Dweller

Young Toby is a loner. Not necessarily because he wants to be, but because he is a little over imaginative and odd. Bullies torment him to the point of madness and it is this torment and loneliness that drives him to create a life long bond with a fierce creature that lives in the woods. It's a

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friendship that will last through all of life's multiple cycles, even murder doesn't split the pair apart.

Dweller is the story of a young man who meets a monster in the forest behind his home. It's the story of a life long friendship between a man and a monster at times funny, scary, sad and heart wrenching.

One of the best stories I've read and I would highly recommend this one.

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This is a very disturbing and bittersweet morality tale of horror where a young boy discovers a monster in the woods and befriends him. Through 55 years, the book blurs the relationship with the creature as the reader slowly discovers the real monster. Very well written with characters the reader

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will both love and hate. Extremely well done climax. Amidst all the suspense, gore and horror I truly felt sorry for both the creature and the man. He truly screwed up his life and it does make one wonder if one would have done very much different under those circumstances. Great horror on many levels. Well done, Mr. Strand!

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Before I start this review, I have a confession to make about the movie "King Kong." I cry at the ending. I did when I was a little boy with the original and I still do now. Then again tears when I was older and saw the remake with Jeff Bridges. (Any crying during the Peter Jackson remake was more

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due to how poor the film was than anything else.) Here was a creature that was living a happy life who finally thought he found love only to be kidnapped to a foreign country and then killed while defending his love. How that could not stir tears in anyone, I don't know.

Jumping forward to the book DWELLER, it will evoke a lot of the same feelings. Toby is a misfit teenager who through a series of events makes friends with a big-toothed, massive-clawed creature in the woods. They keep this friendship for decades and through many life changes. Like many friendships, it's not always easy but the friendship does persevere. All the way to the end of the book. Yes, the idea might seem a little crazy that someone could make friends with such a creature but so is a gigantic ape falling in love with a blonde human sacrifice. If you just go with it, you'll find that the book is well worth it and extremely entertaining. It will pull you in very quickly and you won't want to stop reading. This was one of those books I could barely put down and which I stayed up late reading. As always, I look forward to more books by Strand.

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This story about a boy and his bigfoot was good, not great. More comedy than horror, but not really laugh-out-loud funny. Mildly amusing.
I'd give this a solid 3.5 stars. Well written, but twice as long as the concept deserved - a book half as long would've probably been twice as good. I did think

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the ending was perfect, though. Recommended, but not essential.

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Jeff Strand does an amazing job with this book.
Young Toby encounters a monster in the woods, but when he tells his family no one will believe him.
So begins a lifelong relationship between Toby and the monster.
The reason I say Jeff Strand did an amazing job is twofold. First, you really care for

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Toby, even though his relationship with the monster takes some nasty turns (and when I say nasty, I mean VERY nasty). You can't help but feel sorry for him. Second, you really care for the monster although he does some horrific things. Mr. Strand brings an humanity to the monster that I didn't expect, but it worked.
In my opinion, this story isn't really scary in the usual way. What's scary about it is how far these two will go to maintain their friendship, above ALL else. I know people say this all the time, but I couldn't put this book down. It is fast paced and well written and best of all, it is a fascinating story that will keep you engaged.

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This is not your typical boy meets monster, boy befriends monster book. There are enough twists and turns throughout the book to keep the excitement level ratcheted up throughout the book. This is one of the best horror novels I've read, and I thoroughly enjoyed each page.