Books like The Visitor

Again Pike takes what seems to be a simple story and makes it incredibly creative. The back blurb unfortunately makes it seem like the story is focused on some stranger to town, Tom, but that is definitely not true. In fact he only plays a small role in the story later on - what actually happens is the book opens where Mary is consumed with grief and guilt over the death of her boyfriend Jerry. She attends a party and seance, and from there it just gets weird. Twisted, but delightfully weird.Hard to put down like most of his stuff, the writing style shines as brightly as the pacing does when it goes through the twisted and surreal plot. Not possible to guess everything that goes on here, but it's dark and demented in the end. The characters offer interesting contrasts to each other, with Mary being too beautiful to be true, the long-time friend who acts like a man after all, and the upset brother who still stands by his friends as long as the truth comes out. Tom is a minor role in a much larger story.It's grim and a little depressing but it's definitely worth reading. Another winner from the Pike library.