Alan Wake by Rick Burroughs

Paperback version
Tor publishing
(c)Microsoft Corp
(c) Remedy Entertainment
305 pages.

Alan Wake is a novel based on a game--one that I have not played, as I don't play games :). The story is about a writer suffering writer's block. He hasn't written anything in two years and not being able to do what he loves has made him quick tempered and angry all the time.

His wife, Alice, suggests they take a holiday in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Almost upon arriving Alan is not happy. There was a creepy guy on the ferry over, Deerfest is about to begin and Alan picks up the key to their rental cabin from a weird woman dressed in black who wears a veil and stays in the shadows.

At the cabin, Alice has set up his typewriter just in case he feels like writing. The new surroundings might help him and there just happens to be a doctor in the town who specializes in helping artists. Alan looses his temper and storms out of the house. A moment later he hears Alice screaming. He runs back but she is gone.

Next minute he is in a car crash, and has lost a week of his life.

The novel is fast paced and written in an easy to read style. The story is plot based as it is a game and we get introduced to a host of interesting characters. There is no massive amounts of description and backstory which clogs up a lot of books. The area is lightly descriptive and the events taken place run fast.

The action is thick and runs fast for most of the book and in the large part this works for the type of tale being told and at other times it seems repetitive. I finished the book in two days and enjoyed it a lot. There is one massive error, which surprised me that it was missed. The end of chapter 16 has Wake about to open a door then chapter 17 starts with him talking to Barry and then opening the door. Something is missing and this really threw me out of the story--but not for long. I just accepted Barry was there.

I really liked the characters Tor and Odin. They were awesome. I wish I could have seen more of them. They stole the story with each scene they were in. 

80%