Killer on the Road

Like any genre, the horror genre has shifts in style and tone. I was always a fan of the nasty horror stories of the late 70s and early 80s. Books that saw lots of terrible things happen to good people. In Killer on the Road author Stephen Graham Jones attempts to capture that Grindhouse feel and give it a supernatural bite. 

After another blowout with her mother, Harper has left the family home and never plans to go back. With just the clothes on her back she sets off hitchhiking. Luckily, she is found early by a group of friends, and they decide to help her. There is safety in numbers, but there are also more victims. A killer is out on the roads. Simply known as Bucketmouth, Harper and her friends are soon going to find out that this is no myth and that the reality is far more terrifying. 

Of the books I have read by Jones in recent years, they are an author who likes to write a punchy and dark horror novel. Stories that build in their tension and pack a final punch. Killer is a slight deviation in that it is unrelenting in its terror. We are introduced to Bucketmouth early in proceedings and, after a brief lull, the killer plays a huge role throughout what is not a long book. 

The length and feel of the novel remind you the 70s books I love to pick up and power through, the unrelenting energy and unwillingness to pander to any softness. Although there is a cast, the story is told from Harper’s perspective. You could consider it a two header as Bucketmouth is also given plenty of time to shine. A killer in a book is not always allowed to shine, but Bucketmouth does. He is almost too chatty a killer! 

Harper acts as a powerful balance to the killer. Strong willed and loyal, she will do what it takes to keep her sister safe (the sister being one of the friends that comes along on the road trip). Jones seems to specialise in strong female leads and Harper is no different. She is the beating heart and furious rage at the centre of the story. 

Another aspect that takes on a character of its own is the culture of the road. Through Harper, Jones teaches the reader the rules of the road, of how truckers can take against vehicles and will look after their own. Harper and her friends not only have to survive a killer, but the killer’s unwitting allies on the road. 

At under 250 pages Killer is a punchy and quick novel. This is how it was designed, and this is how it works. The lack of pages does mean that some of the character development is hampered, Harper is well catered for, but the rest of the cast are adrift. It may be because I am getting older, but I was surprised how blasé some of the younger characters dealt with the situation. You would find me panicking in a ditch, not continuing a witty repartee.  

Killer is a novel any horror fan of down and dirty Grindhouse will enjoy. It harks back to the heyday of the genre but also feels modern. You can read the book in a sitting or two, and you will find yourself doing so as the pace encourages it and the relationship between Harper and Bucketmouth is so intriguing that you will want to see how it ends.