With masterful storytelling, Travis Thrasher draws readers into a novel so gripping it cannot be put down.
James Miller is a burned-out missionary whose time on the mission field in Papua New Guinea left him exhausted and disillusioned. His wife, Stephanie, feels like she’s losing her mind. After moving to North Carolina, Stephanie begins seeing strange and frightening things: blood dripping down the walls, one of her children suffocating. Premonitions, she’s sure, of what’s to come. As the visions and haunting images intensify, Stephanie asks her brother to come for a much-needed visit–but he’s hiding secrets of his own that will prove more destructive than Stephanie can imagine.
Nine-year-old Zachary sees his family’s move as an adventure, and as he explores the new house, he discovers every young boy’s dream: secret passageways and hidden rooms. But what seems exciting at first quickly becomes altogether frightening. When a snowstorm traps the Millers, the supernatural dangers of their new home will test everything they thought they knew about each other, and about their faith.
-
Sexual Content - 2/5
2/5
-
Violence - 3/5
3/5
-
Language - 0/5
0/5
-
Drugs and Alcohol - 1/5
1/5
Summary
From: Isaac Scego
Book Title: Isolation
Book Author: Travis Thrasher
What do you like about this book:
Summery::
Searching this book on Goodreads.com, you are bound to find reviews relating it back to Stephen King's "The Shining", claiming that it is merely a cleaner version of the horror classic. So, I decided to test those opinions. Reading both "The Shining" and "Isolation" simultaneously, I have found three common elements: 1) Large secluded house; 2) Snow storm; and 3) there are human beings in it. Other than that, Travis Thrasher's first horror novel stands its ground courageously, especially against its disadvantages—such as, most Christians don't agree with a Christian novelist writing a horror story.
While reading through these pages, I came to deduce that this was not an attempt to scare or frighten us, but more of a window to look through. Thrasher encourages us to open our eyes and see that we all doubt God's existence and grace—yes, even missionaries—and that those doubts offer Satan a hole to crawl through. He shows us that it is human nature to doubt and fear, but that God, even in those dark moments, is never far away. Thrasher hasn't written for us a scare fest, but more of an honest demonstration of supernatural existence that happens to be scary. Truly, demonic activity is disturbing, and this book doesn't care to sugarcoat anything.
"Isolation" seems more like an installment in James Wan's "The Conjuring Universe" than anything by Stephen King. There are several unsettling moments of Satanic situations and demonic activity, and Thrasher wants us to know the truth about that, yet realize that when it comes to a battle between Satan and God, God always comes out on top, no matter the horrors the devil may inflict. And the author does a fine job of driving this point home. But toward the end, Thrasher does unfortunately suffers from the long-time pitfall of Christian writers and storytellers: preachiness. And although not extreme, it may be enough to subtract from the story—at least, it was for me.
Spiritual Content::
The premise of the book is a Christian couple under spiritual attack, so naturally there will be talk about different forms of spiritual evil—demon possession, haunting spirits, evil sensations, etc. When a village is taken by an unusual virus, allegedly by a sorcerer in the woods, wanting to take attention away from God, the citizens turn to the missionaries, wanting to know why God isn't saving them. This is a source of doubt for Jim and Stephanie. Which will make their journey into this demonic house a lot more challenging. The author spends several moments discussing their doubts in God's grace and whether or not he can protect them (this is all written in a very human and relatable fashion).
Indeed, Edge Hill is designed to give off a Satanic ora. We read of kids being grabbed in the darkness and seeing things that aren't there. But more elaborate are Stephanie's visions. Frequently, she will have dreams of supernatural beings, both good and evil. The antagonist constantly hears voices telling him to murder women, select women, claiming it will "satisfy" them and "fulfill their needs." He waits for "the great one" in a room full of demonic spirits. He feels one with them, even going as far as to cut his palm ritualistically before he's interrupted. He also prays to the great one, asking for his strength. This is presumably Satan.
Also, this man seems to be after a small Christian boy named Zachery. Why? Probably because he has the most faith out of all of them. Many times, he gives insight of his faith in childlike ways, and, at one point, is forced to give a defense for his faith. We read of God's power raising people from the dead and saving people from death. The devil is also described taunting people and Stephanie's parents are said to be into the occult. Her father's office is filled with books of spells, spirituality, and Ouija board.
And those aren't the only horrors we are confronted with. In one particularly disturbing scene, a mother leads her naked daughter into a bathtub full of blood and she chants over her, dumping more blood over her hair and face. When she finished, she tells her daughter that her soul belongs to "him", presumably Satan. Also, a bunch of gutted animals are thought to be sacrifices in pentagram. Demons speak out of the darkness and claiming God is dead and has abandoned them. Also, an exorcism is performed, where we read of the man writhing and pulling out his hair and screaming.
A pastor can be a bit overly spiritual about his faith, blaming any bad circumstance on sin or Satan, or in this case, on unfaithfulness. Which it is partly true, Jim and Stephanie do struggle with their faith. What missionary doesn't? But people are said to lose their faith in God. Bad things are spoken about God and faith. Books are found full of occult material.
Sexual Content::
In the opening pages, a man watches a woman as she skinny-dips in a lake (no nudity is described) and there is some sexual tension, but nothing occurs. This sequence is addressed later on where the swimming woman is said to have described kinky things going on in the Edge Hill house. It seems that the crimes are sexually based since all the disappearances were young women.
On three occasions, the author describes a person's sexual desire for his or her spouse (they vary in suggestiveness). There are references to prostitution and orgies, and when Zach finds a secluded bedroom with a tripod inside, he knows it was here for "adult things." A collection of pornographic magazines and books are found. Also, Zach is said to be using his father's laptop to surf the Internet, but some parenthetical information implies he may be searching porn.
Violent Content::
This is book doesn't attempt to scare us with gore, however with pure violent content. Women disappear in what seems to be violent crimes where the man beats them for his own pleasure (whether or not that's sexual pleasure is up for debate for a great deal of the story). This is talked about but never described. Blood and flesh seem to rain down from the sky at one point and a woman vomits. A man is stabbed bloodlessly, but another cuts his wrist in a painful description of blood. A man is about to murder a woman before the author cuts the scene short and a man also beats someone to death (bloodlessly). Other moments of mild horror violence include a man's face bleeding and decomposing instantly, a bleeding man in a "jump scare" (per se), a bloody wolf standing over a shredded, bloody coat, a bathtub full of blood, grisly, disemboweled animals spread over the floor, a dead man with half his chest missing, and some intense moments (none of these are fully depicted). Two men beat one another with pokers and the author doesn't shy away from blood this time. It's a jarring sequence with a lot of violence.
Language::
None.
Drug/Alcohol Content::
Jim swigs a beer on a few occasions and men go to bars to drink. Others drink wine and Stephanie's parents were said to have once done drugs.
Cleanliness:: 2.5/5
| PG-13 | Mature thematic material throughout, including unsettling spirituality, horror violence and some bloody depictions
Your ratings of the level of sex, violence, language and drug/alcohol use on a scale of 1-5.
Sex:2
Violence:3
Language:0
Drug/Alcohol use:1