Category: Fiction Page 272 of 351

The Innocents by Ace Atkins

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On August 3, 2016

In Ace Atkins, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Quinn Colson

The InnocentsThe Innocents

by Ace Atkins
Series: Quinn Colson, #6

Hardcover, 367 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2016

Read: July 25 – 26, 2016

“I never met this girl or knew her family,” [Ophelia] said. “But, holy shit, this is a horror among horrors. I try to not focus on Old Testament stuff. But . . . I hope there’s some revenge out there somewhere. I don’t know if there’s another way to make it right.”

“You can’t make shit like this right,” Quinn said.

But before we get to the horror, we get one of the funniest openings that Tibbehah County has given us — a meth-head steals a shotgun and a four-wheeler, and is apprehended by the acting Sheriff, Lillie Virgil(!!), in a very effective, but not that orthodox a manner. And then, of course, after Atkins gets you chuckling he introduces you to the murder victim. It’s not unheard of in a crime novel, but we spent a decent amount of time getting to know her before she died in one the worst ways I remember reading. Reading as many Detective/Crime/etc novels as I do, I’ve read some evil ways to kill some one, and some really sick things — see Val McDermid, Thomas Harris, Stieg Larsson –but this ranks up there with the worst. And it felt real, like something that could happen down the road, not the victim of diseased mind like the psychos those listed above write about. In fact, Ophelia Bundren, the coroner (who, incidentally has some of the best lines in the book — and not just what was quoted above) spoke for just about everyone in the county there (including some of the least-upstanding members of the community who will echo her). It’s a good thing that Tibbehah County has their most capable law enforcement officer in forever at the helm (and she hires a certain former Sheriff as temporary help).

It took no time at all to know how did it (or at least who was largely responsible) — actually, pretty sure I’d identified the perpetrator and the motive before the killing — but that didn’t stop this from being one of Atkins’ most compelling crime stories.

Along with all that, there are plenty of other goings on . . .

Lillie Virgil is acting as Sheriff, and isn’t dealing well with the politics. She deals well with the policing, but that’s it — between being a woman, having almost no people skills and not backing down when people want her to, things aren’t going too well for her. Which is a shame, still, it’s nice to see her in the spotlight.

Johnny Stagg’s in federal prison, and learning just who his friends are. Not surprisingly, there are fewer than he’s used to. Someone else has taken over the Booby Trap, given it a better name (finally!) and a make over. All in all, it’s a better class of strip club and the owner appears slightly less despicable.

Jason Colson has a new pipe dream and he looks to be sucking Quinn into helping out — honestly, my patience with this character is pretty low — I think the only person in the world who likes him less is Quinn’s mother, Jason’s ex. He’s not as destructive a force as the storm that just about wiped out the town a couple of years ago, but it’s a close race.

And things with Anna Lee are in a pivotal spot. That’s enough about that.

Quinn’s still in that same period of decision after losing the election a year or so ago — the man needs a little direction in his life and hopefully he gets it soon.

The power of small-town High School football, convenient racism, small town crime, Real World Evil, friendship, and personal history — as usual, Atkins brings it all and delivers it with skill, charm and aplomb. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip to Mississippi and look forward to my next trip there.

—–

4 Stars

Pub Day Repost: The Coaster by Erich Wurster

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On August 2, 2016

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The CoasterThe Coaster

by Erich Wurster
eARC, 284 pg.
Poisoned Pen Press, 2016
Read: July 23 – 25, 2016

This is one of those mystery/crime novels that’s hard to talk about without giving too much away (which seems to be especially true when it comes to darker comedies in that genre). So this is going to have to be vague: The Coaster — an amusing read, but hard to talk about without spilling the beans. But let’s see what I can do:

Rob and Sarah have been married for about 19 years, with a couple of kids, and several horses. Sarah’s dad is a self-made, very successful businessman, and Sarah is being groomed to be his successor — and likely has an even better aptitude for business. Rob, um, is well-liked and good at making it look like he’s working. When Sarah’s father dies unexpectedly, Rob is even more unexpectedly named trustee and given oversight of the finances.

Not long after this, an old college drinking buddy comes to town to work on a business deal that was put on hold after the death and he begins to use some tactics that aren’t going to get him in well with the Better Business Bureau (gross oversimplification, but roll with is). One thing leads to another, and Rob and Sarah find themselves sinking in a metaphorical quicksand of crime. It’s pretty nonviolent, and most of the violence is implied.

Rob’s really not that likeable when you stop and think about it — he says he’s a good dad and husband, but I’m not sure there’s all that much evidence for it. Yeah, I can see how he gets by with superficial relationships in social settings, and even with his friends (or reasonable facsimiles thereof), but as far as family goes? Nope. Early on, especially because we only see her through Rob’s eyes, Sarah’s even less likeable — I was at the 20% mark before I noticed any real affection between Bob and Sarah, or any indication at all why someone would like Sarah. After that, I had no problem believing it, they actually start functioning well as a couple (or at least we see it in a way we couldn’t before).

Erich Wurster’s debut novel, The Coaster, is a charming dark comedy. It was pretty easy to guess what was going on with the criminals and how Rob and Sarah could extricate themselves, and most of the twists weren’t that twisty. But, it was a fun ride regardless. Wurster was able to get me to find this pretty unlikeable guy fun and entertaining. I wanted the couple to get out of trouble (relatively) unscathed, and enjoyed seeing if it was possible. The pacing was fine, the wit was sharp and the comedy was the right mix of light and dark for this. A solid first novel that made me interested in seeing more.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Poisoned Pen Press
via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for the book.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

—–

3 Stars

Pub Day Repost: Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter

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On August 2, 2016

In Faith Hunter, Fiction, Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood, Urban Fantasy

Blood of the EarthBlood of the Earth

by Faith Hunter
Series: Soulwood, #1

eARC, 384 pg.
Roc, 216
Read: July 5 – 8, 2016

Nell Ingram had her life turned up side down by Jane Yellowrock when she came through her land on a vampire hunt. Months later, a PsyLED team — led by good ol’ Rick LaFleur — comes to her for help and to offer her a job. Nell had been raised in a cult that seems to be involved with — on some level, anyway — with an anti-supernatural terrorist group who seem to be kidnapping local girls.

God’s Cloud of Glory Church, the cult that Nell was raised in (and that her family is still immersed in) is involved with some petty harassment of Nell — although some leaders are leaning more toward horrifying harassment. LaFleur, Paka and Pea help her get out of one tight spot. But that won’t be enough to stop them, it did however, lead to the line: “[Pea] she looked like something out of a fairy tale, one of the old stories that was fluffy on the surface but dark and bloody underneath.” Nell’s magic takes a major step further in development at that point, too.

Nell coming to grips with the fact that she has some sort of magic is the heart of the novel. Well, that and her doing a better job of leaving the cult. Technically and geographically, she’d moved on — but her mind and lifestyle are largely conditioned by the Church. Her involvement with the PsyLED team (and their crappy diet) leads to some of the most entertaining parts of the book — her introductions to Krispy Kreme donuts and pizza are fantastic.

There really aren’t that many ways that Nell and Jane are similar — they are both deliberately and stubbornly independent, they both start out not understanding really who or what they are, and both of them are really good at ignoring the one vital, pivotal and fairly obvious thing until it’s almost too late. But things kept moving well enough that I was able to ignore it (although I probably talked back at the book a lot every time this point came up).

But it’s not just about Nell — LaFluer’s got a whole team with him. While he’s prominent, he’s really a secondary character (Paka and Pea are more so). Frankly, I was relieved by that — I really expected this to be Ricky-Bo and his Amazing Friends — I would’ve read that, but I’m not sure how psyched I was for it. Instead, Nell and the others on the team are great characters to meet and spend time with — and I want to spend more time with them all. It’d take too much space to talk about the PsyLED team as individuals, so let’s leave it with the aggregate: a very promising and entertaining ensemble.

Nell’s family are a strong presence (even before we met them) and should prove to be good fodder for character growth and even future plot (I just hope it’s not a well they go back to too often). The same can be said for the rest of the world we’re introduced to here.

The plot involving the church, the terrorists, the kidnappings is pretty strong and moves well. The resolution is violent, but not as much as it would’ve been in a Yellowrock book. Nell’s magic is different (and her team uses fewer firearms and knives). I’m not sure how to talk about this pre-release, maybe in book 2, it’ll be easier. Let’s just leave it with Nell et al. deal with things in a way that’s true to the genre, but doesn’t feel like every other UF around. Nell’s what Atticus O’Sullivan might be without his sword (maybe).

There were two pretty glaring errors that I noticed: Nell at one point identifies someones actions as stemming from their being postmillennialist (I’ve never met a postmillennialist like this, I think she meant post-tribulation premillennialist) and she identifies a Biblical quotation as from Acts, when it was from Romans. There are three explanations that I can think of for this: 1. Honest mistakes that will be fixed between the ARC and official release; 2. It’s been long enough since Nell’s been involved in the cult and her memory for details like this is foggy; 3. It was a cult, and they’ve mis-educated their people. I could be convinced of #2, but it’d take some work; #1 or #3 I could completely buy.

Why do I continually underestimate Faith Hunter? It’s only been in the last few Jane Yellowrocks that I pick them up with high expectations and I came to this curious, but unsure that she could do anything distinctive from Yellowrock. That ends now — Hunter blew me away with this one, yeah, it’s in the Yellowrock ‘verse — and it fits in it — but it couldn’t be more different. I’m not sure how this is a series, it’s a great stand-alone, maybe a duology. But I don’t see how this keeps going (but Hunter’s better at this than I am, so I’m willing to believe it is one — especially with these characters). I really want to give Blood of the Earth 5 stars, but I’m going to hold off going too far in my raving over this series until I see how Hunter follows up. Which may be stupid, but it’s what makes sense to me.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC via NetGalley with major thanks to Roc, I appreciate this greatly.

N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Dicing with the Gods by Sean McKenzie

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On August 2, 2016

In Fiction

Dicing with the Gods

by Sean McKenzie
Series: Grug Smash, #1

ePub, 105 pg.
Nerd Incognito Press, 2016

Read: July 29, 2016


This is a short book, so I have to keep things brief and vague.

Gurg is your typical barbarian adventurer — more brawn than brains (a lot more), good in a fight, not so good in a conversation. Think of him as Tarzan with a sword, sort of.

In the middle of a typical adventure, Gurg is separated from his party and finds a magical amulet. While wearing it, he finds himself with a growing awareness that his life is governed by forces he doesn’t understand (and much of his life doesn’t really happen). He’s also just a whole lot smarter — he’s developing empathy, thinking about things other than adventuring and drinking.

What kind of impact will this have on his life? What will this do to his adventuring? When he stumbles upon an evil plot — how will he react now that he can do more than unthinkingly slash and bash his way through enemies?

This was fun — the only downside for me was the length. Thankfully, there’s a second volume in the series already out. I expected something goofier, more farcical — maybe even slapsticky. I was wrong, it is clever and amusing. But it’s also a good fantasy story. McKensie writes with skill and panache, and his characters could be in a straight-fantasy with no problem. Instead, he comes at it from a skewed perspective and takes the standard D&D party and turns it into something special. I’ll be back for more.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for this post.

—–

3.5 Stars

United States of Books – A River Runs through It by Norman Maclean

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On August 1, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

A River Runs Through ItA River Runs Through It

by Norman Maclean

Author: Elisha at Rainy Day Reviews

Entertainment Weekly says – In his semiautobiographical story collection, Maclean paints a sumptuous portrait of the state’s beauty.

Summary from Goodreads:
Just as Norman Maclean writes at the end of “A River Runs through It” that he is “haunted by waters,” so have readers been haunted by his novella. A retired English professor who began writing fiction at the age of 70, Maclean produced what is now recognized as one of the classic American stories of the twentieth century. Originally published in 1976, A River Runs through It and Other Stories now celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, marked by this new edition that includes a foreword by Annie Proulx.

Maclean grew up in the western Rocky Mountains in the first decades of the twentieth century. As a young man he worked many summers in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service. The two novellas and short story in this collection are based on his own experiences—the experiences of a young man who found that life was only a step from art in its structures and beauty. The beauty he found was in reality, and so he leaves a careful record of what it was like to work in the woods when it was still a world of horse and hand and foot, without power saws, “cats,” or four-wheel drives. Populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, and set in the small towns and surrounding trout streams and mountains of western Montana, the stories concern themselves with the complexities of fly fishing, logging, fighting forest fires, playing cribbage, and being a husband, a son, and a father.

My Review

Firstly, I did not know this was turned into a movie. Now that is on my list.

The writing in this book was smooth, cohesive, eloquent, and smart. This novella was mixed with sadness of real life as well as the joys. This story has more than one level, at the surface, it is a good and well written story about Maclean and his father and brother; his family. They all have a shared bond of fishing, it is like the air that they breathe, what seems to hold them to hold them together.

However, going beneath this well-crafted story, I think the moral, the reason behind this book is: relationships that we have, memories that we create with those we hold dear, and the bonds that are made. I think the saddest but truest message to take is, from all that we can learn from this book is, those that are the ‘last survivor’ of those memories, those bonds that were made during the yesteryears, and the relationship that were made before it all changed and while it all changed.

I can definitely see why this is a classic. I’d recommend this to all.

A Few Quick Questions With…Devri Walls

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On July 28, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction

Devri Walls was kind enough to participate in a Q&A with me along with providing me a copy of her book The Wizard’s Heir (see my thoughts on it from earlier today). I asked her a little bit about the book, what’s next for her, and her writing in general. In addition to Heir, she’s got a YA series and another one on the way — I’d recommend checking at least one of those out.

What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
The Hollow City concept was genius and so fun! I would’ve loved to have come up with that and been able to work a story around those incredible pictures. Also, The Mortal Instrument Series. To be the one to have come up with Shadow Hunters… oh man! So much fun would’ve been had!
In the writing of The Wizard’s Heir, what was the biggest surprise about the writing itself?  Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.
I’ve written enough books, and enough drafts of books, that I can usually predict where my trouble spots will be. While annoying in their consistency, it’s not usually a surprise. On the other hand, I’m almost always surprised by a character. I’ll add a new one, intending them to play a small, meaningless part, and then fall in love and alter the plot to include them as a larger player. It’s always the best thing that could’ve happen to the story, but still a surprise.

In The Wizard’s Heir it was, Asher. Everyone, including myself, really connected with him. He was a bit of a throw away character until I added the scene where he goes to the boat to pick up supplies, and that was it, I loved him immediately and gave him a much larger role to play. The Wizard’s Heir is a stand alone novel but I’ve been approached several times about writing a second book in that world, while I don’t have one officially in the plans, if I ever did it would be written with Asher as the main character.

Who are some of your major influences? (whether or not you think those influences can be seen in your work — you know they’re there)
I’ve been influenced by Cassandra Clare, Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Cinda Williams Chima to name a few. I also pick up a little good with any great book I read. There are always little nuggets that I try to make note of to improve the next book.
I’ve often heard that writers, or artists in general, will forget hundreds of positive reviews but always remember the negative — what’s the worst thing that someone’s said about one of your books, and has it altered your approach to future books?
The worst thing? Oh man, something about, “this story would’ve been good if an author with talent had written it.” Lol. Nice, right? Negative reviews did alter my writing in the best way possible. I realized fairly quickly that the things one person complained about, someone else loved, and vice versa. In addition, where some people hate my work… with more vehement than perhaps necessary, others love what I write with a passion far and above what it probably deserves. I could write the Pulitzer prize winning novel and someone would still write a review that it was the worst pile of drivel they’d every read. Once I realized that, those negative reviews became freeing, I do the absolute best I can at the time and that’s all I can do. I push myself, hard. And I rewrite until I throw my hands up and say, I really can’t do any more.
It looks like your next book is on the verge of release, what can you tell us about that — and what comes next?
Yes! My Venator series is getting close to the release of book one. I’m always hesitant to give a date until I have return commitments from the editors but I am hoping for late August, early September.

I’m really excited about this series. I’m still working on the official blurb but it’s the story of two teenagers who cross through the St. Louis arch to an alternate dimension where everything you’ve ever read about exists—Fae and Vampires, Werewolves and Dragons. Seriously, nothing is off limits and it is so much fun to work with. I think my readers who were missing the environment of The Solus Series will be especially pleased with this. The Venator series is slated for multiple books, so that’s where my brain is at right now, but I have a whole notebook full of story ideas that I will get to eventually.

Since I don’t have an official blurb in hand yet, can I give your readers a sneak peek of the cover?
Nice looking cover! Thanks for your time, and thanks for The Wizard’s Heir.

The Wizard’s Heir by Devri Walls

By

On July 28, 2016

In Fiction

The Wizard's HeirThe Wizard’s Heir

by Devri Walls

Kindle Edition, 378 pg.
SuperStorm Productions, 2015

Read: July 4, 2016


Walls does so many things right in this stand-alone fantasy, it’s hard to know where to start.

Tybolt and Auriella are Deviants –which is not as bad as it sounds, it just means that they’re immune to magic. As such, they are part of the King’s force devoted to hunting down Wizards. Thanks to the most powerful Wizard in recent history, Eriroc is in the midst of devastating drought, wholly dependent on trade with other nations for basic food supplies — which are barely enough to keep people fed enough to survive.

There’s something different about Tybolt than the other Hunters (and, come to think of it, most people in the King’s favor) — he uses the money he makes to help out those less fortunate and spends a lot of time with them. Aurielle doesn’t treat everyone as cruelly as the other fortunate souls do, but she certainly pays no heed to anyone she doesn’t have to and doesn’t understand their plight. She’s not a bad person — just oblivious, at least when we meet her. Tybolt has a great sense of humor to go with his heart, he can enjoy the simple things in life — and would do anything to get Aurielle to think of him in any way other than co-worker. If you don’t like Tybolt from the get-go, watching his charitable efforts should win you over. Asher is another Hunter who has little to do with Tybolt initially, but eventually comes to play a pivotal role in the events of the book, but you’ll have to take my word for it — and as unimportant as he seems to be at the beginning, that’ll change. Just pay attention to him.

Walls’ worldbuilding is great — on the one hand, it’s standard Fantasy fare, enough that you instantly have a good idea about the world, the culture, the conditions and politics. But she tweaks it just enough to make it her own, and differentiate it from the rest. Sometimes I wondered why she constructed things the way she did — or why she revealed them in the way she did — but in the end, I saw (well, think I saw) the reasoning behind both and could appreciate her choices.

The plot is pretty conventional, and within a few chapters there are few readers who will not know pretty exactly how the rest of the story will go. But I didn’t mind — Walls hits every beat just right, every reveal is pulled off capably, the voice used is engaging and the fun and humanity of the situation shines through enough that the reader doesn’t demand novelty. Sincerity can be just as winning as innovation, and Walls pulls that off. There were a couple of character deaths you saw coming from miles away and I still was shocked by them when they happened, ditto for “aww” moments.

I, like the book, focused on the heroic hunters above. But there are plenty of other characters running around — the King is despicable, and there are a handful of Hunters that are probably worse (and seem to pull the rest along with them). But none of them are cartoons — there are several characters that aren’t all that heroic or evil — they’re just trying to survive (which can be heroic in a not-that-heroic way), and are well-executed. No matter where they fall on the moral scale, the characters work — developed enough to fulfill their role in the book (and maybe a little more).

This book isn’t going to blow anyone away — but it will entertain, it will keep you turning pages and will engage you in its world and the lives of its characters. It’s a good, fun read. There’s excitement, a dash of romance, some magic and a few good fight scenes — pretty much what you want from a fantasy. Oh, and there’s a good definitive end — no series commitment! It’ll satisfy you and probably make you want to read more of Walls’ material.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for this post.

—–

3.5 Stars

Friends of the Wigwam by John William Huelskamp

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On July 27, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Friends of the Wigwam Friends of the Wigwam: A Civil War Story

by John William Huelskamp

Paperback, 358 pg.

Barrington Group Publications, 2016
Read: July 20 – 23, 2016


Don’t just read the first sentence, please:

This book has all the elements of a winning historical novel — a great (and large) cast of characters, solid research, rich setting — but it just doesn’t come together in the way it should. But it frequently comes close. What it really needed to be successful is pretty simple: More. More of just about everything. Longer scenes, more developed characters, more developed storylines. The book covers the years from 1857 to 1864 in 358 pages — roughly 51 pages a year (with some of those taken by pictures) — you just can’t do a whole lot in that space. Longer scenes could’ve given the chance for characters and events to develop, for nuance to be shown.

The only thing it didn’t need more of was dialogue. Well, that’s not exactly true, it could’ve used more, but primarily it needed better dialogue. There was one scene, and only one, that I didn’t cringe almost every time someone spoke. It was wooden, stiff, artificial.

The book follows a group of friends and people they know from their part of Illinois in the days leading up to and through the heart of the Civil War — just about everyone mentioned was a real person that the historian Huelskamp researched thoroughly. The book is littered with photos of the people, letters and other documents supporting his work. Some of them are political movers and shakers, some are in the military, and some are citizens worrying about loved ones.

The characters — as historically accurate as they might be — were drawn pretty thinly. If Huelskamp is going to talk about interpretation of historical figures, he needs to interpret them multi-dimensionally. I wanted to like everyone (well, except Loomis — who no one is supposed to like), but I couldn’t muster up affection for anyone, there wasn’t enough of anyone to really appreciate.

    Beyond the clearly extensive historical research (and documentation!), this book had a few strengths that I want to focus on:

  • The Battle Scenes were great — the internal dialogue of the combatants detracted a lot from that, but the description of the events, the action was just about everything you’d hope for.
  • In the early days of the war, one of the friends is killed — seeing the emotion when the group gets the news was a high point of the book, Huelskamp captures it perfectly and then ruined the moment with clumsy writing.
  • The best part of the book is in the aftermath of a battle concerning two friends comforting each other after being wounded — it was just perfect.

The book could’ve been really strong; maybe as a trilogy (or duology), it could’ve been great. But in its too-short form, it was just almost a good book. I bet Huelskamp’s historical writing is really something — his fiction? Maybe one day. The richness of the historical work here does elevate this over a lot of historical fiction I’ve read recently, so I’m going to give it the 3rd star.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for my honest thoughts.

—–

3 Stars

Pub Day Repost: The Substitute Sleuth by Michael R. Underwood

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On July 26, 2016

In Fiction, Genrenauts, Michael R. Underwood, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Science Fiction

The Substitute SleuthThe Substitute Sleuth

by Michael R. Underwood
Series: Genrenauts, #4eARC, 88 pg.
2016
Read: July 11, 2016

Adventure, excitement, hypothermia. All of this and more await you in the Genrenauts!

Once again, Leah Tang is having a rough time on her first visit to a genre world. It’s Chicago, there’s a snow storm, her primary partner on this particular mission is getting a bit too wrapped up in the story, and she had to see her second dead body (not that such a sight is ever pleasant, but this one is well, is fit for the opening scenes of Castle, Bones, etc.). Thankfully, her sense of humor isn’t only welcome on this mission, it’s required.

It all starts when poor Leah has to wake up early, summoned for a mission to patch a small story breach on Crime World — the Police Procedural region to be precise. King’s going to let her take the lead on it as a training exercise. And then things go wrong. Because, well, that’s just how things are going for this team lately — and the one story breach they came to Crime World to patch is overshadowed by a bigger one. Crime World breaches left unpatched bleed over into our world in the form more, and worse, crimes. Every bleed from a Genre World into ours sounds bad — but this one is worse. Leah is still having qualms about the ethics involved in what her team does, but given the stakes, she’s willing to put them aside.

Probably more than in the previous adventures, Leah and King lean on and exploit the tropes of this world and region. As a fan of the Whacky Investigator/Straight-Laced Law Officer partner stories/shows, I loved watching the two of them use, critique, and play with the story beats, types and clichés. White Hat hacking, convenient recovery periods after being shot, how clues show up at just the right time, and so on. At one point, Leah sees a pair of detectives that work in the precinct with the detective at the center of the breach:

Leah took them to be the friend cops, the other team that would work another part of a case—the cases that would all too often end up being related, thanks to the laws of narrative conservation.

I love that phrase “laws of narrative conservation,” I am stealing that, period. I talk about that phenomenon all the time here, and this phrase is going to save me so much typing.

Between this and the Max novella, we’re learning a good deal about Angstrom King — I think I’m getting a really good sense of him, and I’m liking him more than I expected. Leah is pretty much Leah, just a little more confident in her place and moving onward from where she’s been so far in the series. The rest of the team faded to the background to an extent that I found surprising, and I hope it’s not a sign of things to come. I’m pretty sure it’s not, Underwood wouldn’t have spent so much time establishing the team and characters if he was going to drop them. Everyone was present, but their roles were very diminished. Mallery’s got a bit more to do than the others, but really not much.

The closing pages of this do a great job of setting-up the two-part season finale in the next two novellas. I can’t say more than that — but how any fan of this series can be patient waiting to see what comes next is a greater mystery than the ones the team encounters on Crime World. Best of the bunch.

N.B.: As this was an ARC, there’s a chance that the quotations above might not be in the published version, I’ll try to confirm them as soon as I can.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of novella from the author in exchange for this post–thanks, Mr. Underwood!

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Pub Day Repost: The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

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On July 26, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

The Summer that Melted EverythingThe Summer that Melted Everything

by Tiffany McDaniel
eARC, 320 pg.
St. Martin’s Press, 2016
Read: July 18 – 19, 2016

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.

Yeah, Keyser Söze’s paraphrase of C. S. Lewis’ appropriation of Charles Baudelaire isn’t part of this book, but it might just encapsulate it. Maybe.

It’s the summer of 1984 in Breathed, OH, and it’s hot. Really hot — and about to get a lot hotter. 1984 is a big year — HIV is identified as the virus that leads to AIDS, Apple releases the Macintosh, Michael Jackson’s Pepsi commercial shoot, and the following advertisement runs in the local newspaper, The Breathian:

Dear Mr. Devil, Sir Satan, Lord Lucifer, and all other crosses you bear,

I cordially invite you to Breathed, Ohio. Land of hills and hay bales, of sinners and forgivers.

May you come in peace.

With great faith,
Autopsy Bliss

Autopsy Bliss is the local prosecutor, who wants to see for himself what evil looks like. Hence the advertisement.

So who shows up in response? A bruised, short black boy dressed in tattered and torn overalls who simply seems to want some ice cream and to say hi to the man who invited him. Autopsy’s son, Fielding, is the first one in town to meet the boy and takes him home to his father (sadly, no ice cream is available in town — unbelievably — for the remainder of the Summer). The Bliss family ends up taking the lad in, and starts calling him Sal. He and Fielding become fast friends and are almost inseparable for the rest of the summer. One by one, almost everyone in this sleepy community is touched by the appearance of Sal — either first-hand or by proxy — demons (figurative), troubled family and personal histories are exposed, latent corruptions come to light, and accidents strike many. No one in Breathed will be the same after the day Sal first appears to Fielding.

The book is narrated by Fielding about 70 years after that summer looking back on the time, thinking of all the regrets he’s had since then and all the ways his time with Sal has overshadowed the ensuing decades. It honestly reminded me of A Prayer for Owen Meany because of this — little kid who talks oddly, is smarter than any of his (apparent) peers, and divides a community, while leaving an indelible mark on his closest friend (who’s not always a friend).

Almost every name (maybe every name, and I’m not clever enough to get it all) is rich in meaning and symbolism — there’s symbolism all over the place, but McDaniel gets her money’s worth with the names in particular. This book will reward close readings, and probably repeated readings as well.

There are so many depictions and descriptions of child abuse and spousal abuse that it’s almost impossible to believe that there households in that world where someone isn’t getting hit on a pretty regular basis. Thankfully, we’re spared watching characters going through it (the vast majority of the time), but there are many mentions of it.

This is not fun read, really, but I loved the whole experience, it is a rewarding read. McDaniel writes with such richness, such depth, there are phrases throughout this that will knock you out. There’s one sentence that I went back to at least a half-a-dozen times one evening — not because I needed to try to suss it out, but because I just liked it so much. The variety of ways she can describe the horrible and debilitating heat wave that struck that part of Ohio those months is pretty astounding — I’m just glad I had some sort of air conditioning most of the time I spent reading the book. Sal’s descriptions of Hell and his fellow prisoners there are full of haunting images that will stick with me for a while (some good haunting, some less-so). I’m troubled by some of what this book said about God, but since the Devil is the one who told about God, I’m not sure we’re supposed to trust his characterizations. On the other hand, just about everything that the book says about the devil seems to be spot-on.

There are no easy answers to be found here — is Sal the devil? Is someone else in town? Is there a devil at all? Are the naturalistic explanations offered here and there throughout enough? I just don’t think you can think about this book without dealing with the Baudelaire/Lewis/Söze thought.

Can’t help but wonder how things would’ve gone if he’d just gotten a little ice cream.

Disclaimer:I received this eARC via NetGalley at the author’s invitation in return for this post. My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Tiffany McDaniel for this.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

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