Matt McAvoy Book Review

This atmospheric collection of short supernatural chillers is right up my street, and I loved every moment of reading it.  The five mysterious tales – which I personally think are suitable for adults and (probably more mature) kids alike – are thoroughly entertaining, and I read the whole book in one enjoyable sitting.

Rio writes beautifully, in a simple, eloquent and professionally elegant style.  His language is easily savoured and although English doesn’t appear to be his first language, it flows perfectly, at a more than palatable pace.  There are several occasions, sure, in which I thought he had made the wrong choice of vocabulary and tense, but this can certainly be forgiven - in a way, in fact, this all adds to the book’s charm, bringing a little touch of dialect to its Indonesian setting.  I learnt a little about the people, their lives, culture and attitudes to love, work and life, aided by some occasional and very welcome footnotes.

The stories are irregular in length, varying from 10 to 75 pages - which is a good thing - and although the longest, in the midst of the five, could have perhaps been trimmed down a little, they are for the most part just right.  Rio is a master at creating light-hearted, pleasant and engaging prose, which gradually – or suddenly – changes in mood, to a darker and more atmospheric tone.  The characters in the tales are everyday people finding themselves in increasingly chilling situations, from a groom-to-be with a serious case of cold feet, to a thieving security guard, who just can’t keep his nose out of other people’s business.  The final book in the collection, about a domestically abused wife, is certainly the more grown up of the quintet, and may be perhaps less suitable for younger readers, but otherwise there is no unpleasant horror – they are more cerebral than that.  Each is a delightful, self-contained, one-sitting read, best enjoyed by a cosy fireplace of an evening.

The only downside to this book, in my view, was that it was over too quickly; I would have loved to read a couple more of Rio’s superb stories.  I see from his bio that this talented young author is not a particularly prolific writer, and that is a shame; I look forward to seeing much more from him, and hope he doesn’t wait too long before launching his next.

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