Christopher Golden has crafted a haunting tale about a treacherous stretch of Siberian roadway haunted by a gruesome and tragic past and perhaps haunted by altogether too present entities as well. It’s precisely this history of cruelty and careless disregard for human life, and the potential for something more, that inspired documentary filmmaker, Felix Teigland to drag his reluctant cameraman, John Prentiss, to this desolate arctic wasteland in the middle of winter.
Ostensibly hoping to tell the story of the people who live along the titular Road of Bones, Teig and Prentiss intend to follow the Kolyma Highway to its frigid terminus with the assistance of a local guide. Myth and superstition soon become more than passing curiosities, as the group’s survival depends on understanding the strange and terrifying forces that stalk them through the dark Siberian night. With temperatures that would kill them in mere minutes, a treacherous road of unforgiving ice and snow, and inconceivable shadowy beasts hunting them, the odds are high that none of them will make it through this journey alive.
Road of Bones is a chilling title that creeps into the bones of the reader/listener as effectively as the cold Siberian night. Golden challenges the reader to further investigate the Kolyma Highway. He dares the reader to delve into the horrific history of its manufacture with the tantalizing glimpses provided through the proxy of Teig and the other characters. The true story only serves to reinforce the unsettling sense of wrongness already building in the back of the reader’s mind.
Robert Fass provides spectacular narration that fully captures the accents and attitudes of the characters he brings to life within the narrative.