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Grab your coonskin cap, you Kentucky trailblazer. And get ready to channel your inner Daniel Boone. At least the version of Daniel Boone popularized by actor Fess Parker. The real Boone didn't like coonskin caps, and wore beaver felt hats instead. Reality often isn't as sexy as the myth. Like how Sasquatch is really a homeless guy from California.
Cherie Priest delves into the mythology surrounding Daniel Boone in Those Who Went Remain There Still, carving out a little piece for herself in order to tell a self-proclaimed cheesy little monster story. If this is cheesy, it's a beautifully baked six cheese extravaganza. A three Michelin star dish of mac and cheese. Yummy and absolutely satisfying. A rare monster story in which-brace yourself-the monster is actually scary.
Most monsters remain scary as long as they're unseen. Only bumping in the night, and not cavorting in the daylight. Like the shark in Jaws. Once revealed the fright factor plummets. Like Daniel Boone, the reality isn't as sexy as the myth. But the monster in Those Who Went Remain There Still is revealed early, and remains scary throughout. Getting even more fearsome near the end. Becoming a creature you really wouldn't want to run into in a dark cave. Especially if you want to keep the contents of your colon out of your pants.
But that's just what the novel's protagonists do-run into the creature in a dark cave. Bad spot of luck there, but it makes for fun reading. Whether trouser jelly is made, Priest remains mum.
In 1775, Daniel Boone and his crew of rugged ax-swingers are storming through Kentucky, blazing the Wilderness Road. One night, men begin disappearing. Mysterious noises haunt the night, an ominous croaking and the sound of flapping wings. Something evil is out there, wild and vicious, on the edge of camp, harrying Boone and his men. Terrorizing them. Eating them.
In 1899, Heaster Wharton-the patriarch of the feuding Mander and Coy clans-dies. His will and last testament lies hidden in a cave on the outskirts of his property. Three representatives each from both the Mander and Coy families are enlisted to enter the cave to search for Heaster's will. Deep down in the bowels of the cave the group discovers a terrifying secret. A vengeful secret. A secret that nearly killed Daniel Boone.
There's an old saying that once you've left a place, you can't go back home again. Like you can't step into the same river twice. Things change, places change. You change. And going back is never the same. Priest takes this idea even further-maybe going back may mean never coming back. Or those who went remain there still.
Going home and rediscovering your roots after years away is a significant theme in the novel. Those Who Went Remain There Still is told from three separate points of view: Daniel Boone in 1775, and Meshack Coy and John Coy both in 1899. Both Meshack and John are living elsewhere-Iowa and New York respectively-when they are summoned back to their hometown of Leitchfield, Kentucky upon the death of Heaster. Both are outsiders, changed men who view the feuding of their relatives as infantile. Living away from Leitchfield has changed their perspective, made it more cosmopolitan. It's like the small town boy that moves to the big city for a year, then returns. Suddenly he realizes how tiny his town truly is, how constricting and narrow-minded it's become. And he yearns once again to leave.
The characters are fascinating, and the interplay between the two storylines drives the narrative. Intense and addictive, the novel is like an out of control eighteen-wheeler barreling down a steep grade, filled with heart-stopping jolts and scary bumps. Priest never lets up on the gas, and never veers away. Always pushing forward, always at breakneck speeds. And we sit enthralled, a Cheshire-cat smile on our face, clapping with joy, overwhelmed and thrilled to our core.
Those Who Went Remain There Still was my introduction to Cherie Priest. I guarantee I'll be reading more of her cheesy little monster stories in the future, because this is a monster story with teeth. Big, nasty teeth dripping with gore. A set of glistening chompers that'd make Nosferatu jealous. This is a horror story masterfully written, unique in its setting and brilliant in its execution. And one of the top books of the year.
Tired of spending your hard-earned money on books that just don't make the cut. Get in-depth, unbiased reviews on science fiction, fantasy and horror books at Blood of the Muse, and never waste money on a poor novel again.
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