Review: The Intruders by Michael Marshall

The Intruders

By: Michael Marshall

Published by: Harper Collins

ISBN: 978-0-00721000-8

Reviewed by: Kylie Fox

Ex-cop, Jack Whalen’s wife goes missing on what should be a routine business trip and Jack’s search for her produces more questions than it does answers.

Gary Fisher, a childhood acquaintance, reappears in Jack’s life asking for help with a puzzle, a will and some unsolved murders.

A ten-year-old girl meets a sinister stranger and disappears.

Jack’s search for the truth of his wife, leads him into the kind of darkness that he didn’t know, or believe, could exist. How do all of these threads connect? How do all the secrets of the past impact on these apparently separate cases and on the future of them all?

This is one hell of a good read. In fact, one of my favourite books in a long time. It is dark, it’s creepy and often, just plain disturbing.

The boundaries between crime, the paranormal and science fiction are blurred to the extent that trying to categorise it is near impossible. The Intruders is a psychological thriller, that much is certain, and one of the finest examples of its kind. This book will stay with you, the messages it imparts stay with you, the characters haunt you, long after the last words are read.

I began reading this book without any indication that it was anything other than a straight crime thriller and was surprised, pleasantly, I might add, when the story evolved into something “other.” What that “other” is, I can’t say without spoilers. But, be prepared for a shift in the storyline and the genre.

The plot is so intricate with so many separate threads and ideas that a lesser writer may have lost his way. Not so, Marshall, who weaves a rich tapestry of the seemingly unrelated threads and ties them together beautifully – all without ever losing the chillingly sinister mood that is created right from the outset.

An absolute must-read for lovers of the dark side, particularly those who like their crime with a supernatural bent. You won’t be disappointed.

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