An exposition-heavy mystery that holds its intriguing characters back but sets the stage for more enthralling sequels.
Three people find themselves drawn to a historic house where secrets from their past lurk.
An unlikely trio of investors has purchased a dilapidated historic mansion with land on each side in Maryland, 39 Bayshore. Splitting the waterfront property into thirds, the owners each hope for resolution to past problems. Taking over the mansion are Carolyn Reynolds and her three “aunts,” friends of her mother who helped raise her and have now whisked her away from stressful Los Angeles. They want to give Carolyn time to heal after a failed business and the death of her mother, which she still believes involved foul play. Meanwhile, the lot to the right of the house has been taken by a construction company composed of reformed ex-cons, ready to prove they can still contribute to society, especially Shealds Jackson, a man covertly seeking the evidence to prove that his scheming, and unfortunately dead, stepbrother had set him up to take the fall in a smuggling operation. Finally, on the lot to the left, is Pastor Peter Allred, who has come to Bayshore to confront deep psychological scars left by his father, a cult leader who was taken down in a bloody FBI raid and media firestorm. Unfortunately for them all, Bayshore will not be an escape from these troubles, as someone hides in the shadows, trying to sabotage each group’s every move. With so much back story in the novel, it is no wonder that Grisanti (Paths of Promise, 2012, etc.) labels this the first of a series. Consequently the book never finds its own rhythm outside of clunky exposition. Carolyn and her “aunts” announce their shared histories to one another as if they had never met before, and Shealds’ extensive inner monologues feel rushed and unbelievable. Despite the sometimes-awkward prose, the stories are nevertheless engrossing and inventive, taking readers from homes for unwed mothers to dangerous cults before the real action has even begun and creating some characters with potential to truly shine in future installments.
An exposition-heavy mystery that holds its intriguing characters back but sets the stage for more enthralling sequels.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9708860-5-7
Page Count: 342
Publisher: Phoenix Publishing Corporation
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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