Morpheus Road # 1: The Light [Hardcover]

THREE QUICK POINTS
*Point 1: More of a creepfest than a gorefest. As far as horror goes, this would be labeled psychological horror rather than gory. There is some bloodletting, but it's not as much as you'd suspect.

*Point 2: So. Much. Tension. It just didn't stop. Right when you think all is well--BAM!--something else jumps out at you.

*Point 3: Twists & turns galore. Just when you think you're on the right path, that you've got it all figured out and the mystery is solved, you swerve and you're left wondering *what just happened?*

SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Marshall Seaver thinks he's going crazy. While his father is away in Las Vegas and his best friend, Cooper Foley, is at the lake with his parents, Marshall begins to see things that aren't there, and hear sounds that have no source, and the drawing of a character he created named Gravedigger has come alive to torment him. When it all becomes too much for Marshall to bear, he desperately tries to get to his best friend only to discover he'd gone missing.

Suddenly people begin dropping dead around him; other people are flying off the mental deep end without a parachute; and Gravedigger is telling Marshall he needs to walk the Morpheus Road. What is the Morpheus Road? And why Marshall? Those are the questions that Marshall tries to answer as he dodges life-threatening situations.

MY THOUGHTS:
Although this is the first book in the trilogy, I need to point out that it's a complete story in itself with the premise of another, bigger story lurking around the corner. A situation is presented and followed through to its climactic ending, but that ending is what opens up another mystery.

As far as character development goes, the book did an excellent job with the main characters. Marshall is a good kid through and through, although most would label him an immature geek through and through. He's a sixteen year old who isn't eager to get his license, likes video games, graphic novels, and model rockets--things that his peers don't seem to appreciate. But as he battles his demons, he grows into a different person and it unfolds naturally before our eyes.

And there's Sydney. Usually we see angst-ridden and brooding males, but this book flipped the script. She's snarky, sarcastic and virulent. In fact, I had no problem hating her...in the beginning. But as she is sucked into Marshall's dark adventure, she evolves into something human. And the chemistry between her and Marshall as their relationship progresses is nearly pitch-perfect.

Even (most of) the secondary characters, though not as fleshed-out as those two, had just enough depth to make them entertaining--including the villains.

The pace of the book alternated between quick and punchy and rambling and sedate. But those latter sections offered a nice respite from the heart-pounding action. It also offered a chance to try and piece together the mystery, as Marshall tried to as well. To top it off, this book was funny. There were multiple times when I found myself laughing out loud.

A few areas drifted into cliché, but they were forgivable when taken in context. And at the end of the book there was a single sentence in the epilogue which left me wide-eyed and slack-jawed wondering WTF happened and when is the next book coming out? In other words, it's a twist that I didn't see coming. (I'd share it if it weren't a huge spoiler.)

Also worthy of note, this book doesn't contain any swearing or substance abuse and the violence itself isn't that explicit. Overall, a great read, especially for people who appreciate psychological horror with a dash of mystery and suspense thrown in.

Marshall Seaver is looking forward to a summer of fun and relaxation, but it's not off to a great start. His widowed father has left him home alone while he travels to Las Vegas on business, and he got into a fight with his best (and only) friend Cooper right before Cooper left to go with his family to their lake house. So at first, the strange occurrences in his house late at night just freak Marsh out. But when he is faced with Gravedigger--a character Marsh created in his drawings--who is alive, real, and intent on killing him while mumbling about Morpheus Road, Marsh heads straight to Cooper, with the help of Coop's older sister Sydney. But by the time Marsh gets to the lake house, Cooper is missing, and it's becoming clear that nowhere is safe for Marsh, Sydney, and anyone else that knows about Gravedigger and the mysterious Morpheus Road.

D.J. MacHale's The Light, the first book in the Morpheus Road trilogy, is a bit slow to start, but full of near-death action sequences and plenty of sleuthing. The book starts off with the main character, Marsh, talking rather ambiguously about the events of the previous week, which he then details as the book starts, which will grab your attention and cause you to start asking questions right away. However, Marsh has a tendency to ramble as he is trying to figure out the many mysterious supernatural forces at work, which might lose more reluctant readers. As far as plots go, this one is complicated and asks many questions without divulging many questions (for example, it is never revealed what Morpheus Road is exactly), and The Light reads like a horror film, with the threat of death around every corner and countless spooky and perilous scenes, one right after another. The ending has a bit of a twist, and concludes with many questions and an epilogue from Cooper's point of view, a taste of what is to come in the sequel. Overall, this is a thrilling horror read that will have you on edge.

Cover Comments: The cover definitely matches the book's content: chilling and freaky. Exactly what I would expect to see on a movie poster for a horror movie. It's very fitting.

When I first got Morpheus Road: The Light in the mail, it was the first time I was hearing about it. I went in to the story with just the description on the back to go by. Man, was this in intense story! It is filled with action, so the pages moved quickly for me. My adrenaline was pumping throughout the whole read.

It didn't take me long to like the main character, Marsh. Marsh isn't the super hot bad boy. He is a normal teenager and, well . . . a geek. In the beginning of the story you can tell he is clinging on to his childhood. He wants to stay in the time of model rockets and graphic novels. I actually felt he came off more like 14 than 16 in the beginning. But his character grows a lot during the story. Marsh's best friend Cooper on the other hand is about the opposite of Marsh. He is all about taking risks and hanging out with girls. You don't get to see a lot of him before he goes missing, but MacHale has added flashbacks of the boy's friendship that helps you get more of a feel for him. I enjoyed watching Marsh and Cooper's sister Sydney slowly come closer together, even when they didn't notice.

There is a whole lot going in this story. You definitely need to pay attention to the details. Gravedigger is very creepy, but the things that are happening when he is around is what gave me the chills. I found myself up at night, swearing I heard water dripping or felt a breeze on my face. It didn't take me long to realize there was more than just a drawing of Marsh's coming to life going on. I enjoyed the suspense of trying to figure out what was causing everything.

I did feel like sometimes there was too much going on. There were so many details going on at some points that it was hard to see the direction. Even now there are some things that happened that I don't know how they tie in. But I have a feeling somethings were set up for the next book in the series.

The ending was awesome. It answered answered a lot of my questions, but then again it gave me more. The ending is when you see how complex the story actually is. The epilogue took me by surprise. It gives a glimpse into what we can expect from the next book, which makes me really excited for it! The Light was great start to what I feel will be a fantastic series. I can't wait to see what is in store for these characters.

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