Boundaries

by T.M. Wright

Convinced that his twin sister's death was murder rather than suicide, David ventures across the line between life and death to locate her, and to find out the identity of her killer

Genres: Horror

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Terrance Michael Wright (AKA T. M. Wright) is best known as a writer of horror fiction, speculative fiction, and poetry. He has written over 25 novels, novellas, and short stories over the last 40 years. His first novel, 1978's Strange Seed, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and his 2003 novel Cold House was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. His novels have been translated into many different languages around the world. His works have been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and many genre magazines.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The old saw of telepathically linked twins gets a nice twist in this haunted house story. Anne has been murdered and David is determined to put her soul to rest. Wright's portrayal of existence on the other side (hence the title) is as poignant as ever. The murder mystery portion isn't as well done. I believe that the cover, by Gary Smith, is the best that Wright ever had.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rare miss for me in Wright's work, but in some ways it highlights one of his admittedly few weaknesses as a writer. His surreal depictions and portrayal of what the afterlife might be like - with souls creating shadow-constructs of what they were, remembering only fragments of mortal life - was top-notch, as always, and the flashback's to Anne's existence and the flash forwards to the future owners of Anne's house worked well. If this had been novella length and focused on those elements only, it would've been another surreal, existential Wright masterpiece.

Unfortunately, the crime drama about the sociopath who killed David's sister Anne and the not very surprising revelation of who he was seemed tacked on, almost unimportant. Again, a rare miss with Wright.

[Marsten · Rating 1 out of 5]

No me ha gustado nada y encima no lo he acabado de entender!

La sinopsis prometía y después de un incio esperanzador enseguida la historia se ha relentizado y se ha hecho repetitiva hasta llegar al apresurado final.
La trama se desdobla en dos linias temporales con flasbacks incluidos. Estos recursos entorpecen más que ayudan o intrigan. No se entiende (al menos yo) la parte de la estancia de David en el mundo del "otro lado" y en mi opinión esa parte la alarga mucho (le sobran 50 páginas bien buenas). Es lenta, repetitiva, sin giros argumentales interesantes ni sorpresivos (hasta el asesino se ve venir).

Con la esperanza que el final me resolviera las dudas argumentales y atara los cabos y las historias sueltas, resulta que "ná de ná"! Me he quedado igual o peor! No he entendido muy bien el final y menos aún me ha aclarado las dudas que venía teniendo a lo largo del libro sobre ciertos pasajes. A lo mejor he estado poco atento, empanado o no doy más de sí, pero de verdad que el final no me ha resuelto nada! En definitiva, un desastre!

Bueno, lamento deciros que por mi parte no os lo recomiendo por nada del mundo!

PD: A lo mejor la cutre portada y su peor edición (con un papel más grueso que un papiro y más aspero que un papel de lija) me hubiera debido poner en sobreaviso... No lo he visto venir... Una pena. Suerte que el libro era corto y se leía con facilidad.

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended author: "T.M. Wright is a rare and blazing talent!"