Daylight Saving (review)

Leisure World Holiday Complex is not usually where pudgy, unpopular Daniel would spend any time, but his father is determined that the two of them need to get away after the departure of Daniel's mother sends the family into a tailspin. While Daniel's father mostly just drinks, Daniel finds a girl: Lexi, who frequents the resort's lake at odd hours and who clearly hides a secret. As Daniel and Lexi grow closer, he notices odd things about her: a watch that goes backwards, her growing signs of injury, her invisibility to the rest of the holidaymakers. He's therefore not shocked to discover that Lexi is actually dead, but he's horrified to hear that she must every year relive her brutal murder on its anniversary, during the hour in autumn where the clocks fall back. British author Hogan writes with verve and tender clarity, crafting a poignant ghost story that's more about human sadness and the struggle to move forward than shivery effects. Daniel's narration is plaintive and unhappy yet still compelling; his own feeling of culpability for his parents' split clearly contributes to his determination to save Lexi, despite the fact that he begins to sport his own predictive injuries that suggest intervention could destroy him along with Lexi. Lexi's rape and murder are realistically vicious rather than literarily attractive, but the book avoids exploitation of that fact, instead feeding the horror in gradually and effectively. This is a well-paced and emotionally effective tale, and fans of the recent narrated-from-beyond books (Warman's Between, BCCB 7/11, etc.) will appreciate seeing things from the point of view of those left behind.