BOOK REVIEW: WINWARD BY CHAD A. CLARK

BY JIM MCLEOD 

​Chad A Clark's latest novella Winward is unleashed on the world today and to mark this we have a review of both Winward and Yesterday, When We Died a previous novella from Chad.  (click here to read Tony Jones' review of it).

There is something special about the USA, its vast size and diverse demographics make it perfect for the great outdoors, let's go on a vacation, horror story.  The sense of isolation and otherworldliness that places like the US bring  is hard to imagine in a smaller country.  The vast tracks of land between towns lend a certain sense of dread to a novel set in the magnificent wilderness.  This sense of isolation is something that Chad A Clark uses to great effect in this punchy fast-paced thriller.  

When Wendy and Rubin decide to take a weekend trip to Winward Colorado to visit some old friends, they would never have imagined that they would be thrown headlong into a nightmare trip that will see them fighting for their very survival in a disturbing journey into the hellish dark heart of Colorado

Chad A. Clark's novella is a whirlwind tale that refuses to let up.  Clark wastes no time in dropping Wendy, Rubin and the reader into the action, and your feet will barely touch the floor during the course of this taut tale of terror.  

While the characters of Wendy and Rubin, may not be the most thoroughly rounded and developed of characters, Clark imbues them with enough solidity and believability to carry the story.  This results in the reader not so much feeling for the characters. Instead, the reader in a way becomes the characters; you end up with a very empathic reading experience, you almost slip under their skin and feel the pain, trauma and sense of desperation from a sort of first-person experience.  It adds an extra layer of tension that drives you and the narrative forward with unstoppable momentum.  

However, the real star of this novel is Sheriff Daniels, I dare you to read Winward and not picture Clancy Brown in the lead role.  Sheriff Daniels is a masterful piece of characterisations and delivery.  More akin to a force of nature than a human being.  Some characters live and breath on the page, he rips free of the page and haunts your living world.  

Clark uses the setting of Winward effectively and for once actually, addresses the use of mobile and landline telephones logically and believable manner, adding the brilliant claustrophobic nature of the narrative. 

Winward is a brutal tale, but Clark never pushes it so far that the narrative becomes over the top or unbelievable, with a spectacular final set piece Clark ensures that Winward is an unyielding thriller that packs one hell of a hell of a punch.  

Taught, Thrilling and disturbing Winward does for Colorado what Deliverance did for Georgia.

BOOK REVIEW: YESTERDAY WHEN WE DIED BY CHAD A CLARK
​FILM REVIEW: SHARKNADO 5: GLOBAL SWARMING