“Wild things go on in old country like this, Mr. Blakemore. You’ve gotta follow the rules. That’s really all there is to it.” [p. 119]
The premise of this novel is fascinating: a young couple, Sasha and Harry (and their adorable dog Dash) buy a house in a remote valley, then discover that it's haunted by a spirit which must be appeased. In spring, there will be mysterious lights in the pond; in summer, a screaming naked man pursued by a bear; in autumn, scarecrows. Their neighbours, Dan and Lucy, give them clear and copious instructions on the little rituals they need to perform to keep the spirit from becoming dangerous.
Harry, ex-military, ignores every single rule.
He goads and challenges the spirit; deliberately does the opposite of what he's been instructed to do; refuses to be guided by Dash's behaviour (though frankly the dog is more intelligent, and much more likeable, than Harry); and causes the death of an innocent man. Sasha, though slightly less infuriating than Harry, is not much use. (I can't help suspecting that the reason her bosses let her 'work from home', which seems to consist of one or two online meetings a day, is because she's less effectual than she thinks she is.) Sasha is more willing to believe what Dan and Lucy tell them, but she doesn't argue (much) with Harry when he takes the fight to the spirit. To be fair, Harry does seem to have a degree of PTSD from his time in Afghanistan, and he's been trained to be proactive. But he won't even accept what he's told by Joe, the Native American who owns most of the valley -- though not, as far as I can tell, a surname. Harry goes on the defensive, more or less saying it's up to the local tribes to sort it out. Joe, luckily, does not suffer fools gladly: "The only thing my people can do for you, white man, is remind you not to be stupid."
Harry and Sasha -- both of whom have a lot of emotional baggage -- do grow and change over the course of the novel, and affairs in the valley may have changed as well: but, despite the unsettling manifestations and the juxtaposition of glorious wilderness and supernatural threat, I didn't find this a very satisfying read. Except for Dash, who rocks.
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