The Farm
The Farm
By Amy Cross
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
Told in third person unlike many of the books that came before. The chapters go back and forth between time periods. The late 1970's and present day. At one point we also visit 1950. The farm is located in Norway. So while the previous stories have taken place in Brittan this one takes the British from London and lands them right in the middle of snow and -25F. Were talking winter in Norway. This is no joke folks. The snow is serious. They do winter to the extreme.
John Ridley
John seems like a nice guy. He's bought a farm in Norway, yet has never even set foot on a farm during his life. It's a huge leap from the streets of London to the cold fields of Norway. Hopefully he has not bitten off more than he can chew. Understandably, he is running from his grief and burying himself in a challenge that maybe he doesn't care if he succeeds in. He is our token skeptic in the story. Not ever really wanting to believe that anything supernatural is going on. It's infuriating. He ends up having an unfortunate “accident”, which we learn later was no accident and spends the second half of the book in a medically induced coma.
Paula Ridley
I'm not really jiving with this young woman here in the beginning. She is not only miserable, but mean as well. This is to her father who seems like a nice enough bloke. She doesn't want to be there and assumes that her father is going to give up on the venture sooner rather than later. Biding her time, she learns that a horrific murder took place in their new home and this gives her something to at least take up some of their time while waiting for dad to give up. I will say that it would be extremely hard to get uprooted after losing your mother and moved to a country where you don't even know the language let alone any people. Her attitude changes a bit, the enthusiasm about the potential for ghosts is a bit over the top and annoying but once she learns that it's real, things become a little different. I am glad that she gets her head out of her ass and tries to figure out what the hell is going on. It's close for her at the very end there. Lots of hospital visits for everyone here.
Sebastian
I believe he is around the same age as Paula but he dropped out of school and got a job plowing on the night shift. This is Norway after all. It snows A LOT there. He's a nice guy with a decent head on his shoulders. It's also really refreshing that he believes Paula. Unlike her father who is a bit of a ridiculous man. I do enjoy when they combine forces to solve the mystery. He does know more than she does since he has lived in the town all his life. He's even aware of the corruption running the town; plus, he speaks the language. At first I feel like you are not really sure where his alliances are but then it becomes dead obvious after their trip to the forest.
Sara Olesun
Sara is 8. She is whiney, and a bit of a pain in the ass. She acts more immature than I would expect her to act at the age of eight. I find it very interesting that she actually trusts Lund over her own sister. When they are looking for Kari, Sara knows where he is, but she will not tell anyone. It's really frustrating. It is at this point that I feel the urge to kick the kid in the face. Hers is the only body that was not found out of the tree girls. I'm pretty sure hers is one of the bodies in the barn near the end but, this said we will never really know as the barn burns to the ground. She is also the one that killed her sisters. Funny part is the “authorities” never actually figured this one out. Perhaps not the brightest of folks in charge. They swept it all under the carpet anyway. There is an element of sadness in that even after the creature killed her she stayed hidden because she was afraid that her sisters hated her. She was the one that killed them after all. Not of her own free will, though.
Kari Olesun
Kari is 13 and acts a bit above her station. For 13 she seems to be a bit stuffy and kinda angry. But honestly she's a teenager...moody is their regular state, sort of thing. Yes she's a loner with a bad attitude but what happens to her is absolutely horrific. She is basically kidnapped and tortured by Lund (aka the blob). I mean it looks like slime that a kid made in kindergarten class. I suppose that is why it requires a living being to do it's bidding. Poor Kari looses her eyes and her innocence in that rotted old shed. Not everything is described in detail but it is explained that she will never be able to have children of her own due to the damage that was done to her. This bit can get a bit triggering for those that don't tolerate violence toward children well so just keep that in mind. Oh and just to make matters worse the town covers it all up because they want to continue to experiment on Lund. What a great bunch of neighbors.
Elizabeth Olesun
Elizabeth is the oldest sister at 16. She is obviously in a better place to be more rational and utilize common sense better than her two siblings. I do question why, if the youngest child is missing, the parents are not out there as well. I suppose they may not know. I mean this is 1979, no one has a cell phone. We're talking all LAND lines baby! She seems to be very mature for her age. I would almost say that she was in her early thirties and not her mid-teens. She is very maternal with both of her younger siblings and seems to have a better head on her shoulders than her parents. She gets hardcore with Sarah for a second there when she is trying to get her to tell them where Lund is by brutally showing her what he had done to Kari. That scene is definitely not for the timid. I can completely understand why she is so frustrated and angry at Sarah. I want to smack the kid around myself.
Jonah Lund
I'll be honest it is not until the very end that my heart breaks for this man. What he has said is true. He does hear a voice and it does tell him to do horrible things. These things are not something that he can control. It is the owner of this voice that is in control. Ever since the age of 5 his life has not been his own. He was a normal kid until he found that thing in the barn. The thing that would control his mind for the rest of his life. Not to mention the fact that he was a human guineapig for a crazy-ass doctor that thought he could cut out the part of his mind that was causing him all his trouble (They took 1/3 of his brain matter from him). The only thing they succeeded in doing was erasing his memory. Which as it turns out, was the only thing that really mattered. If he had been able to remember back in the 70's what he needed to do so many lives could have been saved. That thing in the barn is nothing more that a large blob of snot. Black snot. It claims to be the god Hel (Nordic god of death) but man I just can't jump on board. Dude must have really ficked up to end up in that kind of shape. I'm not sure how little Jonah managed to take it seriously. I guess children are fanciful thinkers.
Closing thoughts:
As we have learned, things are not always what they seem in Cross's books. This one is no exception. Honestly, I was really surprised to learn that Lund was still alive. The only reason he was still alive was because he was an obsession. He was one of the people in power’s pet project. So essentially he spent most of his life under the microscope. That's enough to drive anyone nuts!
There is an epilogue of doom but it does not break down what has been built during the story. It simply leaves things open and makes the reader think a bit on what the future might hold. I suppose I should not have been surprised at the ending but honestly I figured with the destruction of the barn there would be no chance of anything surviving. I was wrong.
