Book Review: Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman

Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman

Hardcover, 367 pages

Published April 2018 by Del Rey

Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best Novel (2018)

When I was at the 2014 World Horror convention in Portland and everyone was talking about this debut novel Birdbox. Years before it became the most streamed movie in the history of Netflix and endless memes on the internet. I went into Birdbox totally cold and loved the experience. I have been meaning to get back to Malerman but it took until now and like that first experience, I went in totally cold with no idea of the setting or plot.

So Unbury Carol was not what I was expecting even though I had little in mind as I opened the book. If I had to make a one sentence description I would go with Sleeping Beauty meets supernatural western. While there are horror elements this is not super deep on the horror elements. This book is mostly characters, setting, and tone.

The story centers on Carol Evers who appears to die early in the book. She has a condition that reminded me of Sleeping Beauty. She appears dead, although she is in a nightmarish coma where she feels like she is falling at all times. Not only that but she can hear everything happening around her. This leads to some of the creepiest moments as her money-hungry husband tries to plan her funeral as quickly as possible. He wants her money.

There are only a few people that know about her condition. One is the famous Outlaw James Moxie. He became famous when he won a shoot-out without even grabbing his gun. This magic trick is one no one in the region understands thus Moxie is Notorious. Moxie lives three days travel down the trail but only has two days to make it in time to stop Carol's funeral. You see they were in love at one time and he knows her secret.

This might be the time to talk about the setting. I think it is the old west, but when and where is pretty much a mystery. So everyone keeps calling this a Western to which I say maybe? The Trail is a good setting, one of the best things Malerman does in this novel is to set-up the setting, giving it an ominous feeling. The Trail feels like a live wire. The setting of the Trail is one of my favorite aspects of the novel. My favorite thing was the characters.

Not Carol who is arguably the lead, but it is the supporting characters who steal the show. Moxie is a great rogue type who has been trying to go straight-laced. As he travels the trail A triggerman named Smoke is sent to kill him. Smoke is a really awesome character. They drive the novel and were my favorite elements.

The only negative for me was Carol was the least interesting aspect of the novel for me. That is not to say I didn't like her story. There were some skin-crawling moments involving her. I really enjoyed this novel, those looking for another Birdbox should not expect that. Malerman creates an original weird western that is nothing like his big hit. Different but very good.