They just don’t write them like this anymore: horror with
nothing supernatural in it; lean, mean literary prose that is never pretentious
and never bogs down in “style”; a taut narrative that deceptively leads the
reader down one terrifying path only to completely pull the rug out from under
him in the final act and deliver something far more terrifying than at first
would have been thought possible.
Rereading Craig Jones’ remarkable 1978 novel, Blood Secrets after more than thirty
years was one of the highlights of my summer. Initially, I didn’t think it
qualified for inclusion in The Midnight
Room, but the story has stuck with me like a bad sunburned that itches for
months afterwards. This is the sort of book that many current authors working
in the field of psychological suspense would benefit from studying.
You never think this
kind of thing really happens to people who’ve been to college. So begins
the first person narrative of Irene Rutledge, an intelligent woman from an
intelligent family working on her PhD. From the first page we know she has
committed a crime. What follows is a compulsively readable tale as mesmerizing
as a slow moving train wreck.
Irene is a beautiful red head, the sort of young woman who
could have any man on her college campus. But much to the chagrin of her best
friend, and the reader’s, she chooses a lanky, awkward weirdo named Frank
Rutledge. Frank is at first resistant, and all along we keep telling Irene to
leave him alone. He’s keeping you at bay for a reason. Nothing good will come
of this. But Irene ignores our better judgment, marries the man, and the
crazies start to come out of the woodwork. First, there is Frank’s sister,
Vivian, who sets Irene’s mind reeling with implications of family relationships
gone wrong. Then there is Frank and Irene’s daughter, Regina , who couldn’t be more pathologically
sub human if she tried. Things only get worse from there.
No biographical information on Mr. Jones is forthcoming
other than his name being the by-line for a movie tie-in of the film, Fatal Attraction. My paperback edition of
Blood Secrets is a reprint of a
Harper and Row hardback which suggests two things. The first is that Jones
might be a pseudonym for an author who wanted his (or her) identity kept far
removed from this sordid little shocker. The second is that the hardback may be
readily available in the stacks at libraries across the country. If you’re
lucky to find it in your town, grab it and read it. If not, keep an eye out for
it at used book stores (I found mine for a dollar) and on eBay (there are
plenty of copies to go around at affordable prices.”
At 229 pages, this is definitely one that you will stay up
late reading. Blood Secrets has my
highest recommendation.
