Book Review: Kill River

What a fun ride! Kill River by Cameron Roubique is the perfect slasher, just in novel form. Seriously, someone should make a movie out of this!

The book begins with Cyndi, a quiet, somewhat shy teenager, being shipped off to summer camp on a bus by her parents. She meets three other teenagers on the bus: bubbly, pretty Stacy, jock Brad, and cute joker, Zack. Upon reaching camp, Cyndi and Stacy quickly bond, and when her three new friends decide to run away from camp on a raft, Cyndi joins them. The four teenagers get lost and end up at an abandoned water park, where they begin to get picked off one by one.

I really liked the characters here. Rather than typical, one dimensional slasher victims, all four teens were pretty well rounded. Even Brad, the least likable of the group, seemed human. He could seem spoiled or irresponsible, but he clearly truly cares about Zack and Stacey. Meanwhile, the friendship between the lonely Cyndi and popular Stacey was probably the heart of the book. The sisterly relationship that develops between the two girls is believable and touching, and leads to some of the most poignant and emotional moments in the novel. Cyndi's budding romantic relationship with Zack is also sweet. Cyndi's excitement and joy as she comes out of her shell and begins to find herself grounds the book, and it is truly heartbreaking when these kids start to die.

And die they do! Roubique doesn't skimp on the gore as a creepy masked killer begins his massacre. The masked maniac is anonymous, much like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, albeit with even less backstory. And he stabs and slashes with the best of them. Kill River ratchets up the tension with each death; I read the unputdownable last hundred pages or so, which find Cyndi standing alone against the killer, in one sitting.

If this was a horror movie, it would be one of those therapeutic, comfort food kind-of slashers that I come back to again and again, like my favorite Friday the 13th entries or cult-classic Sleepaway Camp. Something I can always turn on and tune out the world with.

I highly recommend this book and will be immediately seeking out the two sequels. Check back here to see how they compare to the original!