"Olivia" Book Review
Written by Tony Jones
Published by Black Rose Writing
Written by John Hunt
2022, 236 pages, Fiction
Released on 27th October 2022
Review:
I first came across the Canadian thriller/horror writer John Hunt back in 2018 with The Tracker, which made such a powerful impression that over the following years I read everything he had published. This outstanding book featured in my annual Horror DNA Top Horror Novels of the Year and if I were to pick a John Hunt novel begging for a sequel, I would choose The Tracker over Doll House (2017) every time. However, I also loved Doll House, which is a terrific self-contained story with a great ending, so in some ways I was surprised Hunt has chosen one of his non-supernatural titles for a sequel. What about The Tracker’s Revenge if you are going to mine your back catalogue for sequels John?!?
I was extremely interested to see how the events of Doll House might connect to a second book and this does not become apparent until Olivia, the character who connects the books, is well underway. If anything, Olivia herself is slightly underused, but we do have a new female character to root for until the second half, when her fighting spirit which made the original so special returns. I would strongly recommend reading Doll House before Olivia, as it is both a better book and fleshes out her character more fully than the various hints the sequel gives in regard to what went down previously. Also, Olivia is a rather weird choice of title, as although she is a main character, the book is not particularly about her.
I had previously reviewed the impressive Doll House and here’s an excerpt:
It has some incredibly powerful chapter jumps right at the start of the novel, one-minute Olivia is moving to a nearby town to start university, having been brought up by her single parent father. On her first day she is snatched by two masked men and held captive, her father never hearing from her again, descends into alcoholism, until unexpectedly, after five years he gets a call from her, screaming down the phone. All this happens very quickly. I don’t really want to say much more about the plot, as it has numerous clever twists and moves between time sequences.
First up it’s particularly brutal and graphic. I’m not a huge fan of exploitative horror, and although it’s explicit I never found it glorifying in the rape, violence, toe-snipping and other torture which form a key element of the book. Olivia goes from being a bubbly eighteen year with her life in front of her to a sex slave in the space of several pages, it’s savage stuff, but beautifully written. If you’re thinking the whole novel is set in a dungeon, it’s not, half-way through it cleverly heads in another direction and you really will have your fingers, toes and everything else crossed for Olivia.
Unfortunately, Olivia does not have the same emotional strengths of its predecessor and is a slightly pedestrian thriller set in the COVID-19 era. It is built around a spate of disappearances in which no bodies are uncovered, with the police being unaware there is a serial killer at work stalking remote hiking trails and isolated woods. These events have nothing to do with Doll House and are a completely new part of the developing story. A decent part of the novel is also seen from the serial killer’s point of view, but it must be said he is not sadistically brought to life in the same gleefully brutal manner as the two murderers from Doll House and in comparison is rather a nondescript lightweight in which his inner dialogue does not grip.
Early in proceedings, one young woman (Bibi) escapes after surviving a terrifying ordeal with the killer. With the police still unsure of exactly what is going on, Bibi, who is still in shock, hears of a survivor from an earlier horror attack and contacts Olivia for support and advise. Psychologically, this is the most interesting part of the story, with the two survivors meeting (reluctantly on Olivia’s part), as they are both at quite distinct stages of their recovery, but then connecting and getting sucked into the ongoing mystery. It is easy enough to see where the story is heading, but it is still fascinating to see this slightly older version of Olivia and find out how she has moved on and becomes ready to help Bibi. Although it is a speedy easy read, Olivia lacks an edge, strong plot twists and the emotional punch its predecessor possesses.
Please do not be put off John Hunt by this 3/5 review, as this outstanding author has several other terrific reads, which are perhaps not quite as graphic as Doll House or The Tracker, you can investigate. His 2019 novella The Balance is a very cool environmental apocalyptic tale and Off the Grid (2019) is another highly original novel about a guy who drops out of society after getting disfigured in a high school shooting. Off the Grid is a real super dark twister and features in my Horror DNA Top Ten Best Novels of 2019. By day John Hunt works as a police detective and I always enjoy trying to figure out how much of his day job he brings to his unique blend of horror and thriller fiction.
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