'Don't Move' – James S. Murray & Darren Wearmouth (Blackstone Publishing)

A quick review today as, well... I haven't left myself much time, for anything more in depth, because I spent most of today reading the hell out of 'Don't Move'. That should pretty much tell you everything that you need to know but if not, keep reading...

Megan Forrester has barely survived the unthinkable. Six months ago, she witnessed a horrific accident that killed her husband and son, and lives with the guilt of knowing she could have done more to save them. Now, Megan hopes to mend the pieces of her broken spirit by attending a local church group's annual camping trip. But the church group members--riddled with dark secrets of their own--make a catastrophic navigational mistake, leaving them stranded in an untouched canyon in the West Virginian national forest.

Isolated from any chance of help or rescue, Megan and the others quickly realize why this side of the canyon has never been surveyed by humankind: it's home to a terrifying prehistoric arachnid that patiently stalks its prey through even the slightest movement or vibration in the forest. And it's desperate for a meal.

Grief-stricken and haunted by her tragic loss, Megan now faces her ultimate test of endurance. Can she outwit a bloodthirsty creature hellbent on ensuring that no one gets out alive? When a single wrong turn can mean death, she only has one option: DON'T MOVE.

I won't go into too much detail here but it's only fair to warn you, right from the start, that the accident that kills Megan's family is pretty horrific. Honestly, it's like something out of one of the 'Final Destination' movies with the way that it's handled. It needed to happen like this as it's a large part of who Megan is and why she reacts to things in certain ways. If you've lost a young child though, it's a chapter that you may not want to read. Consider yourself warned.

Having said that though, you can jump to Chapter Two and read from there, safe in the knowledge that the plot has got you covered and will fill in any gaps a little more subtly than that first chapter. And it's worth sticking with, believe me.

'Don't Move' is just brilliant. I was sat there all afternoon just wrapped up in the story and really eager to see where it went and who made it out. No-one is safe and that's the way it should be in a story like this; giant prehistoric spiders don't discriminate after all, they just want to eat. And that's just what happens, and you have no idea when it's going to happen... until it does. Murray and Wearmouth have a real knack for getting you to think that things have calmed down about three seconds before the spider turns up. This makes for a read that bubbles with tension which boils over into frantic movement, both from the spider and the people trying to escape it. It is so easy to just keep turning the pages with 'Don't Move', the stakes are high and just in case you don't realise how high, the book isn't afraid to let you know what's in store for those who are captured.

If that wasn't enough, Murray and Wearmouth ask their characters (and us) how much they are prepared to put to one side in order to escape. Can they work together or will their differences doom them all? It's a neat counterpoint to all the spider action as there are already underlying tensions in the group which could erupt, even while they're being hunted.

And that ending... Definitely written with a movie in mind, I'd go and watch it. In the meantime, way to leave me hanging but... it works so I'm prepared to give it a pass. Don't do that to me with the movie though.

'Don't Move' is a lot of fun and one of those books where you don't realise that you're holding your breath as you read. A great dose of 'Giant Spider action' that saw me check that all my windows were closed after I'd finished reading. Yes, I'm in the middle of London but you can't be too careful...