The Bigtree family's matriarch has died of cancer, and the surviving family - father (Chief), son Kiwi, and daughters Ossie and Ava - are left to pick up the pieces and get the park back on track. With few visitors, the park is forced to close. The family becomes completely unraveled when Kiwi leaves for the mainland, where he gets a job as a janitor at Swamplandia's largest and nearest competitor, the creepy "World of Darkness" park that features the rings of Hell. Ossie begins using a Ouija board to start dating ghosts, and goes into a trance on a daily basis. Chief leaves to go find financing to help get the park out of debt. Things take an even darker turn when Ossie begins sneaking out nightly to meet her ghostly date, and 13-year-old Ava must take matters into her own hands.
You know that feeling when you are reading a book and you know whatever comes next is going to be really bad? I have had that feeling of dread for about 30 pages now in Swamplandia!, and it's only going to get worse. Russell's descriptions of the primordial swamp where the Bigtree family lives, the malevolent buzzards that reappear throughout the book, and the World of Darkness park are so vivid, it makes you feel as if you are there yourself. It all adds up to one really disturbing story.
But how can I stop? Even though I am literally squirming with anticipation, I have to keep reading - how else will I know what happens to Ava, and the fate of Swamplandia! and the entire Bigtree family? Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it all turns out - and how many nights I had to sleep with the light on. Happy reading!
