Rae Louise’s new novel Metas is another excellent novel that equals and surpasses her fantastic first novel The Fear published in 2017. This novel is so good that I can’t wait to read more from this young voice of horror who looks like she is ready to take the torch away from hardened horror writers from the past and shine it to a dark future.
Metas has strong characters that keep the reader invested and interested. Tortured souls getting over the murder of a close sister, friends who are there to support though not always appreciated and the dark mysterious trio who appear to help put the main character on the path of her destiny. Louise is able to take these complicated character types and control them and keep them real and live within the confines of her three dimensional world. Never once do the characters verge away from their personalities in order to drive the plot forward. Louise’s strengths are always with her strong character types and distinct character personalities.
The novel takes it strength by coming up with a realistic folklore and bringing this to fruition. She takes something that could be thought of as tired and used up and adds to new life whilst at the same time, delving the reader into a new world that makes sense through science and lore. Other author’s sometimes attempt to do this but few have succeeded to the level that Rae Louise has been able to carry this forward.
The characters are strong and every single one of them is so well written and three dimensional. Even Tina, who works in the office of the main character, is totally fleshed out though she is basically a fourth tier character. She makes an appearance in the beginning and when she appears two-thirds into the novel again, the reader remembers her even though the character is not part of the overall plot. This is how strong the characters are written. They basically feel like they are living and breathing and this is a credit to the author.
The plot is excellent and keeps the reader well invested. Action sequences, mystery and suspense are well handled. The mystery and suspense aspects are professionally handled and the author is accomplished enough to be able to feed morsels to the reader and slowly unveiling the whole scheme to turn the world on its head. Expertly handled that could have fallen flat but this is kept tightly wound through to the final conclusion that rewards the reader with its excellence.
This is a must read that shows that Rae Louise is a force to be reckoned with. A strong lore and mystery blended together with science against a horror and mystery story that enthralls its audience while never speaking down to them. Strong characters that excellent, plots that are fully fleshed out and a fully realised folklore that truly feels real and alive makes this on hell of a winner. Exciting, thrilling, suspenseful full of incredible pathos makes this one of the best page turners of 2019.