Book Review: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath

This is not normally the kind of a book that I admittedly would have even heard of, let alone picked up and read.

Yet, a coworker had mentioned it to me, and he thought that I might like it. Asked if I wanted to borrow it from him.

Sure. Why not?

Now before I go on, the usual warnings to stop reading if you intend to read this book, because there will be spoilers ahead.

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning. 

As mentioned earlier, this is not what I would normally have opted to pick up and read. In fact, I had never even heard of it before, admittedly. The description that my coworker provided, that it was about a storybook teddy bear who just murders people also, admittedly, was not especially enticing at first. It sounded weird, and not necessarily in a good way.

Still, I was willing to give it a shot. 

When he brought it in, the first thing that I noticed was that it was beautifully bound. It is a handsome volume from the outside. At some point, I noticed the price, which was something like $150.. Wow! Quite expensive. No wonder it was such a handsome volume. 

This coworker joked, predicting that I would probably read and finish it within the hour. He sees me bringing books and reading quite a bit, so he assumes that I read quickly which, unfortunately, I do not. He explained that he had taken his time reading it, trying to appreciate the illustrations, which really impressed him. 

As it turns out, that was what I did, as well. I probably could have read it within an hour or change, and most likely well under two hours. Again, though, a large part of something like this would be the artwork. And so I also took my time reading this, admiring the illustrations, which really are quite impressive.

Now as for the story, yes, it is indeed about a cute teddy bear that has a very dark side. When I first heard it - perhaps he had not quite described it in a flattering manner - but my assumption was that it would be predictable and corny.

Corny?

Yes, corny. After all, serial killers have been done to death (sorry, couldn't resist). I mean, just as a fan of Stephen King alone, there must be half a dozen books that I have read which featured some serial killer or other, and that's one author. When you add other writers in different genres - be it horror or murder/mystery or police detective books or even non-fiction works - there are tons of stuff on serial killers. Add some movies and popular television shows (Dexter just started a second reincarnation) and series also focus on serial killers. They have become almost as repetitive to me - if not quite so cumbersome - as vampires and zombies, frankly. So I had assumed - wrongly, as it turns out - that this was going to be just more of the same, only with a cute teddy bear being the killer, for added effect.

Admittedly, my curiosity was not strongly piqued. But he spoke so glowingly about how much he loved it. Also, it was a short read and, let's face it, I probably don't give illustrated books/comics as much of a look as I probably should. No problems with the genre, and I used to love reading graphic novels. It's just that I hadn't actually picked one up in a while. 

Still, my assumption, admittedly, was that the story would be similar enough to typical serial killers that plenty of popular books and movies and television shows fixate on. That the only real "twist" would be that it was a cute teddy bear doing the killing.

That said, there is something different in this book. The fictional town of Woodbrook, where Samantha, the main character (the cute teddy bear) lives felt like an actual character in the story. That was impressive, and not what I expected. It felt like a real place, if admittedly old-fashioned and perhaps a little on the idyllic side. But it is modeled on a real town (Burlington, Vermont, if I recall), and has an old New England kind of a feel and charm to it.

Contrasted with that is the city, where she finds her victims and kills them. She explains why she does this in her narrating voice, because the city is anonymous. A place where people can get lost easily. So she picks her victims here, and keeps it random. Drags them into the woods and then cuts them up, before putting their body parts in paint cans and burying them in an isolated patch of the woods, where nobody can find them.

Or so she assumes. In fact, however, she is spotted by someone in her hometown, who follows her into the city. Watches what she does, understands that she is, in fact, a serial killer. And this character decides to become one, as well. 

When she discovers this, she knows that she needs to do something about it. This little town is too small for two serial killers, after all. She knows this will be trouble.

Yet, we get the sense that her rival is a rookie at this. He approaches her and wants a partnership. But she is outraged, insults him, and sets up an inevitable rivalry. He knows how to frame her and puts the paint cans with body parts back in her shop (she works at a local tool and paint shop) where it is inevitably discovered. Then, he leaves enough clues that all indicators will point towards her. 

This forces her to use all of her ingenuity to overcome the search party and trick him into falling into her trap. Once she does this, and disposes of him as she does all of her victims, relative order is restored.

A good book overall. Beautiful artwork, an engaging story, and solid characters. 

Highly recommended.