Book Review: Buried
Buried. Sue Rovens. Plump Toad Press, April 21, 2019, Trade Paperback and E-book, 211 pages.
Reviewed by Susan Gaspar.
Buried is a gripping story that solidly straddles the genres of suspense and psychological horror. Make no bones about it: this book contains graphic, explicit details that both repulse and fascinate the reader. I was hooked from the first dark images that Chapter 1 conjured up in my mind’s eye.
Ms. Rovens has a knack for creating a palpable atmosphere, and Buried leads you slowly and purposefully around the small town of Foote, Indiana, with the bulk of the creepy action centering on the Sommerville Funeral Home. That is not to say that the other locales in the story are comforting or upbeat. Almost every house, business, and plot of land in Buried has an unsettling history or vile underbelly. Within a paragraph or two of each new location or development, the author pulls the reader into a disturbing situation or upsetting circumstances.
The chapters are short and move quickly, but the characters are introduced slowly—one or two at a turn, with a bit more detail each time—which serves to build and ferment the tale. The reader gradually paints a picture of each person and invests more energy into who they are, what they want, and how much we like them. I didn’t find myself personally identifying with any of the characters so much as being voyeuristically interested in their lives—past and present. And as one would expect, it seems most of them have deep, dark secrets. Little by little, chapter by chapter, we learn some nasty tidbits about the inhabitants of this tiny Midwestern town.
This purposeful pacing is highly effective. I found myself captivated and reeled in, and then found myself completely hooked as the action ramped up. I stared at certain paragraphs open-mouthed as heinous behaviors or stomach-turning activities were revealed. Readers will find themselves attempting to understand the deep psychological illnesses or strange idiosyncrasies that drive each character as the inner thoughts and workings of their minds reveal uncontrollable urges and hidden agendas.
Different aspects of human nature are represented in each individual, yet one thing ties these characters together: they all want what they want for reasons they don’t truly comprehend. It’s as though their understanding of themselves is as deeply buried as their secrets. But eventually, those desires and secrets are unearthed, and the ripple effect is devastating to all involved.
What sort of secrets and desires are we talking about here? Well, they cannot adequately be summed up with words like “lust,” “greed,” and “obsession.” For example, the seemingly innocent but messy stockpiling and hoarding of tchotchkes becomes truly grotesque when the hoarded items become partially decomposed human remains. And what begins as a brief flirtation turns deadly when emotional manipulation and sexual addiction take hold. Finally, what might be viewed as basic white-collar crime and unsavory sexual habits turn out to be profound moral and ethical corruption and full-blown necrophilia. Buried is not a book for the faint of heart or the easily nauseated. I could not put it down.
The climax of Buried is a jaw-dropping moment, and how the characters—those who are left standing—reconcile their actions and cope with their undoing is by no means a happy ending. After such foul revelations, the best hope is for a semblance of peace, and several of the characters do find some, in their own off-kilter way. There is no neat bow to wrap up this story, but rather a smoothing over of desecrated grounds followed by a quiet, unnerving regret that is left to take root in the previously disturbed soil.