The Shore

The Pines Trilogy

by Robert Dunbar

Believing himself pursued by monsters, a teenage boy skulks through windy streets, while a madman prowls in search of salvation ... and a tormented girl struggles to escape captivity. As a winter storm tightens its grip on the town of Edgeharbor -- epicenter for a series of horrible murders -- the scattered inhabitants cower from more than pounding waves. Mangled victims bear the marks of savage claws and strange, bloody footprints mar the snow-covered beach. Now a young policewoman and a myserious stranger are all that stand between this isolated community and an ancient evil.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Ebooks

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Dunbar is the author of the THE PINES TRILOGY, a series of supernatural thrillers – THE PINES and THE SHORE and THE STREETS. These novels have garnered extremely positive reviews, attracting a great many readers, and the author often blogs about his adventures in the genre world here at Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...



Dunbar has written for television and radio as well as for numerous newspapers and magazines. His plays and poetry have won awards, and his short fiction has been widely anthologized. You can find an interview with him here:
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page32....



Dunbar has been called "the catalyst for the new literary movement in horror" and "one of the saviors of contemporary dark fiction," which he loves… in no small degree because of how such comments provoke the troll community.

To learn more, drop by Robert Dunbar’s Literary Darkness discussion group.
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dunbar's follow-up to The Pines is a satisfying experience. it seems as if the many years between novels has served to intensify rather than decrease his disinterest in presenting traditional horror thrills, and this novel is if anything even more challenging to the reader expecting a simple, scary narrative. straightforward suspense is still available: during the prologue (The Pines contains a similarly suspense-filled teaser) and in particular during a very entertaining sequence in which a classic sociopath toys with an equally classic foe - a haughty psychoanalyst. but that's pretty much it - the rest of the novel is for fully engaged readers only. thoughts from characters are presented in an almost stream-of-conscious style, disallowing easy identification and instead creating an overwhelming mood of weak, despairing humans grasping ineffectively at basic reasons for their existence. horrible murders occur, but the focus is placed almost entirely on those too-weak humans, the complete inability of any of the characters to truly understand each other's motives, the slow decay of a seaside town, the atmosphere of wintry isolation and a cold, dead, encroaching sea. if the novel has a weakness, it is one that is oddly shared by The Pines: in that novel, the female protagonist often comes across as too smart, too hard, too ruthless in her outlook; in The Shore, the female protagonist comes across as the opposite - at some points, so dithery as to appear almost mentally disabled. but perhaps there is purpose in that too. at one point a character theorizes the horrors may be a sign of sinister changes facing the human world, evolution as something to be feared. i saw something quite different: de-evolution, of a sort: the chthonic past coming back to haunt the present, forcing the regression of civilization back into the primal. the rather magnificent final set piece felt like a metaphor for this backwards movement. as the various characters chase and are chased around the town, in and out of abandoned buildings, a police station, an amusement park... nature itself smashes the landscape, wind and rain and floods quickly dismantling the built-up world, the sea itself rushing in to destroy all in its path, as the characters struggle to understand each other, themselves, and the horrors that threaten to submerge them.

this review is a part of a longer article that includes an interview with the author, posted on Shelf Inflicted.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

The Shore, Robert Dunbar’s sequel to book one The Pines is quite possibly the better of the two books. The Shore is first and foremost a classic style horror where the atmosphere and tension is the name of the game, and not graphic guts and gore. The book is paced like a smoldering coal that as the wind comes off the shore is stoked to end with a raging fire. The story plays out like that. The Shore is not a fast paced thriller, nor does it look for the quick scare.

The Shore is much more than the average scare story. Dunbar tells each of the characters stories slowly, bringing to light more and more through back story and world building, leading us to believe that we know what is going on. All the while we are told about our main protagonists in Katherine and Steve, we get told even more about the other true main character…The Jersey Shore…




“The rain stirred along the beach like a pulsing liquid entity. Lightning mottled the sky, and the rocks glittered.
Every particle of the sea heaved. A single strip of foam lashed continually across the surface, and thick currents undulated like gigantic snakes.
Fierce wind gnawed at the land. The beach vanished in flying plumes, and debris gorged the air. Freezing water scoured the rooftops of the beach houses, wave after wave shattering down as though the sea had left its bed in great convulsions. Cataracts spouted from the boardwalk.”




The atmosphere and location mad the reader feel like they were there, smelling the sea, feeling the spray, and hearing the roar. I loved it.

Dunbar takes this killer among us story and drops it on the coast and flakes on some extra special in what could be the supernatural and what could be Monsters among us. Just like the story itself that seems to take place mostly at night and in the dark. Things are not always easy to see.

I love the writing style of Dunbar. He is a smart writer that clearly wants the reader to go deep into his stories, committing themselves to it, and feeling part of it. The way that the mystery unfolds makes this one work. I love his descriptive style that is at times punctuated and detailed.




““But his gaze swept along the sand to where more gulls descended heavily. “There must be someplace we could live, someplace that doesn’t make you feel like life is just…an infection on the planet.”
“Somewhere we could live?”
“Some days, nights really, when I can tell the days from the nights, I think about how I have nothing to show for my life, about how easy it would be to just end this. But they’re counting on me.”
Now terns and gulls swarmed across the sand below. A few slate gray pigeons bobbed amid the horde; then a gull raced forward, wings canted, beak hooking, and the pigeons pattered rapidly away.
“The waves sound so far away,” she said. “Like in a shell. Don’t stare at the beach like that. You’re making me nervous…Don’t you think it’s time you trusted me?””



I was already a fan of Dunbar’s before I read this one. His books and style would appeal to all people that want horror literature and not cheap scares. The story and style of this book reminded me a lot of one of my favorite movie directors, Dario Argento. The environment portrayed in his movies and in Dunbar’s books are integral characters that are also works of art…simply amazing.

[Cujo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always loved the Jersey shore. My family started going there when I was little more then a baby and there you would see little Chad toddling along the coast line, spashing in a tide-pool, chasing seagulls or digging in the sand..But as much as I loved the shore, I always picture the shore towns being lonely, creepy places during the off season..... This book hints on that creepiness with a dying shore town during the off season experiencing gruesome murders, on the heels of a bad ass Noreaster. It also hints at a famous Jersey legend without naming it

[Robert Dunbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's nothing quite so much fun as when that first box of books arrive. The initial reviews have been very exciting.

* * *

“It's often said that “style is the verbal identity of the writer.” In this way Robert Dunbar's vivid imagery continues to blaze a distinctive trail.”
~ Shroud Magazine

“Every bit as much of a classic as THE PINES. This is the way great horror should be written.”
~ HellNotes

“Impeccably crafted, with precise and elegant prose, meticulous attention to detail and pacing, this intense and wholly original novel is one of the best to come out of the horror genre in years."
~ Dark Scribe

"THE SHORE literally drips with atmosphere … and doesn’t let up on the intensity. The characters are fresh and fascinating, with intricate personalities and quirks that make them all the more real."
~ Famous Monsters of Filmland

Check out my blog to read about my adventures with this book (and its prequel).
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the New Jersey shore, in the small town of Edgeharbor, where the woods creep into the streets, a monster stalks out of the night and rips people apart. As a winter storm brews, the murders escalate, until everyone in town is afraid to be caught outside after dark. Whatever’s out there has no mercy or sanity—it just kills, frightening the townspeople far more than an angry ocean during a hurricane.

A stranger shows up in town, and he’s the only one who knows what the monster is. Barry Hobbes—as he calls himself these days—has been tracking a boy for months. This time, the child will not get away—cannot get away—because Bobby knows what he’s capable of, and he either has to bring the child to people who can help him or end his life.

Katherine Lonigan is a local policewoman, assigned to help protect the small harbor town, but most people consider her an outsider. Something about the town makes her nervous, and she often feels as if the night is watching her. Something massive and hulking moves out there—something nightmares are made of—but she’s not sure if she believes in monsters. When she encounters Barry, she’s determined to find out who he is and what he’s doing in her town—because he just might be the monster that everyone’s afraid of.

The Shore is the sequel to The Pines, but it stands alone well as a classic horror. I do recommend reading The Pines first, though, just so you’ll better understand who some of the characters are. It’s not crucial to the story, but it’ll have more meaning if you’ve already read The Pines.

Robert Dunbar brings the off-season of the Jersey shore to life, and readers will feel the biting wind, see the fog rolling off the ocean, and hear the horrified shrieks of hapless victims caught outside near the ocean on a cold winter night. Mr. Dunbar has an uncanny gift for pulling a reader deep inside the story, drowning out everything else around them. As I read, I actually felt as if I were right there in Edgeharbor with the characters.

No matter which direction you think The Shore is headed, you’ll be wrong. Just when you think you’ve figured things out, again, you’ll be wrong. Not until the last few pages will you get a glimmer of what and whom the monster is, and it’ll leave you feeling a bit astounded. Intelligent, mind-stunning horror plots delight me—and Mr. Dunbar is a master.

The Shore is intense, creepy, suspenseful, and horrifying. And since Stephen King is mostly retired, I’ll be turning to Robert Dunbar when I want a good scare along with a great read.

First appeared at NightsandWeekends.com: http://www.nightsandweekends.com/arti...

[Cheral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so I sort of get it now the 3 books in the series take place in different setting that all say Jersy like the woods and the shore. I expected all the characters to run through all of them and they sort of do but sort of don’t here. The writer plays a lot of tricks on us, right from the start of The Shores where your rooting for the kid to escape but then your sorry. Then its one shock after an other. Its horror and is beautiful and sad and nerve racking and then you can’t even believe what your reading, like the most murder mystery in the world only with a monster. A real scary monster. That you still feel sorry for

[Robert Dunbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to resist sharing reviews when they're this good. (Not that I tried very hard.)

“In literary circles, it’s often said that 'style is the verbal identity of the writer.' Robert Dunbar’s vivid imagery continues to blaze a distinctive trail.”
~ Shroud Magazine

“Literary and atmospheric … Be prepared to be entertained. As terrifying as it is satisfying – this one is definitely highly recommended.”
~ Horror World

“Impeccably crafted, with precise and elegant prose, meticulous attention to detail and pacing, this intense and wholly original novel is one of the best to come out of the horror genre in years.”
~ Dark Scribe

“Every bit as much of a classic as THE PINES. This is the way great horror should be written.”
~ HellNotes

“Robert Dunbar knows how to scare his readers. THE SHORE is Gothic in many respects … character driven yet filled with action … a terrifying horror thriller.”
~ Alternative Worlds

“Edge-of-your seat suspense ... it’ll scare the devil outta ya!”
~ The Horror Fiction Review

“I couldn’t put the book down! THE SHORE is a genuinely creepy read . . . a roller coaster ride where everyone is both the hunter and the hunted.”
~ Fantasy Book Reviews

“A masterpiece … Dunbar charts a new course in contemporary horror.”
~ Dark Wisdom

[Karl]

This book is marked copy PC of 240 hardcover copies printed and is signed an numbered by Robert Dunbar.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dark and puzzling in it's story telling. The book started out reminding me of an episode or two of Twilight Zone. The author made some very nice visuals of the surroundings and kept me entertained thruout the whole book.

[Dark Recesses]

THE SHORE
By Robert Dunbar
Delirium Books
Hardcover Limited Edition, $50.00

At the tail end of the horror boom of the 80s and early 90s, Robert Dunbar presented to the genre a book of moody, bleak terror: THE PINES. Over the years, this novel has rightfully gained a rabid cult following. Fans of the novel (myself included) speculated why no sequel. This was a man who could, after all, craft engaging and atmospheric fiction, a true master of the art of horror.
Well, we can thank Robert Dunbar and Delirium Books for finally giving the world THE SHORE, a sequel of sorts, involving characters from THE PINES. Dunbar, internationally renowned for his expertise on the Jersey Devil legend, has appeared on multiple documentaries, and written several academic articles in reference to the legend and the environment in which it has survived since the 17th century. This time Dunbar returns to the legend from a different angle, setting the story on the shore of Edgeharbor, a tourist town in its last death throes, where shadows and cold hold wet sway.
In THE PINES, Dunbar created a palpable atmosphere of dark humidity, replete with sodden rot and swampy stench - one of the elements that most fans agree made the book a modern classic of the genre. This time around he has created a chilly, blue world of cold, salty wind and lashing icy rain, which may have you wrapping up in a blanket by book’s end. Those rainy scenes will haunt you, especially the forlorn ending. The plot is deliberate and tight, the characters emotional and full, and Dunbar approaches even the most dastardly with a rare empathy and compassion. There are several surprises along the way, where evil and good may not be what you think they are; the twists are entertaining and emotional.
In short, THE SHORE is every bit as classic as THE PINES, and perhaps even more so, as it helps to build Dunbar’s mythos, and accentuates how much more masterly he’s become at his craft in the intervening years. As with his first novel, it would be easy to write a ten-page essay of all the little details that make his work stand out and why these works transcend genre labels and shelves, but I’ll let you, dear reader, discover these things for yourself.
And let me take a moment to mention Mike Bohatch’s cover art, which masterfully bolsters the book’s theme of cold and wet and shadows.
Delirium, keep up the good work in bringing these modern classics to genre in need of true craftsmanship.

--Nickolas Cook

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous book. A psychic/horror/mystery book of the highest caliber. Along the New Jersey coast is a area called The Barrens, a desolate wooded, swampy, unsettled area that harbors all of its' own mysteries, its' own beliefs and wives tales. A short distance down the coast is a small essentially deserted town called Edgeharbor, it was once a bustling vacation area with boardwalks and amusement parks, then the murders and mutilations started. The only law enforcement was a young woman. One day a man came to town on a mission which remained unknown throughout much of the book, that of hunting mutated people. The chase is excitement of the highest degree, the officer and hunter join forces to track down a murderer. In the mix is a empty town, a hurricane storm approaching and hitting the town, and the tension of the chase. Dunbar is a prolific writer, he creates some of the greatest prose in describing the people, places, and events you are likely to ever read. He gives you all the people and events and still the pursuit of the perp is almost impossible to determine until they tell you. I rate this one high, not only because the story is great, but the descriptions given to the wind, to the waves on the shoreline, the snows, everything is so descriptive it is a joy to read.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Robert Dunbar The Pines. As a winter storm prepares to rock the small coastal town of Edgeharbor, NJ. violent things are happening. Mangled bodies are found with strange looking claw marks on them. Strange looking footprint are found on the snow covered beach in Edgehabor. There is only one man who can help save this town from this monster. His name is Barry Hobbes. He knows what kind of monster that is committing these gruesome murders. He has help from a local policewoman name Kit Lonergan. Can Hobbes and Lonergan track down this vicious monster?

[Chris Carroll · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really, really disliked this book. Frankly, I'm amazed I finished it. The author has a certain style of writing, and maybe it's just me, but I can't stand it. In my opinion, he overuses simile, metaphor, and personification to set the mood, to the extent that character development and the story suffers. There is little dialogue, and what there is reads like a screenplay. This is the 2nd in a series, and I've read the first. I just don't remember it being this bad.

[Dana Vacca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this; great story! Mystery, horror, crime, thriller, drama,... wonderfully knit together in an exciting tale of suspense layered atop the backdrop of a shabby, decaying, New Jersey shoreline community whose heyday has passed. The story climaxes in a nail-biting, page-turning finish but keeps you guessing until the very end! Wonderfully written. Author paints pictures in your mind with a palette of masterful descriptions of the tangible and the intangible.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first quarter of the book was like slogging through quicksand in flippers, but I'm glad I stuck it out. Dunbar walks a fine line between building mystery and writing in an intentionally obtuse style that can be boring. But, as in the Pines (this is a sequel BTW), once the pace picks up, the book is quite enjoyable.

[Dwayne Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Scary exciting, with a few nice twists! A very good read from the author of The Pines.

[Gary Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark,brooding and ominous horror/mystery novel that is a literate masterpiece.

[Aishma · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book!

[Alicia Utter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 7/10
Pages: 319

While it took me a while to find this book, and I did have to order it from a bookstore, it was worth it. At least as far as continuing the story. Interesting enough, it occurs not too far after the original book, but it has only a few of the same characters.

In this storm of all storms, you start to see some of the same behavior, but again being covered up by location and by the storm itself.

I don't want to give away too much. I will say it was worth the hunt, not that this stands superwell by itself but more so I can get the damn story as a whole. I would have felt pretty shorted otherwise.

Location: Giving away

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not a fan. I couldn't tell if this wanted to be a kidnapping book or a monster story. Tons and tons of exposition on the setting and I still don't know what the monsters were actually supposed to be. The conclusion felt rushed and by the third act it felt like a slog to get through it. I never read the Pines so that could be effecting my opinion (just found out it's part of a trilogy.) Even with that said, I just never got into this one.

[craig taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Caution!!

This is the worst book I have ever read and I have read a lot of books over the years. I slogged through it but it was very painful. I would make prisoners read this until they gave a confession shouldn't take more twenty pages before they spilled their guts

[Rachel Nowakowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea anymore. I read it and it was OK. But it reminds me of the kind of trashy horror that I snaffled from my cousins bedrooms and read when I was a young teenager.

[My work is never done]

The Sequel to the Pines I can not wait to read it!!!

[Sarah B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book told a good story but at the same time it was odd. We don't learn the names of the four main characters until a good chunk of the way through the book. And as you read each new section after a scene change you are left guessing which character that scene is with. Is it the boy, is it the fat man or is it the other man? There is also a lady cop. Because you have no idea and you later have to figure it out on your own as you read more. I have no idea why the author wrote the book this way. But I found it rather annoying as it kept me wondering which character each scene was with. It's why I'm rating the book only 3 stars.

If you can ignore that and get through it, the story itself is decent enough. It's very mysterious and has a good twist at the end. What you think is going on is not going on at all. The story is set in a dying town where most of the buildings are now empty and falling apart. Someone or something is killing people violently, like a beast ripping them open. Corpses are left on the beach or in the ocean. The book includes hints about creatures, which the back cover refers to an an "ancient evil". There are scenes of action and danger, snooping and investigation.

The book has many mysterious characters who are busy watching and trying to follow a young boy (about 14 y/o). And he is busy hiding on everyone. At first I had no idea what this was all about but as I read it became more clear. I admit I kept reading it because I wanted to find out what was really going on and how it would all end. I did guess the twist a few pages before they announced it, but otherwise I did not see it coming. In that way the author was very clever.

This book apparently is the sequel to "The Pines" which I did not read.

[Cassie Calverley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book in this trilogy, “The Pines”, quickly became one of my favorite books! That being said, this sequel is kind of a bummer. It’s no where near as suspenseful, disturbing, or mysterious as the first book. Dare I say a bit boring... I will say, the author does a great job at creating a sense of hopelessness and isolation by using weather and climate conditions (unbearably hot summer in “The Pines”, painfully cold winter in “The Shore”), which I think is a great strategy! I’m still looking forward to finishing the series, and I’m holding on hope that the great reviews of the third book, “The Streets”, don’t let me down! :)

[John Bruni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew going in that I wasn't going to like it. But it was already in my collection, so I gave it a whirl. It didn't do much for me.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I expected too much coming off The Pines, but I didn't like this one nearly as much. I didn't like the characters, which is rather curious in light of something you find out halfway through the book. The atmosphere was all right for a horror book - a coastal town rapidly going downhill in an economic depression - but the characters were forgettable, and I honestly barely remember anything about the plot.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

****This is a copy of my old Amazon review I never posted on here!

I was really hoping for a dark, suspenseful read but I did not get it! I appreciate that the author took time to write this book but I hope the next time he writes he keeps the reader in mind because there was just too much drool and not enough bite. Also, the editing was poorly done with a lot of character confusion. Save a couple of bucks and skip this book.

[Robert Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a hard read. I had trouble following the storyline and the characters. I have not read The Pines Dunbar's first in this series so that may have been my problem. Definitely not my liking..

[Cri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but I enjoyed The Pines more. I think the storytelling threw me off a bit, I don't know. I like the author's vivid descriptions and the creepy tone throughout the book.