Тайната на светилището

by Elaine Evans, Илайн Евънс

От деня, в който обаятелният, тайнствен Бакстър Мар влезе в живота на Каролайн Балард, всичко се промени. С всяка изминала минута тя се отдалечаваше от сигурния си, приятен живот, докато следваше този мъж към неговото мрачно, запуснато имение. Но в Шадоуланд тя не бе добре дошла. Аделайн Дарк, озлобената сестра на Басктър Мар, се опитваше с всички средства да я прогони. Без съмнение – тя искаше да скрие някаква ужасна тайна…

Genres: Gothic

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there were four stars for terribleness, "Shadowland" would get them. When the novel opens, Caroline Ballard is working as a medical office receptionist in Florida but soon finds herself stalked and virtually abducted by an eccentric wealthy dilettante who wants to her to act as secretary and assistant for the novel he's writing about his family's settlement of Florida. Although she thinks he's creepy--she notes his hair is dyed, for example; just one example of the author's odd knack for bizarre details--Caroline likes the idea of the good life, so off they go to Shadowland, his estate on the Gulf. Of course, the household is full of odd characters. Why should a reviewer spoil them for the reader with descriptions? Caroline is even sort of romanced. Meanwhile, the secret of Shadowland will of course be revealed, because her first impression was right: the job is indeed too good to be true. There are strange asides, non-sequiturs galore, a meal that nearly gave me indigestion just reading about it (with strawberry shortcake for dessert, ugh), and lots of unintentionally funny dialogue that made me laugh out loud. Plus it contains very offensive characterizations of the developmentally disabled and a dog is treated in a way that shouldn't happen to a dog, as they say. And if there were any doubt that Elaine Evans is a pseudonym for a male writer, there's a shower scene with lots of lathering, followed by Caroline's mental inventory of all her parts in the mirror while getting dressed afterwards. "Shadowland" is truly an example of the fact that Lancer Publishing was clearly hungry for content to satisfy the market. It's just so awful that it's actually memorably awful. I'd explain more, but that would deprive any potential readers of the dubious treats in store for them if they read the book.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gil Brewer is one of my favorite crime/noir writers and late in his career, writing as Elaine Evans, he wrote four gothic novels, of which Shadowland, published in 1970, is the only one I've been able to find and read. Brewer fully delivers on the gothic atmosphere and paranoia and that is the best part of this novel. Fast-paced action scenes were always a strength of Brewer's and there are plenty of them here, too, usually with the protagonist running, which is another gothic trope Brewer nails. And he also showcases his scenic abilities with a lot of set-piece verbal confrontations between characters. The challenge is that Brewer makes a less than minimal attempt to guide the reader through a plot that doesn't make any sense. Lacking even a skeleton of a story as support, atmosphere and action alone fail to hold this novel together. It's an interesting read for Brewer collectors and completists, but my recommendation doesn't go beyond that.

[Nattie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hopelessly ridiculous. I might have been willing to give this book 3 stars if it hadn't been so stupid, but it was just too stupid to rate higher than 2 stars.

Caroline is a nurse that is summoned by Baxter Marr's chauffer one day. Caroline has no clue who Baxter is, but hops into his car anyway. Eventually Baxter tells her that he wants her to come live at his home, a house called Shadowland. He wants her to work on his novel with him. He claims he has cleared it with her boss whom is an old friend of his.

Caroline thinks highly of her boss, so upon hearing that he has given his approval, she takes the offer.

What a ridiculous fool Caroline is. Who would take a job from a stranger without even checking anything out? It's hard to believe she was smart enough to be a nurse.

Caroline is thoroughly pleased with her decision. She's always wanted to see inside Shadowland and she's been aching for an adventure. Right away things seem strange in the house, Baxter's sister is nasty to Caroline and warns her to go away. Many more things happen that any normal person would take as a sign to hit the road, but not Caroline. The more Baxter's sister and the maid warn her to leave, the more she wants to stay. She won't let them run her away from her adventure.

The stupidity continues as Caroline pokes her big nose into everything, intent on finding out the secrets of Shadowland house. She insists on going into rooms that many warn her to stay out of, she refuses to heed any warnings, even though she herself admits something is very wrong and she feels afraid. She catches Baxter in her room twice while she was sleeping, he was mumbling to himself like a madman, but she never lets on that she saw him. Even after that she wouldn't make a single attempt to leave.

In the end, I was disappointed because the fool managed to make it out alive. I wanted her to die a much deserved slow and painful death. Obviously she wasn't too concerned about waking up dead one morning, so neither was I.

[Adrian Griffiths · Rating 1 out of 5]

A young woman takes a "too good to be true" job working for a reclusive writer, living with him in his remote sinister mansion along with suspicious relatives and grumpy servants. Ominous things happen but she doesn't leave, and things come to a head with a very over-the-top climax.

As some other reviewers have said, this is a ridiculous story. At the start, the book seemed ok and the writing style was good enough to carry me along... but the big reveal at the end is terrible. Laughable. At least this one is short and you can get it over with quickly.

[Viktoria Atanasova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting style - poor plot tho.