The Crone

Novel by Bill Garnett 1984.

Peter Stone, happily married with children, is managing director of a fast-growing travel chain. Life is good, but boring; and he breaks the routine by having a passionate affair with his new secretary, Roszina Janosi. Finally regaining his senses, he breaks it off, unaware that Roszina is pregnant. She swears revenge and, failing to get a satisfactory response from Mrs. Stone, plans a 'failed suicide bid', combining her need for attention with a note incriminating Stone. But she misjudges her 'overdose' and dies, causing her grief-stricken mother to enact an ancient Transylvanian ritual, giving her life to create a 'being' which will pursue Stone until he is dead, with undying persistence.

Essentially a supernatural horror rendering of the Terminator 2 plot - merely swapping a futuristic cyborg for an amorphous blob - this builds superbly with the usual Garnett flair from a humdrum beginning to Peter Stone's panic-stricken flight of terror at the end. As is usual for a Bill Garnett novel the cast is limited and the plot focused. And this time the monster is inspired. But, surprisingly, especially after The Unbegotten, the ending is quick and unsatisfying; there is no historical or mythical background given to the blob-creating ritual; and the amulet which Stone acquires is amazingly not used at all. All in all, a missed opportunity for a man of Garnett's talents, especially after such a promising first two thirds; but still a book with much merit.