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Saturday, May 10, 2008

My review of Winter Haven by Athol Dickson


About the book:

Eleven years ago, Vera Gamble's brother left their house never to be seen again. Until the day Vera gets a phone call that his body has been found...washed ashore in the tiny island town of Winter Haven, Maine. His only surviving kin, Vera travels north to claim the body...and finds herself tumbling into a tangled mystery. Her brother hasn't aged a day since last she saw him.

Determined to uncover what happened in those lost years, Vera soon discovers there are other secrets lurking in this isolated town. But Winter Haven's murky past now seems bound to come to light as one woman seeks the undeniable and flooding light of truth.

My review:

Winter Haven starts with intrigue and never lets up until the very end. I found this book particularly fascinating because Vera's lost brother had autism and the author goes into some childhood memories that were very well done. And the dysfunction in Vera's family that she experienced growing up was powerful. What worse thing could happen to a preacher/healer than to have two children that he couldn't heal? Can you imagine the conflict? Needless to say it definitely hurt Vera in permanent ways. Plus the island was downright spooky. I even read some chapters out loud because they were that freaky. Don't read this book at night. Trust me, you'll have trouble sleeping. But the tension was great and the mysterious islanders and those crazy legends will leave you tense until you find out what the deal is with that place. The ending of the story was weird, yet satisfying as it did explain some things. All I can say is this author has a fabulous imagination and understands insanity and dysfunction well. But not everything is in Vera's head. To find out what I mean you'll have to read the book. That's all I'm saying. :)

Winter Haven was published by Bethany House and released in April 2008.

5 comments:

kalea_kane said...

That is just the kind of book I like. I'll be looking for that when we take out weekend shopping trip!

cathikin said...

Wow! If it freaks you out that much, it must be pretty scary. SOunds good!

luv2read said...

Okay Michelle this sounds like a really good book. You need to have a drawin for it. My book wants list has become very lengthy since I have discovered the world of blogging. spowell01(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Anonymous said...

doesnt sound like my type of book to read.. sorry- we cant love them all now can we? Percy

The Book Club Network - TBCN said...

I have seen this on the shelf at work. I haven't had time to even pick it up and look at it. I'm so glad that you have read it. It sounds like someting I would like to read too.
Please put my name for the drawing.
Thanks

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