“Seven Days of Cain,” by Ramsey Campbell, is a great novel by a master of the horror genre. I want to make it clear up from that the Scare Factor rating above being lower than the overall rating is not a slight to the author or the novel. This particular Campbell novel is more of a psychological thriller, so it won’t appeal to readers of this site who like their terror bloody and full of shocks.
That said, the novel is wonderful, and a masterful example of building suspense through realistic characters and subtlety. Much of the suspicion towards the main character, Andy Bentley, comes from his own wife, Claire, through a combination of their collective insecurities, little white lies he tells, and her misunderstanding of overhearing only part of a phone conversation he has.
Two people on two different continents are brutally murdered and Andy receives disturbing emails that hint he may have a personal connection to the victims. At the same time, he meets a mysterious client who leads him down a chain of intrigue.
I don’t want to reveal any more of the plot because Campbell skillfully draws us in by hurling us into the points of view of Andy and Claire, unraveling the mystery only small amounts at a time since you only know what they know.
A fine psychological thriller indeed.
– George Wilhite
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
