A road named because of the number of prisoners who died there forced to work by the Soviet Union, bodies left in the ice in Siberia. I’ve read Christopher Golden before but can’t remember when I enjoyed one of his books as much as this. The unusual setting is as much a character as any of the people that populate the story. I felt for any of them, even those I barely got to know. A short slow start after which momentum rarely lets up. The plot is fantastical, but I felt so immersed in it, I found it easy to suspend disbelief — easier, no doubt, because of the wilderness. Not what I expected, but better for it. The only slight negative is I expected the ‘road’ to have more to do with the major story, whereas it’s more of a subplot. ( )

When an American producer who was eager to score a big hit, travels to Siberia to film a reality series along the desolate Kolyma Highway, he gets more thrills than he bargained for. At first, the only obstacle for Felix Teigland and Prentiss, his British cameraman, friend, and investor, is the 40-below temperatures. A young guide's introduction to the legendary "Road of Bones", beneath which hundreds of thousands of gulag prisoners are buried, gives Teig a great subject as well as a great title for his series. But no sooner have they arrived than the filmmakers are threatened, and worse...by shadowy wolf creatures and a screaming humanoid spirit who had something to do with the sudden abandonment of a town by everyone except a strangely possessed 9-year-old girl that Teig becomes determined to save. When he was a child, his younger sister was abducted and murdered, and this young girl stirs all those tormented memories for him. Meanwhile, a frail but determined old woman, Ludmilla, travels the frigid Kolyma Highway to bless those buried there. This is a task that she has taken on herself and as a result has cost her several fingers and toes. The air around the road is said to be "murderous". It immobilizes people that come in contact with the area. The description of the forest animals is like something from a Disney cartoon. I kept expecting to see Bambi gathering flowers. Our Ludmilla, in addition to her desire to offer blessings also has an over-the-top devotion to Bruce Springsteen which quickly becomes way, way too much. I do have to give Christopher Golden his due credit for being great at atmosphere. The desolate surroundings are "a stark reminder of how small we humans are in the entire scope of nature." And I ask you...how can you resist the charms of a 50-foot-tall reindeer woman? Overall... I was entertained...but not as much by the story itself but what this author was going to bring out next to "play" with Bambi and the 50-ft reindeer woman. :) It did have some chilling things happening but, also some really silly ones you wouldn't expect in a horror/supernatural novel. Am I glad I read it? You bet!

side note: This novel had to have been born from a bit of truth, most like this one, and legends are...so I asked Mr. Google for more info. This is interesting, and I now think that there may really be a 50-ft reindeer woman out there. Here is the website if you are like me and want to search it out.

https://www.rbth.com/history/333033-road-bones-kolyma-gulag ( )

Spooky, atmospheric, mysterious. Read it on a cold, very windy night... hopefully without wolves near! ( )

3.5

Book source ~ NetGalley

Documentary producer Felix Teigland is so intrigued with the history of Siberia’s Kolyma Highway, the Road of Bones, that he convinces his friend, Jack Prentiss, to invest in his new series about it. Traveling to the coldest place on Earth is no picnic though and if the cold doesn’t kill them, something out there in the wilderness, something unnatural, just might.

I normally love Christopher Golden’s books, but this was a bit of a miss for me. The setting is perfect, the plot engaging, and the characters are wonderful. However, the supernatural stuff just fell flat for me. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it was a bit too way out there. Too much to suspend belief and just go with it? That could be it. The ghosts I believed 100%. It’s the other stuff that’s just meh for me. Don’t let my experience deter you though. This is a chilling horror tale set in a place that’s, well, chilling. The setting alone gave me the creeps. Yikes. Pick this up and give it a whirl. ( )

Felix Teigland, known as "Teig," has had most of his projects go south. He owes money, he wants to be solvent, he wants at the very least to pay back his last remaining friend Prentiss, who is just about the only one left in the world who will still give him the time of day. He also has his reasons for wanting to believe in ghosts, needing to feel there is something else that comes after this life, that it's not just the end. That there is more than nothingness for those who have passed on.
It is with this purpose he attempts to make a documentary on The Road Of Bones, and the people who live in the coldest place on earth. But wait... where is everyone? The settlement is deserted. Doors are left open, everyone is gone.

I loved these characters. Their friendship feels genuine. They each have their own baggage and yet accept themselves and each other as they are. There is a depth and sincerity to this relationship that leaps off the page. The remote and desolate setting is brutal! The descriptions of the bitter cold wind and snow had me wanting to burrow under my blankets and crank my heat up full blast but it wouldn't have helped because there is so much more than the weather causing this dreadful creeping chill.
Can you survive the Road of Bones?
I received an advance copy from St. Martin's Press ( )