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Pig Island (novel)
Encyclopedia
Pig Island is a novel by British writer Mo Hayder
, first published in 2006. The novel is nominally a thriller which mixes elements of the detective novel with more overt horror influences. It reached number 8 on the Sunday Times
bestseller lists, the author's highest position to date.
However, Oaksey's visit throws up more questions than answers. Why does the wider community not want him there? Why will no one talk about the creature seen wandering the island? What lies beyond the wood and the gorge that almost splits the island in two, with a fence that has rotting pig heads atop its posts? Most importantly, what has happened to Pastor Dove, not seen on the island for years, and why will no one talk about him? Joe's visit to the island, and its horrific conclusion, is only the beginning of the legacy that Pig Island will leave on his life.
said that the "use of dark and heavy atmosphere creates an almost crushing sense of dread and ennui", but that the main character's "style of telling the story is slangy, sometimes a little too casual and flippant".
said that this novel, in comparison to Hayder's previous novels, "has moved into disturbing territory around sex that makes Tod Browning's Freaks seem like a Doris Day movie" and that Hayder shows the "commitment she brings to her neo-gothic horror tale". Entertainment Weekly
reviewer, Jennifer Reese, gave it a "B-", saying that "this novel is merely creepy, a skin-crawling cross between The Last Seduction and Splash." A Montreal Gazette
reviewer said that "it is the almost languid pace of the horror that is unsettling" and that "the ending is sudden, shocking and splendid".
Mo Hayder
Mo Hayder is a British author of crime and thriller fiction.She is the author of eight novels. Her debut, Birdman, was published in January 2000 and was an international bestseller. Her second novel, The Treatment, was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the 2002 WH Smith Thumping Good Read award....
, first published in 2006. The novel is nominally a thriller which mixes elements of the detective novel with more overt horror influences. It reached number 8 on the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
bestseller lists, the author's highest position to date.
Plot summary
The novel's protagonist is Joe Oakes - "Oakesy" - a journalist who makes his living exposing supernatural hoaxes. So, when a bizarre videotape recorded by a tourist catches a glimpse of a disturbing creature, half-man half-beast, wandering the beaches of a remote Scottish island, Oaksey is just the man to investigate. Pig Island is home to a mysterious religious community, the Psychogenic Healing Ministries, and its leader Pastor Malachi Dove, and they ask him to come to the island to debunk the rumours of Satanism which are the result of the videotape. Oaksey has met Pastor Dove before, and the two have a long-standing threat to make good on.However, Oaksey's visit throws up more questions than answers. Why does the wider community not want him there? Why will no one talk about the creature seen wandering the island? What lies beyond the wood and the gorge that almost splits the island in two, with a fence that has rotting pig heads atop its posts? Most importantly, what has happened to Pastor Dove, not seen on the island for years, and why will no one talk about him? Joe's visit to the island, and its horrific conclusion, is only the beginning of the legacy that Pig Island will leave on his life.
Style
Darrell Squires of The Western StarThe Western Star (Corner Brook)
The Western Star is a daily newspaper serving Western Newfoundland and Labrador, primarily Corner Brook, Stephenville, and the Humber Valley.The paper was founded in 1900 in Curling. It became a daily in 1954...
said that the "use of dark and heavy atmosphere creates an almost crushing sense of dread and ennui", but that the main character's "style of telling the story is slangy, sometimes a little too casual and flippant".
Critical reception
Peter Guttridge of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said that this novel, in comparison to Hayder's previous novels, "has moved into disturbing territory around sex that makes Tod Browning's Freaks seem like a Doris Day movie" and that Hayder shows the "commitment she brings to her neo-gothic horror tale". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
reviewer, Jennifer Reese, gave it a "B-", saying that "this novel is merely creepy, a skin-crawling cross between The Last Seduction and Splash." A Montreal Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
reviewer said that "it is the almost languid pace of the horror that is unsettling" and that "the ending is sudden, shocking and splendid".