C.S. Johnson Reviews

Added October 4, 2007

The Watching

Author: C.S. Johnson
Publisher: Carnifex Press
Available At: carnifexpress.net
Publishing Date: August 2007
Genre: Horror
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $12.95
ISBN-10: 0-9789583-6-5
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

East Tennessee horror novelist, C.S. Johnson puts out an impressive debut with The Watching. Although the author bio indicates she is inspired by the likes of King, Poe and such, Johnson uses a voice and style that is all her own.

Maxwell, a contractor, does all but hold his breath until he turns blue to convince his wife to let him purchase a family dog. When his wife, Gabrielle, finally concedes, she doesn't realize that life, as she knows it, is about to change forever.

Not far from town Carter Reed runs a kennel where dogs are bred, trained and sold. Deciding on a Doberman Pincher, Maxwell brings his wife and kids to Reed's business. The dogs on display are amazingly well trained and obedient. The women who work at the facility are exotically beautiful. And everything about Reed seems too good to be true. (And for the record, when something seems too good to be true, people, it usually is).

Instead of one dog, Maxwell winds up with two. One for himself, and one for his wife. It becomes immediately clear to Gabrielle that she is now in a situation where she finds herself competing against the dogs for the attention and affection of her husband, and that the dogs are winning.

As their relationship quickly deteriorates, Gabrielle fears that something more than just the selling of dogs is take place at Reed's kennel. The evil that radiates from that place is so thick it is almost visible. Feeling almost helpless she watches her marriage fall apart as Maxwell spends more time at the kennel and with his dogs than he does with his wife and kids.

Once Maxwell realizes that Reed is all about taking more than he is about ensuring the happiness of his clients, it is already too late. Reed's plan is in place and close to being fully executed. Maxwell fears that he has sold his soul to the devil, and what's worse, he may have included the souls of those closest to him. There is no way out. How can one fight such evil and ever expect to win? Maybe one cannot …

The taut tale is well written, gritty, and incredibly intense. I read The Watching in a heartbeat. Johnson made me care about the characters so much that my only regret is that the book was not longer. There is still so much more I want to know ... can we only hope there is more to come, because I am most defiantly a C.S. Johnson fan.

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