THE GUARDIANS by Andrew Pyper (Doubleday), 368 pages, $29.95 cloth. Pyper joins the Harbourfront Readings Series Wednesday (February 16). See listing. Rating: NNNN
Local scribe Andrew Pyper has such a gift for character and setting, he almost doesn’t need the ghost story that rockets through The Guardians.
Trevor, in his 40s and recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s, hears from his high school friend Randy that their former buddy Ben has committed suicide in their old home town of Grimshaw. The two, one-half of a quartet of teen pals – the fourth, Carl, can’t be contacted – return to the scene of their youth to attend Ben’s funeral, knowing they’re going to revive some very bad memories.
Ben never left Grimshaw. He stayed to stand watch over the house across the street, which the four discovered was haunted when a female teacher went missing. No sooner do Randy and Trevor arrive than another woman disappears, forcing the men to enter the hated house once again.
Pyper, using a Stephen King-type set-up, knows how to press the buttons of his genre this is a very creepy story that borders on disturbing. You want to yell, “Don’t go there!” to the guys, but Pyper stages the situation so you get why they can’t resist.
But where another writer might let the ghosts take centre stage, Pyper has more on his mind- like character development. The grown-ups keep trying to forget the horrors they experienced as teenagers, but life just won’t let them. Trevor’s always felt a connection between his disease – described by Pyper with insightful compassion – and his teen experience.
And the town itself is lovingly evoked, especially the ramshackle, high-end restaurant that hasn’t changed in 50 years.
Call me a snob (and the author himself probably would), but I feel the same way about The Guardians as I do about Pyper’s previous release, The Killing Circle. I wish he’d write a straight-ahead novel sans genre tricks.
Write Books at susanc@nowtoronto.com
