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Messages
mar the
suspense
THE MESSAGE. By ]ohn Wild
ing. Western Plains. 240pp.
$16.95.
Reviewer;
COLIN STEELE.
'T>
HE Message' is English
playwright John Wilding's first
novel.
Several years ago, Wilding
migrated from England to Syd
ney. He has used that city as a
backdrop, although the plot
does not derive as much
strength as it should from this
locale. The Australian setting
might, if used imaginatively,
have lifted the novel out of the
Anglo-American genre heap it
now finds itself in. The subtitle
of 'The Message' is "a spine
chilling thriller" but it's more of
a foray into the occult than into
detection. Ira Levin with 'Rose
mary's Baby' and Jay Anson
with The Amityville Horror'
have all been there before, let
alone a fellow Liverpudlian,
Ramsey Campbell.
Wilding's main character is a
famous pop star called Tayo,
who wishes to buy a run-down
old house even though it has a
very suspicious past and pre
sent. Tayo is a most unusual
pop star, not only because of his
penchant for classical music
and art but also for dry sherry!
Perhaps because of this he ig
nores the warnings of a
clairvoyant and some visionary
premonitions to buy the house.
When his wife gives birth to
twins, one of whom appeared to
Tayo before she was born, then
the reader knows that all is not
going to be well.
Wilding does not help mat
ters, however, by signalling to
the reader the impending mo
ments of crisis. Thus phrases
such as "That decision was to
prove a deadly mistake" and
"He couldn't know how many
people would live to regret his
decision" are unnecessary ex
cept for the most simple
minded reader. Inevitably the
battle between the forces of
good and evil occurs, with
murders and a black mass. The
reader is always interested, if
never totally involved, in the
final outcome.
'The Message' is nicely pro
duced by a relatively little
known Australian firm,
Western Plains Publishers. It is
to publish Wilding's next piece,
a children's story, and then a
subsequent thriller. It is to be
hoped that this, therefore, sig
nals the beginning of a suc
cessful Australian partnership.
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