February 6 - "The Price"

“The Price”
by Neil Gaiman
Smoke and Mirrors (1998)

* * * (Good) Supernatural

After a particularly brutal night of fighting an unknown enemy, the beaten and bloodied black cat now calling the narrator’s house home, is locked in the basement to recover. Over the four days it takes the cat to recuperate, the narrator’s family encounters a streak of bad luck and disaster. Armed with a pair of night binoculars, the narrator releases the cat, stalking it silently, prepared to discover the source of the cat’s torment and his family’s misfortune.

Anyone who knows me knows I am not the world’s largest lover of animals. The mere fact that an author is able to make me care about one – a cat, even – speaks volumes toward the writing.

I enjoy stories that begin with a hint toward the eventual outcome. Sometimes it’s as simple as an introductory sentence, and sometimes it a bit more vague. The end result, however, is a story that comes together in the end, neatly wrapped, topped with a bow. You can tell that there was a plan all along for each piece of the puzzle.

The only surprise was the lack of any truly developed characters, something usually found in Gaiman’s writing. I never felt the connection to the narrator – or even the cat – that would draw me further into the world of the story.