[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of The Watcher

Charles Maclean was born in 1946 and educated at Eton and Oxford. In the mid-seventies he researched and wrote "The Wolf Children", a true story of two girls found living with wolves in the jungles of Bengal. It was published to wide acclaim in 1977. A founder of The Ecologist magazine, he has written a number of books on the landscape and culture of Scotland, including Island on the Edge of the World (1972), winner of the Scottish Arts Council Award, Scottish Country (1992) AND rOMANTIC sCOTLAND (2000). His fiction includes The Watcher (1982), The Silence (1996) and Home Before Dark (2009). Charles is married with four children and lives in Aryll.

The Watcher
Author: Charles Maclean

Synopsis:

Friday, Rush Hour. Martin Gregory just manages to catch the 4:48 train. Tomorrow is his wife's birthday and he plans to devote the weekend to her and their beloved dogs. But when he rises in the morning, Gregory does something so horrific, so inexplicable, and so out of character that his only option is to run.

A lost horror classic back in print at last, The Watcher chronicles Martin as his quest for understanding plunges him through shifting realities and twisted corridors of time, and into the deepest recesses of the human mind.

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:
*Complimentary copy received in exchange for an honest review

The Watcher is a deep psychological thriller with mind numbing twists and turns, reminiscent of the good 80's style psycho-horrors where nothing is quite as frightening as the human mind.

I honestly wasn't sure if I would be able to read this book to completion. The Event that takes place at the beginning that sets up the rest of the story is utterly and completely disturbing and I literally had to take a break from the book after reading it to let it settle.
Once I got back to the tale though, it was a steady influx of madness and paranoia, mystery and intrigue, and had me wondering over and over again who the hero and villain really were, or if there were actually any at all!
It's definitely a tale that will have your mind working overtime to try and figure out what's really going on, and even when it's all said and done, if you're like me, you still won't be sure what exactly happened, which all leads to the beauty of the doubt that Charles Maclean weaves into his story.

While not the best horror/thriller I've read recently, it was solid and compelling, and I'm glad I had the chance to read it.
LITERAL ADDICTION gives The Watcher 3 1/2 Skulls.

The Watcher