I was trying to read Sineater, but I gave up a few chapters in. The back gave the impression that it was actually more about the sineater himself, and not about the backwoods community he lives in, where everyone who isn’t a teacher gives off a stench of “inbred and uneducated,” regardless of whether or not they’ve seen the inside of a school and/or may be related to their spouse. Possibly Ms. Massie thought that only such a community would actually harbor both a sineater and a psychotic “spiritual leader” determined to destroy said sineater (and his entire family). Which, if it was just that they believed he was, I could probably see. But she makes it very clear that its not some weird delusion on their part, he is in fact a sineater, and its passed down through his family, to each firstborn male. So, really, there is no belief here, there is knowing. Which makes them all maybe a little poor and crazy for not moving away and for any of them actually willingly breeding with the man, but does not necessitate the “I can almost hear ‘Dueling Banjos’ now” ambience that she decided to portray.

And really, the terror and the feeling him near and the “dark” and “heavy” and “strange.” WE GET IT. Even his wife is scared of seeing him. We understand, to see him is to die, dooooooooooooon’t looooooooooooooook. Can we move on now? Jesus. How about showing us how he feels, someone who once had parents, and fell in love with a girl, and had kids, and now he only comes out at night and no one can ever look at him, and his own son fucking hates him because the poor boy will one day become him, but he had to have a son, or he’d have been doomed to hell on his death bed, because he’d still have been carrying the sins of everyone else? I would like a little insight into him, please. HE actually seems like he could be kind of interesting.

But, no, please, let’s get beaten over the head with the crazy bitch and Massie’s erection for hillbilly cliches, that’s way better. Ugh. *tosses “Sineater” onto the trade-in pile*