Diget - Teddy Vork

[goodreads]

Title: Diget (The Dike)
Author: Teddy Vork
Genre: Horror, childrens
Rating: 2.5/5
# pages: 190
Date read: August, 2010

Every seventh year, according to an old tradition, a young boy had to be sacrificed to the dike by the Western coast of Denmark.

Trapped in the darkness of the dike, Knud has to fight against hunger, thirst, cold and fear - because he quickly discovers that he's not alone. Something is waiting for him in the darkness.

I'll admit it. I only read "Diget" ("The Dike") because I had to. It's not the type of book I'll usually pick up, but my publisher sent it to me for review, so pick it up I did. That said, it actually wasn't half bad. "Diget" was a mixture of Knud's experiences inside the dike, old legends and his experiences with the people of his village which worked surprisingly well. Until now I've only known Teddy Vork to write short stories, and "Diget" also mostly read like a collection of short stories, tied together by the red thread of Knud's imprisonment and attempts to get out. Generally it worked well, but there was a time or two where the connection was a bit too forced.

The end was very different from what I had expected, but actually worked a lot better than the ending I had envisioned.

Still, I think Teddy Vork is a better short story author than a novel author, and while good, "Diget" didn't quite live up to the expectations his short stories had caused me to have.