The Evil Inside (2014)

"Like it's all been one long, horrible, nightmare." - Guy Russell

At the turn of the Century Guy Russell uproots his family from their Melbourne home to the unknown in New York city. Guy has a new prestigious job at an Advertising agency and believes the move will help his wife get over the pain of losing their second unborn child. Along for the ride is Guy's young son Callum. The move seems to trigger something in Callum that only Guy notices, but given the pressures of establishing himself at his new office and his wife's increasingly erratic behaviour Guy doesn't see the warning signs.

As things escalate Guy begins to wonder if Callum isn't being possessed by something from his past, something evil with a bit of an axe to grind. Before Guy can earn himself a slice of the Big Apple he may have to deal with more pressing matters at home, something is coming home to roost and it may well want its pound of flesh.

The Evil Inside is a pretty hard book to review as any mention of plot points risks giving the twists being sent our way the light of day. One of those novels folks that pretty much requires the reader to go in blind else it'll lose the shocks each new chapter sends our way. So sorry folks no plot discussion here in the specific though I will sort of circle around things without spoilers rolling out. Tighten up your seat belt kids this could be a rough ride as there's a bunch of stuff to get through.

The novel is in first person narrative form, but don't let that dissuade you from digging in as the narrative style works perfectly for the subject matter at hand. We get the whole shooting match from Guy Russell's point of view which works out well as the character is strong enough to hold our interest and of course this works like a brought one for the plot development. Whether or not Guy believes something is reaching out from the beyond is the question the novel poises, as the evidence grows and things become slightly more disturbing Guy is going to have to question his own grasp on the everyday.

The Evil Inside is author Philip Taffs' first published novel and shows a writer with a firm grasp of his trade. Sure there's the odd problem, but hell even more established authors allow a few mistakes to creep in from time to time. For this reader at least I remained fully immersed in the novel with nothing taking me out of the page. There's a strong narrative style that will keep your attention, which is just as well as the narrative moves at a fairly slow pace. If after a bunch of action or supernatural partying then you are in the wrong place, we're talking more psychological than blood stunned here. Hey I like that in a book, but if you need something slightly more penny dreadful then you may want to check something else out from your local library.

Okay so horror isn't actually the strong suit of this novel, to be brutally honest most horror fans are going to be very disappointed, but there's still a strong story that will drag you along. A few scenes of the scary stuff may get your blood running but definitely not chilled as a couple of Reviewers are claiming on the novel's cover. I was pretty disappointed in this aspect of the novel, there are a few ideas that lead nowhere as well, and as such I really can't recommend The Evil Inside to out and out horror hounds. Once again unable to fully describe who this novel will appeal to without giving the game away, but if you like your horror diet on the lite side with a psychological edge then Taffs delivers what you want.

So the novel isn't littered with blood nor does it have a masked killer culling camp Counsellors but it does have one pretty nasty idea that will have some readers sitting up and taking notice. This comes toward the end of the novel and Taffs does build successfully towards his unveiling in a similar fashion to Stephen King's build to the final couple of paragraphs of Pet Semetary. I couldn't fault the novel on its internal logic and didn't at any stage find anything left field coming at me, construction wise the nuts have been tightened and the whole shebang is water tight.

As a writer Taffs is solid, there's well-constructed prose going down in the novel that should warm the heart of even the most pedantic English Teacher out there. If the novel had of delved into another genre then it would have been entirely successful as it is there's a faint whiff of failure as a horror novel for the wider horror readership. On the bright side Taffs is in good company, Tim Winton also proved to be unable to construct a solid dark genre novel with In The Winter Dark being a salient lesson in how not to write horror. Taffs does at least throw some chills in our direction, whether or not those chills land for the individual reader is another question entirely. Taffs has however delivered a novel that is a page turner; I found I couldn't put this one down as things escalated. There's one scene involving a television, for example, that really drives downtown to Horror-ville, pity the whole novel didn't delve further into this sort of freaky deaky. Am I belabouring this point? - possibly, but once again there's no way I'm going to give out any plot spoilers here.

Normally I would make a comparison to another writer you might be familiar with but besides a faint hint of James Herbert I wasn't able to draw any comparisons, suffice it to say therefore that Philip Taffs knows his craft and won't let you down in this regard.

While The Evil Inside might not satisfy as a horror read for those after traditional fare it still works off a psychological basis, which was good enough for me. I'm always up for a well-crafted novel that travels dark roads, and Philip Taffs has delivered that novel. I would recommend this one to those who are after a chilling read but who don't want to delve into the dark heart. For sure I'm going to check out Taffs' next novel, fingers crossed he decides to continue on the horror freeway and hits the haunted house plot.