Review: Goat Song by Thomas Drago

Author Thomas Drago shines a sickly spotlight on the hellish secrets below Crow Creek, North Carolina in his fast-paced thriller, Goat Song. Blending small-town suspicions, the odd world of local theatre, personal demons, and black magic rituals, this quick read is unpredictable and unnerving as the plot spirals into darkness.

Gabriela Rossi is doing her best to make a home in Crow Creek after moving from Italy, but the residents don’t seem keen on outsiders, and her promotion at The Orpheum Theatre leaves her feeling resented and unwelcome. When someone is murdered at the theatre three days before a new production is set to open, the drama kicks into a much higher gear. Gabriela must navigate a nervous cast full of relative strangers, a charming sheriff with romance on his mind, a dogged reporter from the local newspaper, and her own mounting fears as more bodies start to drop.

Gabriela isn’t totally alone, however, as wisdom from the mother she left behind in Italy is never far from her mind. The dead man haunting the theatre might scare others away, but the paranormal threat only pulls this fearless heroine deeper – quite literally into the bowels of the theatre that stretch below the history-tangled town. She finds a handful of unlikely allies, just as she learns that blood-soaked sacrifices and twisted rituals are anything but rare in her new town.

This unfolding murderous mystery sees Gabriela’s fiery attitude collide with a town full of shadowy secrets, and the result is anything but what you’d expect. Brad and Gabriela make an excellent investigative team, while the eccentric townsfolk with all their superstitions and quirks nicely fill out the small-town setting. A masterwork of misleading clues, the truth always seems close at hand, but then slips through a reader’s fingers, drawing one inevitably into the next scene. The subtle theatrical formatting and narrative stage directions give the book a unique feel, while the demonic twists and rising action make this a compelling read from start to finish.

Great stage productions rely on dialogue that is both memorable and believable, and Drago seems in line with that tradition, focusing on communication and authenticity in all of his character interactions. The cast of this novel is cleverly developed, their speech patterns are original, and much of the plot is driven by sharp, organic conversation. Some elements of the story are a bit flimsy and disconnected, and a few convenient plot holes do appear throughout the text, but these stumbles are few and far between.

Despite the supernatural elements of the story itself, Drago imbues the work with emotional realism, which makes for a powerful read. Culminating in a high-octane religious revival, the novel explores a number of pertinent themes and ideas: fervent spiritual devotion, the lengths people will go to find purpose, and the pain of grief that can drive people to desperation. Taking on a revelatory style that would make Agatha Christie proud, the action pulses to the very end of Goat Song, before closing the curtain on a remarkably engaging and unique novel.