Camp Damascus

I didn't grow up in this kind of environment, so I can't really review this book with the full context one would need. However, I did really like it! The writing is sharp and snappy. It feels kind of short, shorter than it actually is, but in a good way. Chuck's style of writing has always really appealed to me in the one genre I knew him from, it's really neat to see how it translates to horror. Turns out, really well! Things are stated explicitly and nothing is unnecessarily dwelt upon. It's like the opposite of a Joseph Fink novel lol. Note that I do like those too, this is just a very refreshing departure from that.

The premise is really unique too, I loved it. In the future, whenever I'd usually try to (poorly) explain the unity of means and ends, from now on I'm just gonna tell people to read this book instead.

I will say though, that I'd have liked to know more about Saul's missing piece.

My curiosity has finally done what everyone warned it would, and I've bitten off more than I can chew. The only thing left to do is see if I choke or swallow.

Yes I was traveling through airports for a good chunk of the day yesterday, but I still think the fact that I - a notoriously slow reader - ripped through this in two days is a ringing endorsement on its own.

At face value, I didn't expect to get much out of this book. Say what you will about the author's... uh... unique previous body of work, but I knew this one was meant to be a more ~serious~ story. The opening chapter gives us a protagonist with major Christian Horse Girl™ energy with an extra serving of awkward autism on top. I was afraid I was about to buckle in for a test of literary endurance being tied to someone so different from myself, but those fears quickly melted away and Rose Darling ended up being one of my favorite things about this book. She's curious to a fault, but she's never outright stupid and goes through a complicated reassessment of her own faith throughout.

In fact, the whole thing was way more nuanced than I was expecting vis-a-vis religion. There are a lot of shades of gray presented, but not in a way that felt like a cop-out with nothing to actually say.

Also there's some pretty gnarly (yet creative!) body horror that shows up towards the end. There's some blatant supernatural shenanigans, but it's not overwhelming and there are definitely peaks and valleys of action to keep things moving along nicely. I also guessed the big twist/reveal fairly early on, but I don't think that's a bad thing because there's plenty of plot left after the characters make that discovery themselves.

If you like stories about cults, tense religious family drama, actual literal demons, or just want some spooky lesbian stories without any gays getting buried, absolutely give this one a shot.