PAY THE PIPER by George A. Romero & Daniel Kraus – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Pay the Piper by George A. Romero, Daniel Kraus
Published by Union Square & Co. on September 3 2024
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 328
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The nitty-gritty: With larger-than-life characters and an immersive setting, Pay the Piper is an engaging story and an excellent collaborative effort.

Ever since reading and loving Whalefall, I’ve added Daniel Kraus to my auto-read author list, and I’m so glad I had the chance to read his latest, a collaboration with the late George A. Romero. Pay the Piper was not quite what I was expecting, but ultimately I really enjoyed this book. You won’t find any zombies here—Romero’s specialty—but you will find an angry octopus god, swamps filled with quicksand, rare seashells, magic marbles, and a bunch of unlikely heroes who are determined to fight for their town and the people who live there.

The story takes place in Alligator Point, Louisiana, deep in swampland. The Point is steeped in folklore involving the pirate Jean Lafitte, who supposedly buried his gold there. Old pirate shanties litter the shoreline, barely fit for living in. One such shanty belongs to nine-year-old Pontiac and her father Gerard. Pontiac loves everything about life on the Point and can’t imagine living anywhere else. But one day, her good friend Billy May disappears, taken by an entity calling himself the Piper. When another child goes missing, town deputies Pete Roosevelt and Spuds Ulene vow to stop the killer, but supernatural forces conspire against them. For the Piper wants payback for the sins of their ancestors, and the missing children are only the beginning.

Kraus explains in a forward to the story that he found the unfinished manuscript of Pay the Piper while searching through the extensive archives of George A. Romero, and with permission from his estate, he was able to fill in the blanks and and expand the original story with his own touches, and Pay the Piper is the result of this hard work.

Normally I don’t start a review with a negative comment, but in this case I’m going to address my one issue with this story. And that is, the plot is very thin, and for most of the book, not a lot happens. Below I’ll tell you why not a lot happens (which ties in with the reasons I loved this story), but it did feel like a struggle at times to keep reading, even though I was enjoying the writing, characters and atmospheric setting. I wanted more forward momentum and less inner dialog, and while there are bursts of action here and there, those are mostly few and far between. This is a fairly short book, but at times it felt very long.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about what I loved. Pay the Piper is one of the best examples of “strong sense of place” that I have ever read. The setting is brilliantly described, a town that is literally sinking into the surrounding swamp. Elements like quicksand, black muck, and the encroaching tide give the Point a feeling of desperation. The characters are often covered in mud, especially Pontiac who (as far as I can tell) never wears shoes. Add in the constant heat and humidity and I could practically feel the sweat rolling down my back as I was reading. Alligator Point is not a comfortable place to live, especially since most of the 141 residents are existing in near poverty, and many are addicted to what they call “nasty-sugar,” which I’m assuming means any kind of addictive substance.

Kraus also does a great job of incorporating the Cajun dialect of his characters into the story without going overboard. I’ve read books that are nearly impossible to read and understand because of authentically written accents, but that isn’t the case here. Kraus has a note at the beginning of the book about his choices and just how much Cajun he wanted to add to the story, and I have to say I got the flavor of the region and people without the frustration.

And while the ambiance of Pay the Piper was top notch, I was also impressed with the characters. Kraus spends lots of time on each of the main characters, delving into key moments in their pasts so the reader could understand their motivations and actions in the present. Pontiac was by far my favorite, a precocious young girl with the bayou running through her veins. She’s an almost magical creature, smart and imaginative and caring. She loves her father despite his addiction to alcohol, and she faithfully records everything she sees and hears in an old log book. 

The other quirky main characters are Pontiac’s father Gerard, whose boyhood marble collection plays an important part in the story; Pete Roosevelt, who reveres John Wayne and makes sense of his own life by quoting lines from his movies; Miss Ward, the town’s only school teacher, whose beloved husband Jack died in a shootout (and she blames Pete for not saving him) and who gives instructions to her students by singing to them; and Doc, who owns a mercantile store and befriends Pontiac when she starts working in his stock room in order to earn money for a new fishing pole. Each of these characters plays an important part in the final battle between good and evil, although not all of them survive.

And speaking of that evil, I loved the idea of the Piper. He takes various forms in this story, one of which is a giant octopus-like creature. I loved the way the authors connect the history of Alligator Point—the story of the Pirates Lafitte—with a mythical monster from the sea. When the Piper takes the children, get ready for some graphic violence, which I have to admit was a bit shocking compared to the rest of the story. And in the midst of learning about the lively denizens of the Point, the authors address some sobering themes like slavery, racism and colonialism, all of which are seamlessly incorporated into the story.

The last few chapters were thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat. Doc, Pete and Miss Ward are the unlikely heroes who must face the Piper during the final reckoning and they must decide whether or not to “pay the Piper.” Sweet, funny, heartwarming and horrifying all at once, Pay the Piper is a wonderful achievement by two talented authors.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.