[HDNA #01] - Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay

[Alien Redrum]

Okay, I edited the posts to reflect the chapters. Here are the remaining ones (just copy and paste on top of the post if you get to it before me:

Spoilers for Chapters 10-12:
Elizabeth Talks to Dave, Dinner for Two, Notifications at Night, a Fight, a Sketch
Allison at the House, Kate Visits Josh, Hobo Nickles
Elizabeth and Felt Presences, the Last Entries, Kate and Josh Twice

Spoilers for Chapters 13-15:
Allison Driving in Brockton with the Boys, He's Not Feeling Too Good, Three Horrors
Elizabeth at Home and at the Station, Three Statements
Elizabeth and Kate and the House and the Notes

[Alien Redrum]

The night vision Donna part.

Yeah I was afraid that’s what he meant with that line. And if that is the case as it seems I don’t like it. Feels forced and out of place. Like it was something he came up with and was really into and had to make it in there. Feels shoehorned.

What do you mean? I mean, I just read it as it was, she set it off, she fell down, her eyes glowed because of the night vision. What were you expecting. Holy shit, that looks like I'm starting a fight. I'm not, I don't know what you were looking for with it.

One thing neither one of us mentioned is the fact that Elizabeth’s mother left. Seems like an odd choice. Wonder what’s going to happen to her. She is definitely set up to disappear, or come back with a big reveal. Not sure which way that will go.

I thought it was well played on why she left (the cats, and it's completely believable). I didn't think much of it though. I mean...even in this situation, I personally would not want to be hanging out at my family's house if nothing was happening, and I thought the two knuckleheads I was living with were up to no good with the notes on the floor. I took it as she just wanted to get away, and used the cats as an excuse.

Not to jump ahead and not a spoiler, but there is an interaction and decision made in the next chapter that irritates me with how out of character I think it is. I am assuming it’s a means to an end for Tremblay, and it is going to annoy me if it plays out the way I think it is going to. More to come.

I think I know what you are talking about, but I'm going to hold off discussing until I finish the next three.

Also, I want to talk about that drawing in chapter 10.

I just started 11, so it will be a minute.

Holy shit yes... and it is used a lot. That and the Chirps thing. Wtf is that? I feel like an old man anytime these fucking kids talk

I know. WTF. If I never hear CHIRPS! and HARDO! again, I'll be fine with it.

[shiki-jitsu]

I know. WTF. If I never hear CHIRPS! and HARDO! again, I'll be fine with it.

Oh you are so going to hit your hardo limit in the next chapters

[shiki-jitsu]

Spoilers for Chapters 7-9:
Luis Goes to the Sandersons, Kate and All the Apologies, Luis Asks Questions
Elizabeth at Split Rock, Camera Set Up, Notes About a Man Named Arnold
Allison and Luis, Luis and the Devil at the Rock

The night vision Donna part.

Yeah I was afraid that’s what he meant with that line. And if that is the case as it seems I don’t like it. Feels forced and out of place. Like it was something he came up with and was really into and had to make it in there. Feels shoehorned.

What do you mean? I mean, I just read it as it was, she set it off, she fell down, her eyes glowed because of the night vision. What were you expecting. Holy shit, that looks like I'm starting a fight. I'm not, I don't know what you were looking for with it.

Whoa, calm down there, Chachi.

But seriously, that is my point. Its the way its written. I feel like he wrote it in a way to make look for something in it. It felt masturbatory. Flourished for no reason... ornamental for the sake of it.

I am obviously overly fixated on it for no reason. I don't want/need to see anything in it, but its written in a way that makes me feel like I should. If that makes sense.

I thought it was well played on why she left (the cats, and it's completely believable). I didn't think much of it though. I mean...even in this situation, I personally would not want to be hanging out at my family's house if nothing was happening, and I thought the two knuckleheads I was living with were up to no good with the notes on the floor. I took it as she just wanted to get away, and used the cats as an excuse.

I agree it was believable as an excuse. It's just she would be an unneeded character. So now that she left you know something is going to happen to her or there will be a big reveal with her. Otherwise she was completely unneccessary to the story. She brought up just enough to remind you of her existence elsewhere... so something is happening. And if not she is fat that should have been trimmed imo.

The rest of the reply above just makes me look like a douche overanalyzing the art of writing or something.

[Alien Redrum]

Okay, now that you have me thinking about it, I agree. Why have her there at all. She didn't really provide any standout exposition. The only reason I can think is for conflict between Elizabeth and Kate (what with her not believing them about the diary notes just mysteriously appearing).

However, let's not forget the father is supposed to be on his way too. Said he would stay on the couch or something. Did the grandmother know he was coming, or was it just good timing? Is he still coming? IS HE GOING TO KILL GAM GAM???

And yeah, you're over-analyzing her sitting on the couch.

[shiki-jitsu]

Oh I thought ultimately she told her dad to stay the fuck out of it. I don't remember now. I thought she was like... no thats ok when he offered to crash there.

[shiki-jitsu]

Spoilers for Chapters 10-12:
Elizabeth Talks to Dave, Dinner for Two, Notifications at Night, a Fight, a Sketch
Allison at the House, Kate Visits Josh, Hobo Nickles
Elizabeth and Felt Presences, the Last Entries, Kate and Josh Twice

Alright...

First things first. I will get to the part that I hinted at in an earlier post. The part that I found so out of character for someone going through what they are going through. The fact that Elizabeth lets her daughter go somewhere alone on her bike with just a "make sure to bring your phone..." or whatever. Yes, there was a little bit of hemming and hawing when Detective Allison was there, but nowhere near what I thought would be realistic. I know he needed to get her to see Josh alone and needed to get her out. And I guess he didn't want to have her sneak out twice, but it just felt... off... to me. Your worried about your son missing. You have no idea wtf is going whether it is paranormal, pedophilic, murderous stranger-danger shit or what. You know your daughter is untrustworthy at this point. There is no way you would let her leave the house to go ride her bike to a friends house. You would have at the very least driven her there (if you allowed it at all). So that bothered me.

There were some major developments made in this set of chapters, but I feel kind of let down with this set. I don't know.

I will say I did not see the whole uncle incident coming. So that was an interesting twist. Still don't know what to think about this Arnold kid. Is he for real, what is his deal exactly?

Now I need to go back I think. As I am a bit confused by something. Didn't Luis say specifically that he was seeing Tommy out his window? Or did he say "him"? I could have sworn it was Tommy. That wouldn't make sense now because Josh is just saying Arnold is stalking them. Luis would totally assume it to be Arnold after all the threats and what not and not Tommy.

I like Allison is getting kind of over Elizabeth and her crazy house.

Either kill Janice or whatever already. I don't care about texting her grocery lists.

I sound like I am being negative. I am trying not to be. I am still very much enjoying the book. I'm about to start in on the next chapters.

[shiki-jitsu]

Oh and I almost actually said "hardo" out loud this morning when talking about the cops in one town.

I almost said "they are a bunch of hardos..." but I quickly caught myself and went with hard-asses. I hate Tremblay for that.

[shiki-jitsu]

I have finished the book now. Not sure where you are at, so I will wait on my writing about:

Spoilers for Chapters 13-15:
Allison Driving in Brockton with the Boys, He's Not Feeling Too Good, Three Horrors
Elizabeth at Home and at the Station, Three Statements
Elizabeth and Kate and the House and the Notes

[shiki-jitsu]

A book club of one.

[Alien Redrum]

You know how in this book, Josh didn't want to hurt Tommy's feelings by bringing up his own father? I'm not Josh. I had Father's Day shit this weekend. FUCK. YOU.



Give me a minute.

[shiki-jitsu]

[Alien Redrum]

Spoilers for Chapters 10-12:
Elizabeth Talks to Dave, Dinner for Two, Notifications at Night, a Fight, a Sketch
Allison at the House, Kate Visits Josh, Hobo Nickles
Elizabeth and Felt Presences, the Last Entries, Kate and Josh Twice

Alright...

First things first. I will get to the part that I hinted at in an earlier post. The part that I found so out of character for someone going through what they are going through. The fact that Elizabeth lets her daughter go somewhere alone on her bike with just a "make sure to bring your phone..." or whatever. Yes, there was a little bit of hemming and hawing when Detective Allison was there, but nowhere near what I thought would be realistic. I know he needed to get her to see Josh alone and needed to get her out. And I guess he didn't want to have her sneak out twice, but it just felt... off... to me. Your worried about your son missing. You have no idea wtf is going whether it is paranormal, pedophilic, murderous stranger-danger shit or what. You know your daughter is untrustworthy at this point. There is no way you would let her leave the house to go ride her bike to a friends house. You would have at the very least driven her there (if you allowed it at all). So that bothered me.

YES! I was...yeah. that was weird. I don't think it was necessarily out of character, I think it was...I don't see any parent (well, one that cares about their kids) doing that. I could see Elizabeth driving her daughter to her friend's herself, but no way would a parent going through this allow the kid to go on their own. It's only been a few days right? We're not talking weeks here.

There were some major developments made in this set of chapters, but I feel kind of let down with this set. I don't know.

I will say I did not see the whole uncle incident coming. So that was an interesting twist. Still don't know what to think about this Arnold kid. Is he for real, what is his deal exactly?

I like how this whole scenario was handled, from Lucy bullying info out of Josh, to how Tremblay made the scene believable. I hate how these three boys acted like pieces of fucking shit, but you don't hate them because....I don't know. You can understand how it would happen? I hate that I don't hate them. Credit to the writing. (It's not unlike the film The Woodsman. FUCK, I wanted to HATE Kevin Bacon's character, but the writing and performances are so solid that I didn't and it annoys me to no end.

Now I need to go back I think. As I am a bit confused by something. Didn't Luis say specifically that he was seeing Tommy out his window? Or did he say "him"? I could have sworn it was Tommy. That wouldn't make sense now because Josh is just saying Arnold is stalking them. Luis would totally assume it to be Arnold after all the threats and what not and not Tommy.

Nice. This is a perfect example of why I love discussing books. I didn't even think about this, and upon reflection, I'm betting he said him, and now it's even creepier. I mean, you assume it's Tommy, but now that things are coming out in the open, it's (probably) Arnold. WTF. I kind of wish this was a movie so I could just rewind and watch it. Didn't this conversation happen when the boys were in the basement trying to decide what to watch while the parents were upstairs? I may have to re-read it. Nice catch though. This changes everything.

I like Allison is getting kind of over Elizabeth and her crazy house.

Either kill Janice or whatever already. I don't care about texting her grocery lists.

I don't know about you, but I like the Allison character. She's being used perfectly here, and she's really likable while at the same time you know she's on her game.

As far as Janice, it's going to be really weird if she doesn't come back, because her whole role would be pointless. Why invest all that time in the character just to have her leave?

I sound like I am being negative. I am trying not to be. I am still very much enjoying the book. I'm about to start in on the next chapters.

I just started the first chapter of the final three. I'm a tiny bit concerned because it feels like things will have to be rushed. Like...there's been a LOT of buildup, but nothing huge has happened. And now were're getting down to it. I'm only mildly concerned, though. Trembaly knocked it out of the fucking park with A Head Full of Ghosts and apparently his latest novel is even better than that. So I could be overthinking it.

However, I'm super curious if Arnold just turns out to be a regular dude who happens to be a sociopath; nothing supernatural at all. Everything is already explained. Nothing really out of the ordinary has happened. If that's the case, it's kind of genius because of the setup. I'm thinking it's going to go that way.

Did you ever see 8MM? If not, at the end, when they find the guy, he's just a dude. (I won't tell you who plays him, because that's pretty funny/cool.) Anywho, the guy looks at Cage and says, "What did you expect? A monster?" From what I remember, 8MM is not a good movie, but that line (or, at least the gist of it) always stuck with me, and I think it applies nicely here (maybe). We're expecting a monster, but at the end of the day, it very well may just be a man. And it will work and I won't feel cheated at all.

[shiki-jitsu]

So much to answer to here. I will shortly. I need to really spend the time watching what I say as I am already done and I don't want it to color my reply.

Then I will do my final chapters post.

[Alien Redrum]

I hope to finish this week. Maybe in a day or two. I'm really curious on where it ends up, because it can go either way, and all the clues are there for whatever way it goes.