Book 31: The Croning

Laird Barron's first full length book feels exactly like it sounds, a first full length book.  I'm not familiar with his short story writing, but from some other reviews I've read, he's evidently some sort of savant when it comes to the scary shorties.  I liked elements of this book quite a bit.  The first bits are fantastic and some of the middle is pretty stellar, but it lacks some cohesion in some of the plot lines (in fact, there seemed to be a whole chapter that was very well done but really felt like it belonged in another story altogether).  Mostly though, there are parts where the book feels really forced, like it was extended from a medium story (about 150 pages) into the 240 page full book.  I hate to say it, but there were 30 page stretches that were really tough to slog through.  I can't really recommend the book though there are enough very creepy and mysterious moments to have gotten me to the end.