The Premise
A British officer on tour gets caught having an affair with an Arab woman, who bears a child with extraordinary abilities. Decades later, a young woman buys property that once belonged to this wealthy family, and invariably stumbles upon a secret that could kill her.
In Review
A monster story is made or broken by the creature it introduces to the genre. In Shelter, authors Maynard and Sims offer a creature with a fascinating history, and some fearsome abilities. Then they pit it up against your usual Heroine cum Hero duo, and allow the latter to triumph through superior fire-power and the will to live, fall in love, and pursue what could be the perfect romantic relationship.
Now that's horrific.
By the way, if you're worried about plot spoilers, I'm not giving anything away; read this tale, and you will figure out where it's all headed in no time. Which mystifies me. The best part about this novel is the monster, and yet the writers showed no hesitation in killing it off. Why go to the trouble of creating an interesting creature – complete with mythological origins, and a gruesome way of dispatching secondary and tertiary characters – only to sacrifice it to a pair of mediocre protagonists that could have stepped out of a clothing catalog?
This reminds me of the frustration I felt when I watched The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Again, same story: a wicked – as in cool, as in wow, this is a great idea, as in right on – monster starts wreaking havoc, becomes the most interesting part of the story – and then gets dead at the hand of Joe Average. Why? Why should there be any human heroes to begin with? Why not let the monster run amok, terrorizing hapless urbanites who had no idea what Nature had in store for their modern hides? Guess what, you may have kept the tigers out, but you are still food.
I recommend this tale with the following condition: read the first half, appreciate the effort the authors put into the monster's background – and then put it away on the shelf, and make up your own ending. Otherwise, you run the risk of subjecting yourself to an inevitable car wreck that removes the best character from the story, and leaves you with a happy ending that tastes like an open beer left out overnight. Back in the day, this kind of brew was potent, but after repeated application, it's lost that special flavor.
In short: Shelter has a great monster, and a nickelodeon cast of heroes and supporting characters. Decide for yourself if you want to juggle the two.
8/5/06
