Customer Reviews

Trauma

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I was totally surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. It's got a completely different feel and atmosphere than his usual adventurous romps. It's moody, subtle, and very satisfying. Caution - by subtle, I mean it is not overtly scary or shocking. It is, however, pretty gross. Just FYI.

Again, another great book from the TRUE master of horror! Masterton takes you on a journey where people who clean up gruesome crime scenes go psycho themselves. Reason I gave it a four, was because I thought it could have been longer, but hey, cannot win them all. Great book, buy it!

Bonnie Winter cleans up crime scenes. It is her job to use whatever cleaners it takes to remove the blood and gore. In a sense, her own life needs to be cleaned up as well. Her bigoted, lazy husband, so full of complaints, refuses to find work while Bonnie struggles to hold down two jobs. Her son appears to be heading down the same path as his Dad. Meanwhile, her boss at a cosmetics company is enamored with her. There is an underlying hint of evil in that a rare caterpillar is found by Bonnie at several particularly gruesome suicide scenes. Can this be an omen for disaster?
TRAUMA is a novella. Yet, it manages to pack more of an emotional whollop than novels three times it's size. By limiting the length of the work, Graham Masterton wastes no time in setting up this dark tale of the unraveling of Bonnie Winter's life. It is actually a character study of a woman in distress-- being boxed in by the world around her. There is a refreshingly stark simplicity in the way the story unfolds. The author is an experienced writer of the horror genre. It would not be incorrect to place this into that category, as well. Truly brilliant.

Bonnie Winters runs a crime scene clean-up service, meaning she goes in and clean up places where violent scenes have taken place. She also works as a cosmetics lady when she's not cleaning crime scenes, just to remind herself that she's something other than a mother/wife/cleaning lady. Bonnie works as the sole supporter of her family since her husband lost his job, which he blames on the Mexicans as a whole, and her son is just a teenager going through a difficult time.

I really liked how they didn't clue you in much on Bonnie. Bits and pieces of her life is shown through her interactions. One minute you're reading about a particularly gruesome crime scene, and the next you're reading about what she's cooking for dinner. I like this because it seems that the author is trying to show you some kind of normalcy in Bonnie's life.

This book turned out a lot different than I expected. I never saw that plot twist toward the end coming. Well, I did gradually, but in the beginning, it's not something you expect to happen. Everything so matter-of-fact in the book that I just didn't expect that at first. It could have been considered a deus ex machina if it hadn't been for the fact that there were subtle clues about what was happening.

There are a few editing problems in the book, but overall, it's a really good read.

The premise here is very, very effective - a woman who cleans houses after trauma scenes and thus deals with horror on a daily basis; and whose own frustration will eventually and inevitably reach boiling point. Her personal life is difficult, with a lecherous boss, a selfish, belligerant oaf of a husband and a son who seems to be following in his father's footsteps - and herein lies one rather large error. In the beginning, we're told the son is 17, yet further into the story he is referred to as being only 15 years old - no explanation or reasoning, just a simple mistake, it seems. Remarkably enough, this is the second title I've read by the author that's contained such a glaring error. There are also grammatical and typographical errors, but these reflect more on the publishing house than the author, in all fairness.

Having said that, Masterton does write a very good horror story, and "Trauma" is no exception. We're sympathetic with the downtrodden and frustrated protagonist, and we can completely empathise with her situation. The storyline is a very effective study on the horror we sometimes bring upon ourselves, and there's just enough gore to satisfy the demon in us all.

3 stars, as I would have actually liked the story to be longer!

How can the reviewers on here state that this novella even resembles a strong work of fiction. It reads as though it was written in a couple hours and there were several grammatical mistakes in the book and even a mistake about the age of Bonnie's son, Ray.....is he 17 or 15???? The dialogue is unrealistic and fragmented and the characters never devlop. This is a "book" that should have been published in a college newspaper. Don't bother, b/c you'll end up frustrated and truly disappointed.

Okay, so it isn't pounding, gross-out, fingernails-scratching-at-walls traditional horror. This is a slow, almost gentle character study. Masterton doesn't even bother to hide where he is going. The very fact that someone does a job like Bonnie's in the real world is disturbing enough. That we like her so much we begin to descend in hell along with her is VERY upsetting. I like pulp horror too (Harry Shannon's "Night of the Beast" being the most recent example of a well done rollercoaster ride)but this one is something altogether different. Settle in for a quiet, skin-crawling text about true psychological horror and you won't be disappointed. Subtle and dazzling. I think it is one of Masterton's best.

This is not a typical Masterton work. It is great, however, and I couldn't put it down. I started it at 10PM last night and finished it around 1 AM.

Short is not the word for this book. Indeed, by keeping his verbosity in check, Masterton did more to keep me glued to the page than Spirit, Prey, or the The House that Jack Built.

I've read almost all of his stuff and this is different and really, really good. I actually wanted to find a woman like Bonnie Winter and fall in love with her.

I loved this book! I have never really read books before. I decided I wanted to start reading and I knew it would have to be something that caught my attention.
I love watching Forensic Files, so I thought this book would be a good one to start with. I read it in about 4 days. I couldn't wait to get home from work to see what was going to happen next. One night, I watched Forensic Files in bed and during commercials I read Trauma.
It is excellent for my first book. I can't wait to get some more books by Graham Masterton.
I recommend this book for anyone who likes any type of Forensics.

Graham Masterton is the master of subtle horror. He is able to take normal looking and normal sounding characters and place them in situations of complete and utter horror. And he does it once again - and rather masterfully - with his short but extremely complex novel Trauma (aka Bonnie Winter).

Bonnie is a tired mother and wife who works two jobs to support her family. By day, she sells cosmetics and by night, she works with her crime scene clean up crew. You see, when someone dies a horrible death, the police will not clean the mess that is left behind. It's up to people like Bonnie to clean up whatever is left at the crime scene once the body has been removed.

But as the days crawl by, as Bonnie gets more and more confused by her failing marriage, her abusive husband and her strange and slightly distrubed son, and as the things she sees at the crime scenes she is supposed to clean up get weirder and weirder, Bonnie will slowly began her tumble down into dementia.

Masterton found the perfect form to tell his story. The chapters are short and often straight to the point. The descriptions are sparse though he gives the reader just enough to sends shivers down their spines. By the time the climax comes by, you can't be sure if Bonnie is really insane or if what is sees and feels is actually real.

I really enjoyed this novel. It can be quite gruesome at time, but the gore never takes over the psychological suspense. The only problem I have with this book is that I wanted more. It's very short, though I don't think that having any more would have made the book any better. It's quite thrilling and intriguing as it is. Masterton proves once and for all that he is one of the most underrated voice in horror ficiton.