]

This is another one of those books that makes me wonder how much is taken from real life. It is set in upper Bucks County which is north of Philadelphia, on the border of Ramble Rocks park. There is no Ramble Rocks state park, but there is a Ringing Rocks county park. The character Caleb lives on Church View Lane on the north side of Ramble Rocks park... There is a Church View Drive on the north side of the Nockamixon State Park, a real place. In real life, this particular region doesn't seem rural enough for what is described in the book. I've been near that region many times at Easton, Bethlehem, Saucon Valley, Quakertown, Telford, etc. The more mountainous and coal mining regions are further west and north.

Anyway, I like the idea of abandoned coal mines in Pennsylvania being used as the basis for a horror story. I just wish it was set in Central or Western PA... That would have definitely added to the remoteness. For years, I had a client in Harrisburg, PA, and used to have to drive across the turnpike through the Appalachian mountains... That takes you past some very rustic and undeveloped regions, still largely wilderness.

[geneweigel]

Maybe it once was. The neighborhood of Lexington, New York was 90% dirt roads and isolated farms when I was a kid then in the 80s they paved all the roads and breaking up farmland into condos. The center of town collapsed as a social hub and they built an art commune. Last time that I was there in the 2000s, not a single "rube" in sight and it was people with sweaters tied around their necks taking "nature walks" by my former property which was made into intact woodland for water reserves.
Even my memories of my godmother's family in the old coal towns northwest of the Philadelphia area seemed more built up than it was. I'm no expert though.

[GRWelsh]

I'm about 60% through this novel and it has veered into directions I did not expect. Even though I haven't finished it yet I can recommend it on that basis. The writing style just keeps me moving along... It's a real page-turner. There are some interesting ideas and developments. I hope he pulls it together in the end. Something notable is that he mostly uses short chapters, sometimes only 2-3 pages long... But then every once in a while you'll hit a long chapter and it is like this meta way of emphasizing something important happening or perhaps a sense of time slowing down. It's not often that writers play with conventions like chapter length or "what a chapter is supposed to be" to affect the reading experience, so I thought that was worth noting... Reminded me a bit of TRISTAM SHANDY and MOBY DICK in that sense.