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After her father’s death, Maine teenager Cassie Stevens, depressed and withdrawn, befriends like-minded goths Seth, Silvia, and Trish.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
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
