Some books take their time in establishing a setting and the characters and the plot will slowly develop as the location etc become clearer.
This doesn't. we're plunged into the action on page one and it never lets up.
When we meet our central character Forest, she's on the run. She needs to get to her Gran's house. her Gran can help her, she always has done in the past. Surely her dreamwalking powers will save Forest now. What is she running from? She's not sure herself. It's scary though. It has something to do with the strange preacher Nesmith who has an uncanny influence on everyone in the county, and indeed has shacked up with Forest's mother.
The only thing worse than Nesmith, is his sister Ruby Jewel, a blind old woman who still seems more alert and aware than any human should be. Or maybe the goat-headed thing that is following Nesmith as he searches for Forest to deliver her into a fate possibly worse than death.
Together with a friend she meets on her dangerous run, Forest must travel the Holy Ghost Road to her Granny's house and her only hope of salvation.
This is gorgeously written southern-gothic horror. The atmosphere of dread and mystery is sustained through every word of the book.
There are familiar elements to the story but they feel fresh under Mantooth's restrained prose and perfectly nuanced storytelling.
There are layers upon layers to the story and this will certainly reward a reread sometime. There are dark themes running through the book, loss and grief, the negative side of family, the power of belief vs logic. These make for a compelling coming of age story as Forest travels her own spiritual journey as well as the grueling physical trek down the eponymous highway. All the while she needs to avoid the grasps of the villainous trio who dog her footsteps the whole distance.
I will certainly be buying a physical copy of this for my reread, whenever that might happen. Mantooth is a major talent. By all the gods and demons, he can spin a damned scary yarn.
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