The Cabin at the End of the World is another apocalyptic story. The setting is a vacation cabin in the middle of nowhere. Eric and Andrew have come here with their young daughter Wen for vacation. It’s a quiet, secluded place next to a lake with no nearby neighbors.
While Eric and Andrew get settled in the cabin, Wen plays in the yard. A man comes and begins to play with Wen. He says his name is Leonard. Wen becomes uncomfortable with him and goes into the cabin. Now three other people join Leonard. They all carry odd makeshift weapons, sledgehammers, rakes, and blades, all attached to the ends of long wooden handles. One is “…a flower of rusty hand shovel and trowel blades, nailed and screwed to the end…” of a long handle.
Eric and Andrew lock up the cabin to keep these strange people out, but the peculiar people break in anyway. Eric and Andrew are tied up while seven-year-old Wen is left free. The rest of the book concerns the conflict between Eric/Andrew/Wen, and their four strange captors.
The book is action-packed. The first sixty pages are about the couple and daughter trying to keep invaders out of the cabin. Then, the attacker’s purpose is slowly revealed, and the terror grows. Very beautifully written at a rapid pace. The point of view shifts between Eric, Andrew, and Wen as the invaders hold them captive. This book starts with a bang, and the dynamic tension doesn’t stop. The predicament of the main characters is interesting, and I kept reading to find out what the next jaw-dropping revelation would be.
The story feels unbelievable and therefore isn’t scary. The motivations for the villains are as truly baffling as those real-life fanatics who believe the world will end. In the end, the reader is left with the feeling that all of it has been meaningless.
The Cabin at the End of the World has a world of suspense going for it. The reader keeps asking, ‘why is this happening’ but the answer, when it comes, isn’t very satisfying. This book rates a two on the horror scale, where one is not scary, and five is sleep-with-the-lights-on scary.