+ Well written and immediately attention-catching
+ Impressive sense of foreboding
+ Very, very difficult to put down
YMMV
+/- Some sections possibly not for the squeamish
+/- Moral is a little heavy-handed near the end
Cons
- "Aughhhh noooo" (that was actually in my notes)
I have to start this by saying that if I'd known that this was a Christian novel, I probably wouldn't have bought it. That says a lot more about me than it does about the book, which I could not put down to save my life.
The author describes it as "rural noir", which seems a more suitable category as one thing it is, is most definitely dark. It grabbed me as soon as I started reading and refused to let go despite the feeling of doom that started very soon. That's not to say it smacked me over the head with the foreboding; instead it builds gradually, until I realised that yes, things really were going to get that bad.
The characters were either likeable, in their own ways, or were well-written enough that I didn't mind that they were loathsome (and some really are), and yes, my note really does say "aughhhh noooo" in near-incoherent scribble, which was jotted down around the halfway mark and which I can't say any more about for fear of spoiling it. I'll just say that later on in the book, I realised that the main character's path was going to be just a little different from what I'd expected... The moral did become a little heavy-handed later, but it was only for one section and by then I was so hooked it didn't really matter.
It's probably not a book for the squeamish. It starts out violently enough and while it's neither sustained or gets particularly worse, the times it does appear made even me go "huh..."
If you're not a fan of 'Christian fiction' (and this isn't like others I've read, believe me), call this one "supernatural" instead, it's equally fitting, but give it a try nonetheless.
Nice, thanks. Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete