A “creeper” is someone who enjoys illegally sneaking into old boarded-up buildings to discover more about that building’s history. Apparently, there are actually real people who do this on a regular basis. It sounds wretched to me, but David Morrell actually took up the hobby himself when he was a young child, and thus began the inspiration for this book.

Creepers tells the story of 5 creepers who spent 8 hours in an abandoned hotel. As you might imagine, these 8 hours weren’t spent peacefully admiring old woodwork. Sinister secrets lurked in the old hotel, waiting to be relased. If you’re familiar with Morrell’s books, you know that he always has a “survivalist” for a main character, and this book was no different. While I wouldn’t call the book a classic by any means, the story was intense, the bad guys were evil, and I stayed up quite late to finish reading.

I first discovered Joy Fielding years ago when I read her book See Jane Run. I loved the suspense, the plot, and the main character–a woman who discovered strength she never knew she had. As I read more of her books, I also came to appreciate Fielding’s ability to give the reader a surprise ending. Even though I came to expect a suddent twist at the end, it was usually difficult to predict what it would be.

Mad River Road has all of the elements that I love in Joy Fielding’s books. The weak woman who becomes strong, the suspenseful plot, and the plot twist at the end. But in recent years, Fielding has added features to her books that I could do without–strong violence, somewhat graphic sex, and an increasing focus on male main characters as crazed maniacs. Because of this, it’s much more difficult for me to enjoy her books, because I spend so much time feeling disturbed. While I still enjoyed the mystery, I’m hesitant to heartily recommend Fielding’s more recent books, as I feel that she’s depending more on the shock factor to add intensity to her books, rather than on strong writing.

I was hesitant to read this book, as it is a sequel of sorts to one of my favorite books-Holes. Holes was such an outstanding book, that I just didn’t think Sachar would be able to repeat his success, and he didn’t. Small Steps is fine as a stand-alone book with an inspiring main character and a good story-line, but there’s just no magic.