Page Count 294
Publication date June 2013 Publisher 47North
Price £1.99 Purchased From: Amazon Kindle (9/2018)
******
Synopsis
Ryan Adler and his twin sister, Jane, spent their happiest childhood days at their parents’ mountain Colorado cabin—until divorce tore their family apart. Now, with the house about to be sold, the Adler twins gather with their closest friends for one last snowboarding-filled holiday. While commitment-phobic Ryan gazes longingly at Lauren, wondering if his playboy days are over, Jane’s hopes of reconciling with her old boyfriend evaporate when he brings along his new fiancée. As drama builds among the friends, something lurks in the forest, watching the cabin, growing ever bolder as the snow falls…and hunger rises.
After a blizzard leaves the group stranded, the true test of their love and loyalty begins as the hideous creatures outside close in, one bloody attack at a time. Now Ryan, Jane, and their friends must fight—tooth and nail, bullet and blade—for their lives. Or else surrender to unspeakable deaths in the darkened woods.
*****
Whilst being snowed into a remote cabin in the woods isn’t exactly unique to the horror genre I really enjoyed this book.
There’s something scary about not understanding the origins or motives of the creatures you’re up against. Especially when you know there’s nothing to do but face them.
Ahlborn steadily builds dread from the start with a classic hitchcock move- the time bomb. We know something the characters don’t.. we know what’s out there!
There’s not a moment to relax during The Shuddering, even whilst the (almost) happy holiday makers are going about their business, we know what inevitably awaits them.
I did find it a little strange that so many others went missing in the area without alarm bells being raised, a fact that was only alluded to twice. However, we could explain that away with their isolated locations and heavy snow. The entire plot takes shape over the course of a few days so it’s not unfeasible that the murders would initially go unnoticed.
The Shuddering is a plot driven story though there is a little character development- enough to keep me invested in their fate- which was all I really needed in this case.
The relationships are generic tropes but that didn’t bother me at all. A love triangle, a jealous ex, a suspicious girlfriend, a bachelor and a fun lover. I found them all to be an easy, comfortable backdrop to the main event.
**Just as I finished reading The Shuddering I took the puppy out to the tree line beside our house for a wee in the dark. Well of course there was something fast rustling through the trees! We both ran back inside and looked out the bedroom window. Thankfully no beasties for us- just a rather large fox. Still gave me a heart attack though!**
I read The Shuddering as part of 3 October readathons.
*Books In The Freezer – Horror by a female author
*BYOBthon – Horror/ Woods On The Cover/ Creature Feature
*CharmsExtraCredit – Lumos, A Light Cover
Roxanne’s Reactions
Share this:
An Average Life 
Great review! Okay, so just the title alone makes me want to read it, I want to find out what that monster is 😃 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person