A tale that derives its chills from a moody atmosphere and an unrelenting, unknown antagonist.
An ex-convict gets caught up in a murder investigation in a town full of stories about a local, bloodthirsty witch in Horton’s (Small Towns, Country Roads, & Autumn Leaves, 2010) horror yarn.
Mike, on parole in Ohio for a drug-related charge, needs to make some money, so he opts for selling marijuana. He gets a tip to check out Crossroads Tavern in Uhrichsville, where he makes contact with Lowell, who can supply him with product. Unfortunately, the district attorney already suspects Lowell of running drugs, despite the fact that he uses isolated locations for pickups and has paid off the local deputy, Harris. Both the deputy and DA also believe that Lowell’s responsible for the disappearance of Harley Mullins, who recently braved the nearby swamp to disprove a swamp-witch legend. Townspeople have attributed a number of vanishings to said witch, and Mike appears to buy into the folklore. As he retrieves marijuana bundles at night, in cemeteries or abandoned churches, he becomes convinced that someone’s watching him. This could be chalked up to paranoia, but that doesn’t explain Mike’s sightings of a strange, hooded woman in the forest. He later dreams of her, certain that she has a secret to reveal. He searches for the truth, but he may not like the end result, which entails the death of at least one person. Horton’s novel thrives on ambience, which he establishes right away with a tavern patron’s story of the titular swamp witch. Readers never know any more than the protagonist does, so the legend’s validity (or lack thereof) isn’t clear for much of the book. Recurrent descriptions of rain and wind make for an effectively ominous environment, although sometimes Mike seems to be merely scaring himself when he hears strange noises. Horton ties in a mystery, as well, with Nicole the barmaid having “shacked up” with Harley and possibly Lowell. Meanwhile, Mike finds himself in a unique position to get evidence against his associates, leading Harris to throw a few threats in his direction. The largely resolved ending still leaves a nagging question or two.
A tale that derives its chills from a moody atmosphere and an unrelenting, unknown antagonist.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-944680-54-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Green Ivy Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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