This twisty, stomach-wrenching novel delves into the touchy and horrific subjects of child abuse, wife killing and serial murder, most of it tied to religious mania. The author is deft at painting grisly scenes. We don’t get the action of a murder, just its aftermath. A woman lies dead on a floor, her head beaten against it repeatedly until the blood leaks out of it. An old man’s corpse is repeatedly stabbed and partially decapitated. We attend a woman’s funeral after she’s dead of childbirth and see her grave and that of her infant son who died in a fire that was rather sloppily investigated and swiftly closed.
But where Mr. North grips us is in his study of the philosophical turns of mind of various characters. At the beginning of the novel, we witness a young couple discussing the nature of future-telling. It’s not an in-depth discussion—more like that kind you’d have at 2:00 a.m. if you’re considering what three books you’d want with you if you were stranded on a desert island.
However, this discussion foreshadows the rest of the novel. Some of the characters believe that life is preordained; others think that the future can be altered if you know how certain key players are going to behave.
At the center of this plot are two brothers, both brought up by a twisted father but leading radically different lives after he dies in prison. They have been the fruit of a man raised in a bizarre religious cult and the teachings of it have leached into the present day, forming an insidious poison that has wrecked the lives of many.
We can feel the tension rising, the plot twisting around us like a noose as the various characters play their part, winding along a maze of seemingly unconnected clues and apparent coincidences. But, as one cop suspects, there are rarely coincidences.
However, I found myself increasingly aggravated by what I’ve dubbed the Scooby Doo Initiative. Time and again, I fumed as otherwise intelligent people repeatedly lied to the police, refused to contact the police or evaded the cops when trouble reared its ugly head. So much of the danger within these pages could have been avoided if the proper authorities were brought in right from the start.
When Katie’s brother goes missing, her mother begs her not to get the cops involved. But who else is better equipped to find a missing person? Katie is no Sherlock Holmes. What, exactly, is she supposed to learn by scouting her brother and his boyfriend’s empty rooms?
There’s also a mystery figure that turns up unexpectedly and seems to be working for the villainous Edward Leland. Who is he? Why does he serve the man? What is his role in the disappearance of Nathaniel Leland or the manic behavior of Michael Hyde?
Hyde was another cypher in this novel. His attack on Christopher Shaw when the boy is young is barely explained. There’s just a vague mention of someone or something whispering incoherent nonsense in his head, including the snap decision to pull a knife and try to carve off Chris’s face. His stint in prison neither curbs nor cures his lunatic behavior only lends a spur to it when he gets released.
With these weak aspects of the story in place, I can’t endorse this novel as much as I’d hoped. Yet the plot is very good, with two very different brothers plotting to undo each other and the odd philosophy that drives them both. This is a taut, spellbinding thriller, a page-turner that loops you in from the first sentence and refuses to let you go until the final line. The metaphysical bent lends the story an intriguing aspect that is even more compelling than the crimes and missteps the various characters make.
But where Mr. North grips us is in his study of the philosophical turns of mind of various characters. At the beginning of the novel, we witness a young couple discussing the nature of future-telling. It’s not an in-depth discussion—more like that kind you’d have at 2:00 a.m. if you’re considering what three books you’d want with you if you were stranded on a desert island.
However, this discussion foreshadows the rest of the novel. Some of the characters believe that life is preordained; others think that the future can be altered if you know how certain key players are going to behave.
At the center of this plot are two brothers, both brought up by a twisted father but leading radically different lives after he dies in prison. They have been the fruit of a man raised in a bizarre religious cult and the teachings of it have leached into the present day, forming an insidious poison that has wrecked the lives of many.
We can feel the tension rising, the plot twisting around us like a noose as the various characters play their part, winding along a maze of seemingly unconnected clues and apparent coincidences. But, as one cop suspects, there are rarely coincidences.
However, I found myself increasingly aggravated by what I’ve dubbed the Scooby Doo Initiative. Time and again, I fumed as otherwise intelligent people repeatedly lied to the police, refused to contact the police or evaded the cops when trouble reared its ugly head. So much of the danger within these pages could have been avoided if the proper authorities were brought in right from the start.
When Katie’s brother goes missing, her mother begs her not to get the cops involved. But who else is better equipped to find a missing person? Katie is no Sherlock Holmes. What, exactly, is she supposed to learn by scouting her brother and his boyfriend’s empty rooms?
There’s also a mystery figure that turns up unexpectedly and seems to be working for the villainous Edward Leland. Who is he? Why does he serve the man? What is his role in the disappearance of Nathaniel Leland or the manic behavior of Michael Hyde?
Hyde was another cypher in this novel. His attack on Christopher Shaw when the boy is young is barely explained. There’s just a vague mention of someone or something whispering incoherent nonsense in his head, including the snap decision to pull a knife and try to carve off Chris’s face. His stint in prison neither curbs nor cures his lunatic behavior only lends a spur to it when he gets released.
With these weak aspects of the story in place, I can’t endorse this novel as much as I’d hoped. Yet the plot is very good, with two very different brothers plotting to undo each other and the odd philosophy that drives them both. This is a taut, spellbinding thriller, a page-turner that loops you in from the first sentence and refuses to let you go until the final line. The metaphysical bent lends the story an intriguing aspect that is even more compelling than the crimes and missteps the various characters make.