I have read a few Preston & Child novels in the past, but never any in the Aloysius Pendergast series. Needless to say, I’ve always been drawn to its mysteries which often feature elements of horror and the paranormal from what I’ve been told. So even though The Cabinet of Dr. Leng is the twenty-first book in this impressively long-running sequence, I was excited at the opportunity to read it when offered a review copy.
That said, I soon realized that what I’ve done is jump unknowingly into the middle of a mini-arc and that much of the events of the story was already in motion, having been set up in the previous book Bloodless. Fortunately though, the authors do such a good job catching you up that the entire experience felt practically seamless for a newcomer like me. The book introduces Aloysius Pendergast and his love interest Constance, who has made a bold move in trying to change her past. Amazingly, her quest has brought her to late 1800s New York City where she plans on tracking down Dr. Enoch Leng, the monster who had taken everything she loved and destroyed her life. But even after disguising herself and covering her tracks, her enemy is a formidable foe who won’t be long fooled.
Meanwhile, back in the present day, Pendergast is determined to give Constance all the advantage he can. Enlisting the help of his friend NYPD Lieutenant Commander Vincent D’Agosta, they try to find a way back to her. And in the FBI, Pendergast’s colleague Special Agent Armstrong Coldmoon is assigned to a bizarre case involving a murder and an attempted theft at a museum.
There are many threads unfolding here, and for the most part they remain separate, as expected for a larger story arc in progress. This simultaneously made things easier to follow but also was a source of confusion wondering how all the pieces are supposed to fit together. As I said, the authors are considerate in keeping the separate plotlines as straightforward and simply as they can, but there is another factor in play here: Time travel.
The Cabinet of Dr. Leng is a mixture of mystery, thriller, and science fiction. I knew this this wasn’t going to be your typical series, but I confess I was still taken by surprise when time traveling came into the picture. Now, time traveling stories and I have a tricky relationship. I’m usually all for them, but they almost always come with a caveat to ignore any plot holes or absurd explanations that might arise. I feel the book handles the logistics behind time travel and the concept of multiple universes well enough, but without spoiling anything, I also thought that in the process of laying everything out there were sections I felt were too drawn out or completely unnecessary. Sometimes it’s better to let your readers’ imaginations do the work, but that’s just my opinion based on personal preference and I do tend to nitpick a lot when it comes to time travel stories.
Also beware that once you start this book, you’ve pretty much committed yourself to reading the next one as well, as this is pretty obviously the first half of a two-parter. That would also explain how Coldmoon’s thread sort of just hangs there, and I assume his character will take on a much greater role in the follow-up. But there’s plenty more I also want to know, given how the book ends. Preston & Child have created a simply diabolical and creeptastic villain in Dr. Leng, and just thinking about what he did to Constance and her family makes my skin crawl. Some of our characters were left in quite a bind, and I will be waiting with curiosity to see what plot developments will emerge, what solutions will present themselves....more
I’ve never read any of Kate Alice Marshall’s YA books, but should she ever wish to make mystery thrillers her full-time thing, the genre would be lucky to have her! Her adult debut What Lies in the Woods was nothing short of amazing; my heart was in my throat from practically the start to finish of this enthralling read.
The story follows Naomi Shaw, one of three women whose lives were changed forever when they were just eleven years old. That summer, Naomi was stabbed seventeen times and left for dead. Along with her two friends, Cassidy and Olivia, who were also in the woods at the time, the trio provided the eyewitness testimony that put serial killer Alan Michael Stahl behind bars for life. More than two decades later, Naomi gets the news that Stahl has died in prison, reawakening many unpleasant memories. Needing to talk to her two best friends again, she travels back to her hometown of Chester to see Cass and Liv.
But upon her arrival, Liv is distraught, going on in an almost desperate panic about needing to come clean about a secret. Ever the more levelheaded of the group, Cass convinces her to wait until all the dust has settled surrounding Stahl’s death, but that very night, tragedy strikes. As Naomi’s emotions threaten to spiral out of control again, she must go back to that awful summer and relive the memories of what really happened in the woods that day, because the truth is, not all of it will match up with the evidence she and her friends provided in court.
Marshall handles the pacing of the plot so expertly, it’s like she was born to it. Sure, there were some predictable twists along the way, like when you sense something is wrong and expect the other shoe to drop, knowing it probably will. Still, most of what happened genuinely surprised me. Besides, the last half of the book was so packed with bombshells that ultimately you reach the point where surrendering yourself to the unrelenting madness becomes inevitable, and the feeling was simply euphoric.
It’s clear also that the author put her experience writing YA and middle grade to good use, though fair warning, things do get kind of dark. The backstory for Naomi, Cass, and Liv was done very well, focusing on the bond that was formed between the three of them when they were just young girls with vivid imaginations. Marshall does for them what Stephen King does for his characters with his stories about boyhood camaraderie. Outcasts in their own right, the girls had an obsession with Greek goddesses and pagan rituals, leading to a major discovery in the woods one day that will become their greatest secret and the lynchpin to this entire novel.
There’s so much more I could say, so much more praise I could give, but What Lies in the Woods is absolutely the type of psychological thriller where the less you know going in, the better. I also can’t say enough positive things about the audiobook. The amazing Karissa Vacker was the narrator, and she was also the voice behind another fantastic thriller I listened to recently, All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham. Well, it looks like this was another winner!
All told, I highly recommend What Lies in the Woods. It was at once exciting and unnerving, exhilarating and paralyzing. The story had me hooked and hanging onto every word....more
For the Wednesday clan, loyalty is everything. Which is why, when Winnie’s father was found to be a spy for the enemy, she and her mother and brother were unceremoniously shunned by the rest of the town. Unfortunately, for a place like Hemlock Falls and its unique community, that can be devastating for a teenager’s social life and future prospects. For you see, all Winnie has ever wanted was to be a part of the Luminaries, an ancient order of monster hunters. They are also the elite members of Hemlock Falls, and to join their ranks, prospective recruits must pass a series of harrowing trials that test their skills in combat, survival, and cunning. Because the job is so dangerous, the stakes so high, you also only get one chance to pass.
Now that Winnie is sixteen, she is eligible to become a hunter, though being a social exile complicates things. While there’s no official rule saying outcasts can’t participate, Winnie can’t imagine the rest of the town taking too kindly to her in the hunter trials, but it’s the only way she can think of to prove her loyalty and restore her family’s status. For years, she has been training in secret in preparation for the big night, but when the moment of truth finally comes, Winnie realizes just how in over her head she is. Not only was the first trial more challenging than she expected, while she was alone in the woods that night, she also encountered a new nightmare—a powerful creature that is hunting the other monsters, and not even the Luminaries experts have any knowledge of it. Winnie knows she needs help, not only when it comes to surviving the other trials, but also to convince the town of the new nightmare threat. Reluctantly, she turns to Jay Friday, one of Hemlock Falls’ most promising young hunters but also a once close friend whom Winnie resents for abandoning her when her family became ostracized.
I decided to pick up The Luminaries because I’ve read Susan Dennard’s Witchlands series and was curious because this sounded so different. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this. Yes, it has many of the usual YA trappings, but instead of aggravating me, I actually found them to be quite fun. Of course, I do credit much of this to the genre and the writing style. Unlike Witchlands which was featured a fantasy setting, The Luminaries has got more of an urban paranormal vibe going. Winnie is a modern teenager who acts and speaks like one, and as such, we avoid a lot of the purple prose and flowery dialogue which I felt were the biggest issues with Witchlands. Simply put, a book that tries too hard will lose me, but an entertaining story can get me to overlook most minor flaws like cheesy tropes and cliches. That’s sort of where I am with The Luminaries, a light and fast-paced read that I found easy to dive into.
That said, I wouldn’t have minded more time spent on developing the lore and world-building. Readers aren’t given a whole lot of background information—just enough to understand what’s going on. The scope of the plot is entirely limited to the Hemlock Falls and the surrounding woods, and while there are references to other nightmare hunting communities in other countries and international visitors from these places, this still feels like a localized story disconnected from the rest of the world. This in turn leads to questions like, how do the Luminaries manage to keep themselves and all their activities secret? Do they just set up base where nightmares are more common? And if so, why are certain places hotbeds for nightmares and why aren’t they overrunning the world? For that matter, where do nightmares come from anyway? The story one offers some brief, passing insights into these questions, like how older civilizations tend to mean more time for different types of monsters to develop, but these tidbits are hardly satisfying as far as explanations go.
Dennard appears to be leaving a lot up in the air for readers to speculate, or she may cover them more in depth in a future book. An example of this is the situation involving Winnie’s father and the mysterious organization of witches called the Dianas of which he’s purported to be a part. Like everything else though, we’re given almost no explanation into their history or who they are. I feel like the author might be dropping clues for us, because out of nowhere there will be random details that seem out of place or purposely inserted for a reason. Winnie’s odd teeth clicking habit is one example, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s more than just a nervous tic—perhaps a behavioral characteristic ingrained in Luminaries culture or something, because no one around Winnie seems bothered by it or even notices when she does it, and she does it A LOT. God knows they have some strange traditions anyway, like shunning people as punishment but only for a given number of years (why?) or letting sixteen-year-olds apply for the most dangerous job they have (why?) and only giving them one chance to do it (wouldn’t letting them try again when they’re older and more experienced make more sense?) Like I said, so much felt glossed over and too many questions were left open that ultimately this gave a rushed sense to the novel.
Still, at the end of the day, I did have fun with The Luminaries despite its flaws, and I feel invested and curious enough about its story that I want to know what happens next. Weaknesses include a lackadaisical attitude towards providing details and explanations so that not much of the world-building will stand up to tough questioning, but the strengths like the plot’s fast-pacing, breezy entertainment value, and interesting ideas made me glad I read this....more
At first I didn’t know what I was expecting when I picked up The Poison Season, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. This light fantasy romance with touches of a fairy tale takes place in a remote forest where a small island rests in the middle of a poisonous lake. No one really knows how the waters became poisoned, but it will kill anything that tries to cross it.
But the lake also protects those who live on the island, called Endla. Born and raised there, Leelo has spent her entire life hearing stories of how dangerous outsiders are and how they would destroy her home if they had a chance. The Endlans have developed a culture around song, using the magic in their singing to communicate with the creatures of the forest as well as to manipulate human minds. With these powers, they also make sacrifices to the island and guard it from intrusion from outsiders.
But the risks do not come only from without. Endlans are so protective of their secrets that they will even banish their own people if they do not show an aptitude for magic by their twelfth birthday. Unfortunately, Leelo’s own younger brother is deemed unmagical and is set to be exiled, causing her and their mother no small amount of grief. In her sorrow, Leelo goes to be alone by the lake and spies a young man on the other shore. In spite of him being an outsider, she waves to him.
Jaren is from the nearby village, who never believed in magic before he and his family moved here, but very quickly he is realizing there is more to Endla than meets the eye. One day, while escaping from an unnaturally vicious wolf, Jaren tries to cross the lake to the island in an act of desperation to get away, and almost drowns. He is saved by a pale-haired girl, whom he recognizes as the one who waved to him. But what he doesn’t realize is that by saving him, Leelo has put them both in danger. For it was her duty as a watcher to kill any outsider she should encounter, and if she is to be found harboring Jaren, the consequences for her could be deadly.
I loved that The Poison Season never tries to be more than it is, a trait which is actually quite refreshing in a YA novel. The gist of the premise is simple, and the scope of the world-building small yet fascinating and satisfying. The entire story takes place around the poison lake, and the lore surrounding it has the vibe of a dark fairy tale.
This spare approach also means more time and attention given to developing the characters. Leelo is a protagonist the reader can sympathize and connect with—headstrong and determined, but still deemed too softhearted by her aunt and cousin who see weakness in Leelo’s refusal to sacrifice animals or even in her love for her soon-to-be-banished brother. Right away, readers gather that Endlans are a hard people. They do what must be done in order to survive and protect their way of life from outsiders. Of course, that Leelo has a more contemplative side and does not fall in line unquestioningly kind of makes her a bit of an outsider herself.
It made the resulting romance between her and Jaren much more convincing and natural. Theirs was a love story that I found sweet and captivating. Just as the main plot was a slowburn, so was the romance arc. The dual POVs of Leelo and Jaren gave readers a look into both sides of the relationship to see how their feelings developed mutually. Overall, I thought it was a well-written romance that had genuine chemistry.
Bottom line, this was an uncomplicated but enjoyable novel about magic and romance that had the alluring quality of a fairy tale. I can count on one hand the number of Young Adult books I read in 2022, but I’m glad that The Poison Season was one of them....more
Mogsy (MMOGC)
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