Martin Livings has taken the meaning of an amusement park and given it a darn good shake and what has come out is a horror story that is well constructed and nicely put together.

David Hampdon is a big city journalist whose job is on the downslide. He was once at the cutting edge of investigative journalism but has now been relegated to writing fluff pieces for the glossy weekend magazine. He hears about a hundred year old carnival in the small town of Tilbrook through an anonymous letter and decides there could be a human interest story in it.

Paul Hampdon is unemployed and single and completely unmotivated after a recent run of bad luck has done its best to knock him into submission. He's the younger brother of David, the two of them having had to rely on each other while growing up after their parents died when they were quite young. When David calls offering Paul a job as his photographer for the story in Tilbrook he jumps at the opportunity not only to earn a bit of money but also to get out of the house for a while.

When the brothers reach Tilbrook they discover that the locals are more than a little reserved about the presence of the carnival in their town. Perhaps a tad unnerved by the reaction people give them when they mention that they are in town to attend the carnival, they head over to the showground with some trepidation. What they find is a reasonable resemblance of what they are expecting, yet can't help but feel that something about it is "off".

It's Paul who is lured back to the showground later that night, and it's Paul who is accepted into their midst, unlikely ever to escape, leaving his brother to return to the city alone. But when David receives another letter urging him to return to the small town he finally twigs to the fact that there is something sinister about the carnival and the people who run it. Suddenly, he is on a mission to save his brother but he's up against a group of people who hold a great deal of power.

Carnies is a well structured book that builds in momentum and intensity with an irresistible sense of looming danger. Like all good horror stories the hints that all is not well are subtle as the protagonists are lured towards a nightmare that there is simply no escaping. It's when Paul and David learn the secret of the carnies that the story really explodes and things begin careening out of control.

The difficulty of selling a horror story to a reader is in presenting a scenario that we know deep down is impossible, yet the depth of detail and background makes it seem plausible. Livings makes that smooth transition from the every day into the realm of the supernatural with casual ease which gives this story even greater impact.

Martin Livings has taken the amusement park and turned it into a mysterious place that is despised by some but irresistible to others. I found it to be an intriguing story that drew me in with a tight plot, strongly drawn characters and a satisfying ending.