Review: "The Grip of It" by Jac Jemc

As much as I loved reading it earlier this year, I feel somewhat hindered for having read Iain Reid’s monumental debut novel I’m Thinking of Ending Things because it makes books that are skillfully written and rendered, such as Jac Jemc’s novel The Grip of It, which I just finished, sort of fall by the wayside and faults in it I would have forgiven otherwise are glaring in the shadow of a superior work. Jemc’s novel is quite good actually. Divided by chapters that are never more than five or six pages, this is an effective and thought-provoking haunted house story for the millennial age, where our culture’s obsession with independence drives wedges between those we love and ourselves: our problems become ours and ours alone and we suffer in silence. This novel takes that idea and expertly places in it in the confines of a familiar genre. The two people at the center of the story are James and Julie, a couple who move from the city into a remote house to help James rid himself of his gambling addiction. The weird stuff starts up right away. Strange noises come from the vents that are more animal than mechanical, stains and crude drawings appear on the wall, their creepy neighbor Rolf is spying on them and all that is before they learn of the houses dark, sad history. Soon, James becomes obsessed with finding out more about the house in between strange blackouts and Julie develops painful large bruises all over her body. I was reminded of the work of Blake Butler and his novel 300,000,000, in that both novels present really cool ideas that demand answers or at least a cool payoff and never really get there. It offers some really cool scenes, such as the ones with Julie’s parents, another where they are staying with Julie’s friend Connie and a few scenes involving cops who might be linked to the house’s malevolent nature, but none of these really lead anywhere and the book ends with a quiet whimper and not a profound bang. I still like this book for what it is though and think it is worth checking out.
Rating: 4/5