Book Review of No One Goes Alone (a ghost story)
Last week I shared 7 scary reads to add to your October TBRs. This week, I went to delve deeper into one of the titles that didn’t make the list and give you a full review of Erik Larson’s No One Goes Alone.
But first, a little back story. If you read last week’s post, you know I am a fan of all things scary. My favorite genres are thriller and mystery. I gravitate toward real-life based stories becasue in my experience truth is scarier than fiction.
In October, however, I love to submerge myself in the occult: haunted houses, malevolent spirits, seances and more. In the spsirit of Halloween, I say give me all your ghost stories.
So, when I found myself facing an impromptu car trip tp Fort Wayne, about eight hours round trip, with my oldest son, my first stop was Audible. We have a history of listening to audiobooks on car trips and we’ve enjoyed some great stories over the years. our favorite was Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven (a true real life horror novel.)
The books we didn’t listen to
I downloaded two free books included with my subscription. (Don’t sleep on these books if they are included with your membership. I’ve listened to some great stories for free too and I listen to a lot of audiobooks.) And I had a spare in my back pocket, just in case.
I’m not going to name names here, for obvious reasons, but this time the freebies were a bust. One of them had a great premise–eight contestants had to stay overnight in a haunted house to win $1 million. How hard could that be?
Unfortunately, the author gave the entire story away in the prologue and I didn’t cae enough about the character to slog my way through nine more hours of gore when I already knew the outcome. As an aside, I am not generally a fan of prologues. They have fallen out of favor with agents and editors, mostly becasue they are seen as lazy writing, and so as I writer I go out of my way to avoid them. And I’m not a fan of reading them either. This book was case in point why prologues should be avoided.
The other story was a little too far-fethced for taste and it had a really bad narrator. If you listen to audio books you know the narrator can make or break a story. Pro tip: If you find the narration a little too slow or lilting, try incrasing the speed just a little. This helps with a lot of books. But not this one.
So, it was with not even a little bit of disappointment, that we put on No One Goes Alone.
No One Goes Alone – the premise
Erik Larson is a reknowned author of New York Times Bestsellers like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Devil in the White City: Muder, magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (which almost made last week’s list), and Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, plus many more but thoese are the titles that I have read. Typically, Larson writes nonfiction thrillers presenting some of the most infamous events of history through expertly crafted stories that appeal to modern readers. He can be a little verbose and sometimes it takes awhile to get into his stories, but once you’re in, you’re in. And I always feel smarter for having read them.
So when I found out he tried his hand at a ghost story, something I have also done, I was as excited as I am when the holiday drinks first appear in Starbucks. (Perhaps the only thing I like more than Halloween is Christmas.) Larson only released No One Goes Alone as an audio book, becasue according to him ghost stories were meant to be listened to. How cool is that?
In this story a group of researchers led by American psychologist Professor William James, a prominent member of the Society for Psychical Research,, sets sail for the Isle of Dorn in the North Atlantic in 1905 to explore the cause of several mysterious disappearances from the island. Most recently, a family of four vanished without a trace after a weeklong holiday at their island house. Together, they explore the island’s sole “cottage” and landscape in an attempt to discover whether there is a logical explanation for the disappearances.
Since the true purpose of the mission is to prove whether or not ghosts are real, their mission is kept secret. They travel without staff and even captain their own boat in order to limit the number of people present and, hopefully, eliminate the threat of hoaxes interfering with their research.
The idyllic setting quickly turns dangerous, with raging storms and unnerving discoveries adding to the sense of menace. When their boat goes missing, the researchers are stranded on the island in a locked-room type mystery. As seemingly inexplicable events mount, they begin to wonder whether they can trust their own eyes, their instincts, one another, or even themselves.
No One Goes Alone – the pros
No One Goes Alone has a great hook and a strong beginning that immediately engages the reader. And although purely fiction–ghost aren’t real, are they?–Larson firmly grounds the story in history. He has done he same level of impeccable research he devotes to his nonfiction works. I found this inside glimpse into the early twentieth century fascination with the paranormal interesting and informative.
He also creates a robust cast of characters, that may leave listeners dizzy in the beginning. In the early chapters it is difficult to keep everyone straight. There are eight in all. William James, the pioneering psychologist and leader of the expedition is based on the real-life “father of American psychology”. He is also a prominent member of the Society for Psychical Research.
The rest of the cast is imagined by Larson, but rooted in history. There’s Nathaniel Hume (a fictional son of the real-life psychic D. D. Hume); Carl Winter, a professional illusionist and true skeptic; Katherine Holbrook, a widow who claims to have met her husband’s ghost; Mrs. Northrup, a 50-year-old professional writer who was brought along to write a record of the trip; Madeline Nesh, a divorceé and forensic pathologist who specialized in murder investigations; Nicholas Pendredge, along as the Psychical society’s representative and chairman of the Committee on Haunted Houses; and finally, the narrator, a young wireless telegraphist Josiah Frost.
I am not going to lie, it took me several chapters to really get to know them. You’ll find all this information in chapter 2, or you might want to bookmark this post to refer to in the beginning.
No One Goes Alone is well-crafted with various Easter eggs woven into the plot (although I wanted more and during the car ride home my son and I brainstormed quite a few more). Of course, it does a historically-accurate job of representing the politics and etiquette of post-Victorian England. I was particularly drawn to the strong femail characters, especially Mrs. Northrup, who played important roles not just in the book but in society at a time when that was not typical for women.
In addition to being cut off from society, the historical angle places the characters on the brink significant technological and scientific breakthroughs, as well as world-shifting political events. This gives the story a timeless old-world charm, but also appeases modern sensibility.
No One Goes Alone – the cons
Unfortunately, No One Goes Alone is big on talk and light on action. And overall, it’s a rather boring listen.
There are definitely some spine-tingling scenes woven into the story. Some of the early events had me on the edge of my seat and I was glad I would be sharing a hotel room with my son rather than facing the night alone. But the story needed more of these unsettling but uncertain moments.
Larson missed som many opportunites to sprinkle inexplicable events into No One Goes Alone and instead focused on conversation and explanation. True to his form, he provided a lot of context for the time period, but missed creating the high tension needed for a compelling ghost story.
Even as bodies are discovered on the island, impossibe events pile up and unidentifiable creatures are spotted in the meadow, the characters remain focused on their scientific practice of debating what’s going on. Their response to the horror is neither realistic nor terrified enough, which in turn deescalates the fear for the reader. If the characters are not concerned with their own plight, then why should the listener be?
The last third of No One Goes Alone finally focuses on the supernatural, which made it a more intersting to listen to. But it wasn’t well-developed or blood-curdling enough to wow me. I kept waiting for Larson to raise the stakes. When it comes to the climax of the story, Larson rushes through it and the sciensitsts seem to defeat the demons and secure rescue in the blink of an eye making it all seem too easy.
Final thoughts
Overall, despite some truly creepy scenes and flashes of brilliant story-telling, No One Goes Alone fell short of my expectations. At the end, both my son and I shrugged and though, “so what?”
In fact, the most intersting part of this listen was the author’s note, read by Larson at the end of the story. In this note he explains that No One Goes Alone was an experiment for him and was not originally intended to be published.
And I think that’s exactly what’s wrong with this story. It wasn’t finished yet. A few more drafts and editor familiar with ghost stories, could have taken this excellent premise and improved the plotting and the pacing to deliver on a truly terrifying story.
As far as the recording, it was fine. The purpose of the audio book was to mimic someone telling a story around a fire. And from that respect a single narrator makes sense. But I think the story woud have benefited from a full cast recording–it would have made it way easier to keep the characters straight–and some sound effects or higher-level producion quality to immerse the listener in the story.
Overall, I’d give this story 3 out of 5 stars. If you’re interested in the history of paranormal exploration it is definitely worth a listen. But if you’re looking for a good scare, I’d skip this one.
Off we go!
If you do decide to listen, you might want to try these Spooky Halloween Brownies or these Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes becasue ghost stories are definitely better with a sweet treat.
