Maureen Johnson, and maybe Holly Black and Robin Wasserman are in cahoots. I have recently read The Name of the Star by Johnson and The Diviners by Bray. The former is about a creey killer from the past, the latter is about a creepy killer from the past. I have not yet read The Book of Blood and Shadow by Wasserman, but the dust jacket blurb leads me to believe it might....be....about a CREEPY KILLER FROM THE PAST. (This one needs to go closer to the top of my TBR pile.)
This type of writing is a bit of a departure for Johnson whose previous novels include the Suite Scarlet series as well as 13 Little Blue Envelopes and its sequel, The Last Little Blue Envelope, none of which contain anything more creepy than a guy the heroine does not like at first. Now all of a sudden there is a sequel with equally creepy goings-on?
Bray is not new to stories of the supernatural as evidenced by her fabulous A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy, but horror was not really a part of those books.
Holly Black has more experience with the weird as in Black Heart, White Cat, and Red Glove, but
these seem to be more fantasy than horror. (Full discloser: I have not read any of them.)
Robin Wasserman has some experience with sci-fi dystopia, but seems to have only delved into horror recently.
So, my question is, were the four of them sitting around one night with a couple of bottles of wine brainstorming ways to challenge themselves and write something different? I picture them writing down a bunch of ideas and putting them all in a hat. What came out was, "write a novel with..... A CREEPY KILLER FROM THE PAST."
Since this blog has a limited audience I doubt if any of these writers will ever see my theory to confirm or deny, but I am convinced that something is going on here!
So to wrap it up, I really liked In the Name of the Star, though it did creep me out. I fully intend
to read its sequel The Madness Underneath despite what it may do to my ability to read at night with just a reading lamp. The Diviners was really good as well. Its setting in Jazz Age, Prohibition Era New York City is well researched and wonderful. I am looking forward to the next in this series as well. Luckily I have the Waserman and the Holly Black books to tide me over while I am waiting.
