A creepy horror yarn that triumphantly focuses on the protagonist over the exorcism.
A 16-year-old girl is relentlessly tormented by a demon that has latched onto her in this supernatural novel.
After her father’s death, Maine teenager Cassie Stevens, depressed and withdrawn, befriends like-minded goths Seth, Silvia, and Trish. But while those three are intrigued by attending a bona fide Black Mass, Cassie is disturbed, especially when, shortly thereafter, she begins feeling a mysterious presence inside her. Her mom, teachers, and peers notice her ensuing behavior: She uncharacteristically lashes out at others with little or no provocation. Things only get worse: On Halloween night, she and her friends are in a car wreck that technically kills Cassie, though doctors revive her minutes later. Unfortunately, she believes something has followed her back from death. Cassie sees ghostly figures that trash rooms, intermittently hears “the shrill” (a fierce sound only she can detect), and, at one point, loses control of her body to what she’s determined is a demon. Most think this is merely Cassie’s psychosis, including Father Sean McCready, who just lost the love of his life, Amy Duval, to an aneurysm. But he soon realizes that if the church doesn’t perform an exorcism for Cassie, the girl will surely die. Though Lewis’ (Aftermath, 2015) novel checks off a few conventions of exorcism stories (for example, a priest seemingly questioning his faith), it also deviates with a concentration on Cassie. For example, demonic possession doesn’t overtake her for the narrative’s duration. Rather, the tale shows firsthand what she endures, often via her senses: the shrill, an inexplicable stench, and glimpsing a “ghoulish face.” Even sans supernatural elements, Cassie is an intriguing protagonist: She’s a high schooler dealing with her dad’s death and suffering the cruelty of bullies. The story is swift and spooky, from whispering voices and Cassie’s unsettling dreams to the demon’s surprisingly offing other characters. There is, however, a crucial plot twist—revealed well before the end—that readers will likely predict.
A creepy horror yarn that triumphantly focuses on the protagonist over the exorcism.Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-72684-594-6
Page Count: 373
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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