In New York’s ancient forests, a drowned village lays beneath the dark, still waters of the Chilewaukee reservoir. Early in the 20th century, the town was destroyed for the greater good: bringing water to the millions living downstate. Or at least that’s what the politicians from Manhattan insisted at the time. Now, a century later, the repercussions of human arrogance are finally making themselves known.
Reading Scott Carson’s The Chill gave me shivers like the ones I got when I first read Stephen King’s The Shining ... Carson ably and exponentially ramps up the intrigue and danger ... Carson includes plenty of factual exposition about real New York reservoirs and tunnel systems, sections that could have been dry and boring were it not for his deep characterizations and a pervading sense of doom. The result is a fast-paced, frenzied tale of survival against both natural and supernatural forces that will leave you gasping for air.
Blending myth with actual facts, Scott Carson has woven a story using one of nature’s most awful disasters combined with human greed and unconcern for the safety of his fellow man. Adding a supernatural element is icing on the cake ... would’ve made a great disaster movie back when that genre of motion picture was popular. As it is, it makes for a read that is—no pun intended—chilling ... a great tale, not of man’s inhumanity to man, but of man’s inhumanity to nature. Now, nature, with some supernatural assistance, strikes back.
... fully deserving of every word of the pre-publication buzz that it has received ... a memorable, haunting feast of supernatural literature ... an extremely effective and --- dare I say it? --- chilling work. We all depend on water while giving little thought to its availability unless we turn on the faucet and get nothing but a quiet sigh, for whatever reason ... a ghost story for our time.
