December 13, 2007
Reviewed by Readingrat
What would you do if there were a way to bring back a loved one you had
lost? A child? A beloved spouse? What lengths would you be willing to go to in order to hold them again;
to kiss them again; to bring them back into your life? These are the questions the main characters in Mark LaFlamme's
The Pink Room, must grapple with.
Theodore Currie was widely acknowledged as a modern-day Einstein whose life's
work was unraveling the mysteries of the physical universe. The day he lost his beloved daughter, Angel, in a horrible
house fire, was the day his universe fell apart. A grief-stricken father, he decided to put his theories to work to
concoct a miracle – the resurrection of Angel. On a hill-top in rural Maine, where forces both natural and supernatural
combine with astonishing power, Currie built a house. In that house he created an exact replica of the pretty, pink
room his daughter lived and died in – the very room he hoped to bring her back to. However, Currie himself died
a freakish death in the Maine woods shortly after the room was completed.
One year later Jonathan Cain, a successful horror writer, makes arrangements
to spend the summer in the abandoned Currie house with the purpose of finding out the truth about the events that transpired
before Theodore Currie's death. He has told his agent that he is researching and writing a new novel. But his
real reasons for being in the Currie house are much darker. Cain has experienced the loss of a loved one too.
He recently lost his young wife, Kimberly, to the rapid progression of an in-operable brain tumor. Cain has come to
the Currie house with the hope of finding out if the house can actually work the magic that Currie was sure it could.
However, Cain is not the only one interested in the Currie house.
The U.S. government is also very interested in getting their hands on Currie's papers and formulas. There are soldiers
and a government scientist stationed in the Maine woods in order to keep an eye on Cain and the Currie house. Right
now Olivia Currie, Theodore's mom and current owner of the Currie house, is keeping the government goons at bay, and off the
Currie land. All that could change when Olivia Currie unexpectedly dies.
Following that setup, the story becomes a virtual thrill ride starting right
from the first page of The Pink Room which doesn't let up until the book is finished and closed. LaFlamme writes a well-paced,
descriptive, riveting narrative you will not want to put down. He has done a masterful job of combining actual scientific
theory, spine-tingling chills, nail-biting suspense, realistic characters, a dash of wry humor, and even a slight nod to that
other well-known Maine author. The Pink Room is going right onto my list of horror favorites and I will be eagerly looking
forward to reading more from this author.
Questions for the author:
First off, I'm going to ask the obvious question that comes to mind
whenever an author writes a main character that is also an author. How much of your own experiences (as a writer) and
characteristics are reflected in the character of Jonathan Cain?
Jonathan Cain began for me as nothing more than a lonely man walking on
a dark road. He evolved quickly into someone I came to like very much and he took on characteristics I did not foresee. Characters
have always had tendency to get away from me as a story progresses. I like to think there's some of me in Mr. Cain and vice
versa. He's wholly independent, however, with a different background and set of ideals. It's safe to say that Cain is also
a bit braver than I. I'm not completely convinced I would have made it back to the turret room after hearing Fur Elise from
the creepy snow globe in the middle of the night.
I find it interesting that you delve into the concepts of quantum
physics to provide the back-story of this novel. Quantum physics is not a subject that most people (at least those without
scientific or engineering degrees) generally get exposed to. How did you first get interested in this subject matter?
I am no scientific scholar and in fact, I'm lousy at math. String theory
fascinates the hell out of me though, and just before I started writing The Pink Room, I'd been reading a lot about it. It
was mostly short articles, in Discover Magazine or Scientific America, before sleep in the hours before dawn. I think that
weird science began to effect my pre-dream sleep and it began to do something weird down in the fertile areas of my mind.
I started writing the novel and I kept reading about quantum physics. Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" was extremely
helpful because it lays out the science in ways that can be managed even by a math dolt like myself. I'll never claim the
science in "The Pink Room" is dead on or that it would impress a theoretical physicist. I did research an awful lot though,
and tried very hard to be scientifically sound. Presently, the great physicist and author Lawrence Krauss has a copy of the
novel. I hope he reads it and has an "aha!" moment. Hey, maybe I inadvertently found a way to a unified theory.
I remember reading somewhere that you do the majority of your
writing late at night. Given the topics that you write about, I'm curious to find out if you ever spook yourself while
you are writing.
While writing this book, I had a terrific design flaw in my writing room.
Specifically, my back was to the door as I sat at my desk. Very unnerving. When I was writing some of the scarier scenes --
typically between 3 a.m. and dawn -- I found myself wheeling around several times, convinced that the door had slid open behind
me. I also kept a snowglobe next to me on the desk, a replica of the one cherished by Angel Currie in the story. The sucker
has a bad spring and will occasionally offer up a few unbidden notes. I creep myself out often with a little help from my
friends.
As I said in my review, I really enjoyed reading The Pink
Room and am looking forward to reading more of your work. What new books can we expect from you and when?
In November, I published "Vegetation," the tale of a pompous man who discovers
that when you offend the kingdom of plants, the whole world really is out to get you. It was a blast to write because it's
mostly one despicable man getting his buck kicked by the flora for about 300 pages. There's some crime drama thrown in but
the fun part is plant justice.
I have three other completed novels that have not yet been published
and many others planned. I couldn't quit if I wanted to.
As an added bonus, a copy of The Pink Room is to be raffled off to a reader. Enter by signing
the guestbook below. To view other comments you just need to click on the View Guestbook tab.
The drawing will be held the first week in January - I am going to switch
from weekly drawings to monthly drawings to give people plenty of time to comment. The winner will be announced
here under Raffle Winners, and on the discussion group at Shelfari.
If you run into technical trouble, or have additional questions, please
don't hesitate to contact me.
