THE PIPER’S GRAVEYARD

Real and unnatural threats abound in this fantastical horror novel.

Cessy Timms is a detective, a long way from her days as an angry and rebellious teen growing up in the small mining town of Hamlin, West Virginia. Her life is simple and focused on work until her little sister, Kate, disappears. Cessy discovers that Kate must have gone back to the town they both fled years ago, summoned by mysterious messages from an ex-boyfriend. Cessy follows Kate’s trail only to find that things are rather strange in Hamlin. The town has effectively sealed itself off from the outside world to keep out the “vermin,” a term used by a group of enigmatic talk radio hosts. The radio program can be heard all over town. In fact, it appears that the radio hosts are listening to the conversations of the residents. There are other bizarre happenings: Much of the population has vanished; sinkholes are swallowing up houses; and strange bugs look to be opening holes in the fabric of the universe. Even Cessy’s own parents have changed. They refuse to help her search for Kate and seem to be more focused on the vitriol being spewed by the shadowy radio hosts. Farthing spins an excellent tale as Cessy races to save Kate and get out of town. The characters are vibrant and the town, appropriately creepy. It would be difficult not to draw parallels between the fictional events in Hamlin—where the local population determinedly ignores facts in favor of the hatred spewed by talk radio—and real-life current events. Yet the author largely resists explicitly pointing out the obvious. Instead, the odd happenings tie in neatly to the disappearance of Cessy’s sister. Despite the riveting story’s supernatural overtones and otherworldly climax, Hamlin feels like it could be any small town in America. And perhaps that’s the scariest part of all.

The unbelievable becomes, well, believable in this gripping tale of small-town terror.