What happens when a group of people illegally sneak into a sealed-off building at night? That is the starting point of the events that unfold in David Morrell's Creepers. From the outset of the book, you know things are not going to go quite according to plan, and things take several lethal and otherwise disturbing turns for the worse. Morrell once again shows how dangerous and outright nasty man can be, and in the process creates a dark thriller that will keep you glued to the pages until the end.

The story is told from the perspective of Frank Balenger, one of the "creepers," and the narrative of that night starts just before he joins up with the others for the first time. His past drives and haunts him throughout the book. The other four in the group -- Professor Conklin, Vinnie, Rick and Cora -- have all "crept" before and explain the gear and rules to Frank. The building they chose to explore is in some ways another character in the story -- yes, it is a place, but it has a past and secrets and both cause them to find themselves dealing with far more then they expected. To this mix they soon find out that they are not alone in the building, and not all people who wander in long-sealed buildings are just there to take a look.

The villains that the creepers run into are criminals of two very different stripes. The antagonism between the various groups in the building keeps turning the tension higher as the creepers find themselves in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Frank very quickly becomes their leader as more and more of his past is revealed as they deal with the various other people in the building.

The past mixes into the present in Creepers as guilt, fear and love drive a man through a very dark night. Morrell tells a wonderful tale of what could so easily happen if the wrong pieces and people met in just the right ways.

by Paul de Bruijn
Rambles.NET
4 March 2006