In the Valley of the Sun: A Novel

Readers are likely to only read the Prologue of IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN (2017) by Andy Davidson which takes place in Texas in 1980 before they start to wonder exactly what they have gotten themselves into. Travis Stillwell has a woman, Rue, “seventeen, maybe eighteen” alone with him in his camper anticipating an evening of what comes naturally to him—something most unnatural—but when he wakes up in the morning, he is unable to remember the night before. It is “a black hole punched through his head.” Alone, nearly naked, his hands are covered with dried blood, he smells like “a days-old funk of night sweats and booze and tar and smoke and—death.” Near the swollen juncture of his leg and groin there is a slit and six “shallow and crusted over” punctures. Travis discovers he is parked at the campgrounds of the Sundowner Inn—a motel barely kept alive by its diner. Unable to pay the owner for his camper hook-up, Travis willingly accepts twenty-four-year-old Annabelle Gaskin’s offer to work off what he owes and stay a few days cleaning junk out of the swimming pool she hopes to renovate to attract guests. Thus begins a complex relationship with Annabelle, a single mother, and her ten-year-old son, Sandy. But it is nothing compared to the physical changes Travis begins to experience beginning with his flesh peeling in the sun.Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers Association in 2017 for “First Novel,” IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN is a remarkable accomplishment on a number of levels. This extremely well-written and brilliantly plotted novel combines a number of horror/chiller sub-genres and is given a rather singular setting (the rural West) in an original and suspenseful way. In spite of the book’s length, the action feels very fast-paced and is beautifully character driven. In an interview author Andy Davidson describes IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN as “TENDER MERCIES meets TAXI DRIVER by way of NEAR DARK.”Hearing in his head the voice of Rue and being compelled by her and his own new, atrocious yearnings to commit deeds even more unthinkable than he has in the past, Travis is both a helpless victim and a deadly, malicious stalker. Hot on his trail for his earlier deeds is John Reader, a Texas Ranger. Both Annabelle and Sandy find themselves caught in a dilemma—becoming increasingly attached to the handsome, weary cowboy who always has a military-style knife in a scabbard strapped to his leg while feeling there is a real need to keep distance away from him as both his appearance and behavior becomes progressively bizarre.Davidson’s portrait of characters in need of love and belonging in “a lonely world” which “takes things right and left,” while encountering more and more inexplicable, perhaps even supernatural events beyond their understanding and control is artfully done. There is violence, death, and some vivid, apt gore in the novel, but never at the expense of an always present touch of humanity.Once readers have a grasp on exactly what they are seeing unfold before them (and it really doesn’t take long), they are bound to find themselves entranced and loving IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN more with each chapter. There are numerous flashbacks to different times and locales which further explain the motives and makeup of the characters, breaking up the narrative in a significant fashion.As Rue makes more than just her voice heard (and not just to Travis), as Travis’s hunger becomes crippling and in need of fulfilling even as he dreams more and more of an idealized life with Annabelle and Sandy, and as bodies begin to pile up, leaving a most convenient trail for John Reader to follow, it becomes obvious there is going to be more than one show-down before the novel’s end. Readers, however, most likely will find themselves incapable of predicting any of the outcomes and eager to discover them.There is nothing which glitters in the twilight in IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN except the stars in the Texas night sky which remain out of reach and the conclusion to IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN remains steadfastly rooted in the world Davidson has created. The book’s finale is entirely convincing and satisfying.Davidson shared his Bram Stoker Award nomination for first novel in 2017 with COLD CUTS by Robert Payne Cabeen (winner), WHAT DO MONSTERS FEAR? by Matt Hayward, THE BOULEVARD MONSTER by Jeremy Hepler, and KILL CREEK by Scott Thomas—awesome competition. However, IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN is surely the more one-off among the novels on the list and an absolute delight to read. [Davidson has followed IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN with a second novel, THE BOATMAN’S DAUGHTER (2020).]

I thought I'd had my fill of vampire tales years ago, but Andy Davidson has rekindled my interest. I noticed that the word "vampire" is never used in the novel--an effective strategy here because his two creatures, Rue and Travis, are always doing what effective monsters do best---shape-shifting. They're liminal creatures, existing between life and death, between human and animal. Travis is more like the Wolf Man than Dracula--we want to sympathize with him, we even hope at one point he may overcome the Hunger and be saved by love (both filial and conjugal). But this is horror, not romance. The predatory wolf is his abiding and unconquerable demon, whether as mass murderer, serial killer, or vampire.What I find most intriguing in this novel is the unobtrusive symbolism that never becomes heavy-handed even at its most obvious: the flashback to the Vietnam War, Travis's platoon perpetrating a massacre of a village after the Viet-Cong had sent a naked adolescent girl "stuffed" with C4 into their midst, where she blew up. This passage actually reminded me of Tim O'Brien in its stark horrific realism, even as it worked symbolically to remind us that supernatural horror is mere fantasy compared to this reality, this atrocity of war. Davidson's vampires are metaphors for what we dread in reality--not only the primal fear of the predator, but the dread that any of us may be capable of committing atrocities. As Ranger Reader says, "the world is just full of monsters."If you are looking for a horror novel that has a strong sense of place and is full of rich, vivid imagery/ symbolism that makes you THINK as much as it makes your skin crawl, you can't go wrong with In the Valley of the Sun. It is not overly "literary", though; it's truly a page-turner--fast-paced with multiple (and very convincing) points of view that also help fully develop the characters. This isn't hackneyed horror-formula writing (its title isn't "The Texas Vampire Massacre"; Davidson shows that horror is a fine art. My only disappointment was the ending, which seemed frustratingly ambiguous.

A very thoughtful and entertaining work which keeps the reader engaged throughout. Lots of twists in a superior narrative. Great.

Fantastic adult literary vampire novel, best since George r martins fever dream, a bit like the 80s cult classic Near Dark in parts crossed with cormac McCarthy, what could be better

I kept reading in case the plot & writing style got better. ..but it didn't unfortunately. I read anything & everything but will not read this author again

Honestly, I bought this mostly because the cover intrigued me and I like vampires.What I expected was a horror/vampire book, what I also got was a book about love, loss and life.I was crying by the time I finished the last page, and I don’t remember the last time a book has affected me in this way.I immediately searched the authors other books, and will keep this on my favourites shelf to read again in the future.10/10

A bit over elaborate, too abstract at first, with author overdoing the narrative with a surfeit of similes and streams of adjectives. Improved from about half way and in total was an enjoyable read.