Book Review – SMOLDER (2021)

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.”

“The smolder finished spreading over the man, and when the Nothing was done with him, the dry earth took the rest.”
― Michael R. Goodwin, SMOLDER

*SMOLDER* (2021), published and written by Michael R. Goodwin.

☠️I received an e-ARC of this story in exchange for a fair review. SMOLDER (2021) will publicly release on the 13^th April!☠️

I’ve followed author Michael R. Goodwin on Instagram for a little while now, and when I saw that he was seeking ARC readers for this, his latest novella, I was eager to see whether I could get involved. I’m glad that I did so, as this was a very enjoyable, and oftentimes seriously spooky, little read.

SMOLDER follows Eric, who is forced into a tough situation after his wife of over a decade, Monica, has an affair with a co-worker named Trent. The expensive break-up puts the man on the brink of financial ruin, and during one of his last evenings on their property, he drinks a tad too much, and foolishly ventures out into the nearby woods. What then follows is a hellish night in the oppressive forest, as Eric comes face to face with a mysterious, malignant presence known only as the Nothing.

Without spoiling anything regarding the plot, I really appreciated how the Nothing had a subtext and meaning to it. Although it worked on the basest level of being an unsettling being with a creepy design, it is elevated by its deeper significance to the themes and ideas behind the story.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one common theme I’ve noticed in the indie horror scene is the books often have quite small scale settings and cast of characters. SMOLDER definitely fits this bill to a T; there are three characters altogether, and the majority of the action unfolds in one place, the woods on Eric’s property. I really enjoy the intimate, and often quite claustrophobic, aspect to this trend, and it certainly works in the favor of this story.

Because of this contained location and characters, it was quite important for the central trio to be interesting and engaging, and I’d say that Goodwin achieves that. Eric is a likable enough protagonist, but is also not without his flaws, which made him feel real and relatable. Monica and Trent were both very easy to dislike, especially Trent, who is the epitome of a pseudo-macho, posturing moron. But even with these two generally being contemptible sorts, the author still manages to inject some humanity into their characters, and offers believable reasons as to why they act the way they do.

I don’t know who else does this, but I always, always read the author’s fore/afterwords. I think they can often offer a neat insight into the author’s inspirations or thinking when coming up with the content. In his, Goodwin describes how this story was inspired by a nightmare, and I definitely felt that there was a certain nightmarish quality to the narrative. The sequences in which we saw firsthand the gruesome effects of the so-called ‘smolder’ created by the Nothing were very inventive, and the writing effectively conveyed the horror of the process.

This was my first time reading Michael’s stories, but his previous book The Liberty Key (2020), had been on my radar for a while. I really enjoyed SMOLDER, so will be checking that out sometime soon as well, and anticipating whatever the author comes up with next. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out when release day comes around.

VERDICT: This is a creative little story with a neat and novel entity at the centre of its narrative. The small scale cast and setting might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it worked superbly well in the context of the story. SMOLDER is an engaging read with creepy moments aplenty.

It’s a⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from this reviewer, and a humongous thank you to Michael R. Goodwin for providing the ARC and giving me the chance to read and review it early. Please consider following his author Instagram page here; @michaelrgoodwin, and find his personal website down below!