Martin Gregory is a happy man with a normal life living with his beautiful wife in a country home near New York City with their two beloved dogs. It’s his wife’s birthday, and he is in a hurry to get home and give her a special present. He ends up doing something so horrible, so strange, he flees. This is how THE WATCHER, a remarkable horror novel by Charles Maclean, long out of print but now published in a new edition, begins, and once it hooks you, it never lets go.
The novel proceeds primarily from Martin’s terrified perspective as he explores why he did what he did, believing he wasn’t responsible and that something dark and terrible was. Guiding him is his psychiatrist, Dr. Somerville, at times an ominous figure in Martin’s eyes, whose perspective is provided in his professional notes of their sessions.
It’s a terrific read. THE WATCHER builds an amazing amount of tension by the end of the novel, and Martin’s perspective will have you guessing to the end. Has he descended into complete madness? Or is he chosen to realize a special destiny–to prevent the apocalypse? Highly recommended if you’re looking for a read like no other in the horror genre.
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