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The Switch
The fiery car crash that killed the American and his lovely daughter had been an accident, a tragedy that was entirely Adam Lawrence's fault. But no one knew about it -- not even Adam's invalid wife or vivacious daughter Trudy. No one knew except Adam -- and, maybe, the dead...
Adam believed his life could go on as before. And it did. For a while. Until Trudy brought home a handsome new boyfriend. Suddenly, empty rooms turned sinister with strange whispers. A foreboding coldness chilled the blood. And hideous shapes seemed to move in the shadows. For the time for vengeance had come. Soon killing would follow killing. And a tender seduction would turn into an unspeakable evil -- as a lover's touch became a skeletal hand that pulled the living toward the ultimate terror of ... The Switch.
Adam believed his life could go on as before. And it did. For a while. Until Trudy brought home a handsome new boyfriend. Suddenly, empty rooms turned sinister with strange whispers. A foreboding coldness chilled the blood. And hideous shapes seemed to move in the shadows. For the time for vengeance had come. Soon killing would follow killing. And a tender seduction would turn into an unspeakable evil -- as a lover's touch became a skeletal hand that pulled the living toward the ultimate terror of ... The Switch.
- GenresHorror
Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 22, 2022
This is a fun, way over the top 80s horror novel that definitely had its moments, but the melodrama and clichés overshadowed its punch, almost making it into a parody of the horror genre. Any horror fan knows the overused tropes-- going down to the basement alone; the car will not start just when you need it the most; just when you think you are home free... You get the idea. Well, The Switch read almost as if it invented these tropes.
Our main protagonist, Trudy, lives with her parents, but she just graduated school and the future looks bright! This started with prologue, where Trudy's father and his best friend/business partner, were celebrating their winnings from a casino in Portugal. Still kinda drunk, Trudy's father drives back to their hotel (30 minutes away) and let an American and his daughter follow in their own car (they needed help with directions). Well, Trudy's father fucks up, drives on the wrong side of the road, and in the end, induce a tractor trailer to hit the American's car by avoiding them, which kills them.
Flash forward 3 years or so and the real story begins. Set in London, Trudy's father's business is doing well, but he needs a new P.A., and it just happens that Trudy ran into (or rather, he ran into her) a young American guy who is looking for work. Even better, his skill set matches exactly what her father needs. One thing leads to another, and shortly, Mark is living in the family homestead, with Trudy totally crushed out on him. Something, however, is pretty fishy about Mark...
I will not go into any more details to avoid spoilers, but Sharman gives us numerous scenes here that just about span the gamut of horror clichés. Expect lots of dubious decisions by the main characters, almost but not quite escapes, looming danger signs that often go unheeded. This was fun, don't get me wrong, but I felt I was watching a mediocre B horror movie here circa 1984. 2.5 stars, rounding up for the sheer audacity of Sharman!
Our main protagonist, Trudy, lives with her parents, but she just graduated school and the future looks bright! This started with prologue, where Trudy's father and his best friend/business partner, were celebrating their winnings from a casino in Portugal. Still kinda drunk, Trudy's father drives back to their hotel (30 minutes away) and let an American and his daughter follow in their own car (they needed help with directions). Well, Trudy's father fucks up, drives on the wrong side of the road, and in the end, induce a tractor trailer to hit the American's car by avoiding them, which kills them.
Flash forward 3 years or so and the real story begins. Set in London, Trudy's father's business is doing well, but he needs a new P.A., and it just happens that Trudy ran into (or rather, he ran into her) a young American guy who is looking for work. Even better, his skill set matches exactly what her father needs. One thing leads to another, and shortly, Mark is living in the family homestead, with Trudy totally crushed out on him. Something, however, is pretty fishy about Mark...
I will not go into any more details to avoid spoilers, but Sharman gives us numerous scenes here that just about span the gamut of horror clichés. Expect lots of dubious decisions by the main characters, almost but not quite escapes, looming danger signs that often go unheeded. This was fun, don't get me wrong, but I felt I was watching a mediocre B horror movie here circa 1984. 2.5 stars, rounding up for the sheer audacity of Sharman!
November 3, 2017
Absolutely nail biting read, what a classic I missed so far. Well, actually it's about a hit and run accident and its concequences. One of the hardest and most compelling tales I ever came across. First I hesitated with the title but in the end that riddle is solved. I also liked the setting of the book in London, my favourite town and the adventures of its main character Trudy. You can't stop reading once you've begun with that page turner. Clear recommendation!
February 1, 2020
It's hard being a Nick Sharman fan, and this novel encapsulates everything about the author's work that makes him great and also a real pain in the you-know-what.
"The Switch" is a novel about gaslighting, so if you like that sort of thing, you may love this, because the book pulls out all the techniques at Sharman's disposal to keep you reading. It's a real page-turner! I do not recommend reading this when you are trying to go to sleep. The author really knows how to craft a well-paced and engrossing thriller.
Unfortunately, one of the ways he traps you to keep plodding through is in his knack for frustrating the reader. His characters do the most idiotic things to keep the plot going. I will give an example that won't spoil much:
Just as in another of his novels, "The Surrogate," he has people do things completely contradictory to their nature purely for the sake of making a twist or creating tension. In this case, the parents of the main heroine have to be the dumbest characters ever committed to print. They do not want their daughter having premarital sex, but allow some handsome boy that she just met and has a crush on to live in their great big house with them. No chance of that ending up with unintentional consequences, is there? And as a father myself, I got absolutely outraged at how easy it was for the heroine's dad to get convinced into involuntarily committing her to a psychiatric ward. What makes these things frustrating is because it was clear the author did not intend these characters to be that stupid or careless. But committing the protagonist to an asylum gives the reader a reason to see what happens next. Not kicking the boyfriend out of the house so hard that his breath smelled of shoe polish for weeks leaves unresolved conflict to pad out the book.
And so, just as you may get annoyed reading a book about people in a haunted house who don't just leave, or about people wandering off into the sinister woods when they were told to stay put, you will likely be frustrated with "The Switch."
I certainly was, and part of me wanted to rate this two stars. But then again, Sharman really is in top form when it comes to pacing, suspense, and thrills. He is one fantastic horror writer, and this novel will certainly entertain the hell out of you, if not leaving you feeling winded and sleep-deprived by the end. And speaking of the end, this novel does have a pretty sweet finale.
So maybe I complain because Nick Sharman's work does matter to me, and I think he deserves more notoriety than he has enjoyed. So give this one a go should you run across it, but if you really want a taste of what the author is best at, read "Childmare" instead.
"The Switch" is a novel about gaslighting, so if you like that sort of thing, you may love this, because the book pulls out all the techniques at Sharman's disposal to keep you reading. It's a real page-turner! I do not recommend reading this when you are trying to go to sleep. The author really knows how to craft a well-paced and engrossing thriller.
Unfortunately, one of the ways he traps you to keep plodding through is in his knack for frustrating the reader. His characters do the most idiotic things to keep the plot going. I will give an example that won't spoil much:
Just as in another of his novels, "The Surrogate," he has people do things completely contradictory to their nature purely for the sake of making a twist or creating tension. In this case, the parents of the main heroine have to be the dumbest characters ever committed to print. They do not want their daughter having premarital sex, but allow some handsome boy that she just met and has a crush on to live in their great big house with them. No chance of that ending up with unintentional consequences, is there? And as a father myself, I got absolutely outraged at how easy it was for the heroine's dad to get convinced into involuntarily committing her to a psychiatric ward. What makes these things frustrating is because it was clear the author did not intend these characters to be that stupid or careless. But committing the protagonist to an asylum gives the reader a reason to see what happens next. Not kicking the boyfriend out of the house so hard that his breath smelled of shoe polish for weeks leaves unresolved conflict to pad out the book.
And so, just as you may get annoyed reading a book about people in a haunted house who don't just leave, or about people wandering off into the sinister woods when they were told to stay put, you will likely be frustrated with "The Switch."
I certainly was, and part of me wanted to rate this two stars. But then again, Sharman really is in top form when it comes to pacing, suspense, and thrills. He is one fantastic horror writer, and this novel will certainly entertain the hell out of you, if not leaving you feeling winded and sleep-deprived by the end. And speaking of the end, this novel does have a pretty sweet finale.
So maybe I complain because Nick Sharman's work does matter to me, and I think he deserves more notoriety than he has enjoyed. So give this one a go should you run across it, but if you really want a taste of what the author is best at, read "Childmare" instead.
August 24, 2017
I want to give this book both five stars and no stars.
Taken seriously, it's a seriously subpar (especially compared to more contemporary books in that genre) horror novel mired in its datedness and completely, hysterically bad attempt at writing a woman. The turns are visible from miles away, the stupidity of the main characters and their inability to observe and think made me frustrated beyond belief.
But, if taken ironically... then it's so much screaming bad-good fun and cringe that you have to read it aloud to a group of your favorite friends so you can all laugh together about how the male author thinks women blow down the necks of their shirts to cool off their breasts during a hot day.
I both recommend and hope you never have to read this.
Taken seriously, it's a seriously subpar (especially compared to more contemporary books in that genre) horror novel mired in its datedness and completely, hysterically bad attempt at writing a woman. The turns are visible from miles away, the stupidity of the main characters and their inability to observe and think made me frustrated beyond belief.
But, if taken ironically... then it's so much screaming bad-good fun and cringe that you have to read it aloud to a group of your favorite friends so you can all laugh together about how the male author thinks women blow down the necks of their shirts to cool off their breasts during a hot day.
I both recommend and hope you never have to read this.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews