Publisher's Weekly
Screenwriter O'Rourke's first novel mixes several off-the-shelf horror ingredients into a bland, half-baked chiller. Nursing a bum knee and a troubled conscience--both trophies from his recent foray into war-torn former Yugoslavia--TV journalist Rick Masterson takes time off to recover physically and mentally. Most folks looking to exorcise personal demons might avoid a deserted place called Spirit Lake, but not Rick. The ''elemental,'' an evil spirit-being long deprived of a human vehicle in which to wreak havoc, haunts the lake, waiting for someone to carry it back to civilization. Standing in this being's path are Sara, the wandering soul of a murdered teenager, whom Rick encounters on a snowy road, and Hap and Phylis, two locals from a nearby town. Sara's attempt to save Rick is impeded when she beds down with the handsome stranger. Then it's up to Hap and Phylis, who, with the help of Janet, a psychic, hippie-era holdover, must neutralize the evil spirit before it summons other demons to a veritable feast of unsuspecting human souls; the messy ending is followed by an epilogue portending further mayhem.
Genre: Horror
Screenwriter O'Rourke's first novel mixes several off-the-shelf horror ingredients into a bland, half-baked chiller. Nursing a bum knee and a troubled conscience--both trophies from his recent foray into war-torn former Yugoslavia--TV journalist Rick Masterson takes time off to recover physically and mentally. Most folks looking to exorcise personal demons might avoid a deserted place called Spirit Lake, but not Rick. The ''elemental,'' an evil spirit-being long deprived of a human vehicle in which to wreak havoc, haunts the lake, waiting for someone to carry it back to civilization. Standing in this being's path are Sara, the wandering soul of a murdered teenager, whom Rick encounters on a snowy road, and Hap and Phylis, two locals from a nearby town. Sara's attempt to save Rick is impeded when she beds down with the handsome stranger. Then it's up to Hap and Phylis, who, with the help of Janet, a psychic, hippie-era holdover, must neutralize the evil spirit before it summons other demons to a veritable feast of unsuspecting human souls; the messy ending is followed by an epilogue portending further mayhem.
Genre: Horror
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