Its almost Halloween time, and what better way to get in the mood then to read some of your favorite dark mysterious books you've been waiting to read for some time now? Check out my latest review of Thornhill by Pam Smy.

Puppets in the garden. Dark gray dismal sky.

Thornhill is an eclectic novel that blends graphic art with words. Poetic in a sense, it without a doubt bestows the feeling of foreboding and lost hope. A sad tale full of mystery and wishful thinking.

Pam Smy does an excellent job of instilling readers with positive dreams and then taking them and smashing them on the rocks below near the raging river. What do I mean by such a statement? You are given the story of a poor orphaned girl set in 1982, Thornhill, who is terrified by some advesary who stalks the outside of her door every night. Mary is a quiet girl who shuts herself up in her room all day long and comes out at night to sneak food back to her room without anyone noticing. But really, deep down inside, Mary wants to have friends, just like the rest of the girls in the orphanage, but like many times before, she is tricked and tricked, over again by “Her”, the girl I will not mention. Because, she is pure evil. Throughout the story, Smy builds your well wishing of hope for Mary and that she will be accepted by the girls of Thornhill. But then, like always, deception lies around the corner.

Reader be warned, this book is very depressing and not for the faint of heart. It will absolutely test your willingness to read on. The dark imagery splayed throughout the pages every so often helps paint the picture of what is happening, like a two part story of pictures and words meshing together to get one result. And the ending is by far disturbing yet done well. Dancing around themes like “The Secret Garden” and old fashion ghost stories, the whole time you will be asking yourself if the story is really about Mary or Ella.

4 out of 5 stars.

F. D. Gross