A Small Dark Place

When a little girl falls down an abandoned mine shaft, Peter Wiley and his wife Sandra, facing financial ruin, see a unique opportunity to save themselves and their town, but their greedy actions have unexpected consequences for themselves and the town of Wishbone, Kansas. A first novel. 100,000 first printing.

Amazon.com Review

Stephen King meets Billy Wilder (especially the director's darkly cynical film Ace in the Hole, starring Kirk Douglas) in this smart and stylish debut thriller from screenwriter, cartoonist, and art director Martin Schenk. In an attempt to cash in on some national publicity, a desperate couple in Wishbone, Kansas, stage a terrifying "accident" involving their young daughter. It backfires, bringing down a storm of retribution on the family and the town. Not surprisingly, the screen rights to Schenk's extremely cinematic book have been sold.

From Library Journal

In this debut novel, the Wileys, parents of two young children, are unemployed and desperate, fearing that their lives are about to unravel. They decide to win public sympathy and financial support by having one of their children fall down what appears to be an old mine shaft. They even devise obstacles to prolong the sensational rescue effort. But things don't turn out as planned. The wrong child, a girl utterly terrified of the dark, falls down the shaft, and only the bravery of her brother saves her from dying. But something has happened to her, and the look in her eyes is enough to frighten her brother. While her parents prosper, she remains away at a special school, until she returns years later to visit her nightmare upon her hometown. A disturbing tale, effectively told; recommended for public libraries where horror titles are popular.?Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Derivative, tightly told heartland horror tale that, in aspiring to be a Stephen King knock-off, brims with the master's strengths--and failings. Eight years after high-school jock Peter and cheerleader Sandra were everybody's favorite couple, they lose their house and farm to what appears to be too much bad luck. Lamenting that they are neither rich nor famous, the Wileys move themselves and their children (William, eight, and Andromeda, five) to a motel, where, as Peter fails to get what few jobs the economically depressed burg of Wishbone, Kansas, offers, Sandra, the Eve in this morality tale, gets an idea while watching an old movie on TV (that old devil box!): Why not drop one of the kids down a shaft, let the poor child become an overnight media sensation, and retire on the donations? Alas, the best-laid plans must go astray--the trap the parents lay for Will, who actually likes dark, smelly places, instead snares Andromeda, who can't stand them. Still, the plight of ``baby Andromeda'' galvanizes the town and the nation. As money, goods, and services enrich the Wileys, poor Andromeda discovers a nasty plant thing lurking in the shaft that seems to save her life just so that heroic Will can rescue the now lethally altered Andromeda. The story then zooms 15 years ahead. The town, reborn as a tourist mecca, wants to throw a parade for Andromeda, by now a creepy but beautiful vamp who intends to use the supernatural powers she gained while underground to destroy anyone (meaning just about everybody) who profited from her suffering. As suspenseful as King's best gross-outs, and as cynically dumbed-down as King's worst. Not quite Pet Sematary, but close enough to show that newcomer Schenk understands the rules of commercial horror fiction. Next time around, he should break some of them. (First printing of 100,000; film rights to New Line; Literary Guild selection) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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