Growing up, my grandfather always kept bees near his home. Over the years, I’ve helped him move hives, feed them and go pick up new ones, among other duties. The result was free, and amazing, honey, which was given to friends and family or sold for very little money. It’s always been all about the hobby. Well, that and my grandpa insisting that taking stings helps arthritis.
For the above reasons, I’ve always had an interest in bees and honey, although it was never my hobby. That’s why seeing the cover, and title, of Ronald Malfi’s latest book intrigued me so much. It helped that I’ve been a big fan of his for a number of years now, and that — as I’ve mentioned in other reviews, of his books — my goal this year has been to read as many of his works as I can. Since Christmas, I’ve read four or five, but this one honestly took me months.
Originally titled The Cove, before it spent its days as an unpublished trunk novel, for approximately one decade, The Hive by Ronald Malfi’s is a massive tale. Differing from his other works, it’s a lengthy, Lovecraftian, horror tale. As such, it won’t be for everyone. That’s obvious from the mixed reviews it’s received since seeing the light of day last month.
I was given an early digital copy, but put it off because I had finally started The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. I was unaware of how lengthy this novel was, or the fact that it would take me maybe two months to read, during what is currently a difficult period of my life. The internal decision was made to put the other book aside in order to read this, because I owed a review and wanted it to be timely, and due to my own curiosity. Now, having just finished this novel (which I was also sent a large, first edition, hardcover of), I can share my thoughts. Be warned, though, as I’m still unsure of how exactly to score this one.
Set in the fictional town of Mariner’s Cove, Maryland, Ronald Malfi’s The Hive is the story of a group of people given strange purpose. It begins with a strange and powerful storm, which not only breaks windows, but sends pieces of homes and random items flying. In the midst of this terrible weather event, a young boy of ten years old named Cory McBride saves his mom from injury by freezing broken window glass in place. Then, after the storm ends, a former heart surgeon trudges out into the bay to retrieve a wooden door that has flown out into the water and wedged itself in the silt so that it’s standing up. Others, meanwhile, find and become obsessed over things that have ended up in their yards, or nearby.
As all of this happens, a man named Raj starts to see only symbols and no letters. Unable to read, and propelled to share the symbols in his head, he goes around town drawing them in chalk or in orange spray paint. However, it’s not obvious what the symbols portray.
Afterwards, strange events occur, including people disappearing and ending up in other places, forever changed both physically and mentally. Things disappear, people begin to communicate in strange ways, and a large amount of them feel compelled to serve a purpose.
Little more can be said about this plot without spoiling anything, so I’ll stop there.
The Hive is a more than six hundred page book, which unsurprisingly features multiple characters, a number of whose vantage points the story is told from. As such, you can expect things to jump around to different characters on a chapter-by-chapter basis. There’s Cory, his mom Ellen (who’s a local real estate agent), a 19 year old waitress, a strange town employee named Stinger, a couple with two kids who find themselves caught up in things, a former alcoholic living out of state and the former heart surgeon himself. As you read through this large book, you’ll get to know these people and their lives, and experience as they begin to question what is going on, and how things progress. This is a slow burn of a novel, and it’s not one where a lot of things happen. As such, it can be tedious, and a lot to take in. There’s a lot of vantage points, and a lot of unease, but little clarity. Things also get weird.
Although I’m a big fan of this author’s work, I will admit that I struggled at times with The Hive, and that there were times where I wondered if I should drop it. Those were never serious thoughts, but the book never truly hooked me like a number of his other efforts. Then again, I’m not into cosmic or Lovecraftian horror, for the most part. It’s one type that I struggle with, and do not fully understand.
As you know, I didn’t drop or DNF this book. It took me months, and a lot of hours over that period, to finish but I did. Looking back, I’m glad that I saw this tale through to its end, and like it more as a whole than I maybe enjoyed reading it at times. I hope that makes sense. Overall, I think it’s a decent book, but one that suffers from a grandiose idea and being really wordy, not to mention having so many characters.
As always, the writing is good. Despite being what Stephen King calls a trunk novel (which is what my favourite book by him — Under the Dome — once was), it’s well written. Based on what I’ve heard, it was reworked and partially rewritten before release, but how much I don’t know.
The Hive by Ronald Malfi is a different type of book from what the author normally writes and has released. It’s long, it’s wordy and it’s cosmic in nature, meaning it’s kind of weird. Although I struggled with it at times, and think it’s the worst book of his that I’ve read (as I didn’t enjoy it, or find that it clicked with me, as much as numerous others that I really enjoyed), it’s a decent book. If you’re a fan of cosmic horror, and Lovecraftian tales, then this one is worth checking out.
This review is based on a copy of the book that we were provided with.