If I hadn't had a crippling flu, I would have read this on one sitting. Tryon conjures up a sympathetic small town, whose residents drink cola during a heat wave, and where kids run around in the fields and vegetable sellers drive trucks. The oppressive feeling doesn't just come from the heat though, but from the weird relationship of the twins and especially from Holland's behaviour. Actually, the twins' appearance kind of reminds me of Village of the Damned (1960).

After two thirds of the book there was a major surprise, which almost got me to choke on my toast. I just stared at the words for a while, because I hadn't experienced a mindfuck like that for a long time in a book. Surprises don't always work for everyone, but I have a feeling this will. I needed to turn back the pages a bit to see if any hints were given, but you wouldn't know that thing beforehand because the reader's focus is on other stuff.

As far as the horror aspect goes, this focuses strongly on psychological horror. A certain image got stuck in my head, and it can't be erased no matter how much I want. The atmosphere is therefore created from mental images, mood and the quality of the reader's imagination.