King Sorrow by Joe Hill

 

They met at the university and were soon a group of six.  There was Colin who lived in a mansion and came from a fantastically wealthy family; Donna and Van who were twins, Allison who they both loved.  Arthur was the intellectual and Gwen the daughter of Colin's family housekeeper.  They found that they loved the same things and everyone got along.

Then Arthur got into trouble.  He was cornered by a group of criminals, junkies, who got him in a financial corner and insisted that he start stealing rare books from the library.  It killed him to see the books disappear but he couldn't lose his dreams.  Together the group came up with a solution one night when they were all intoxicated.

They used some relics Colin's grandfather had collected and called forth a spirit from the other world.  What they got was King Sorrow, a massive dragon.  He made a deal with them.  Every year they could pick someone to be killed.  If that person managed to escape, King Sorrow would kill one of them.  They really didn't believe anything had happened, that it was just a drunken dream so they agreed and named the junkies threatening Arthur.  The person or persons to be killed were picked at the New Year and death day was Easter.  They laughed among themselves but were worried as Easter approached.  When the junkies were killed that day, they realised they had started something they never wanted but now it was too late.

The book follows the group as they mature into adults and make adult lives for themselves.  But each year someone else has to be chosen.  They usually pick people like terrorist leaders or demagogues that had taken over countries.  They could tell themselves that these people deserved to die, but weren't they themselves murderers?  

Joe Hill is one of the best thriller writers to be found.  I've loved each and every one of his books, although they come out rarely.  This one may be his masterpiece.  The reader will emphasize with the group, especially Arthur and Gwen, and hope the group can discover a way to defeat what they have called forth.  Over the years, the group starts to splinter and turn on each other as the weight of what they have done sinks in.  This book is recommended for thriller and horror readers.