Red River Runs True to Form

Title: Red River
Author(s): Kelly Van Hull
Publisher: Kelly Van Hull
Copyright: 2013
ASBN: BOOGQLNDOG
Format: market paperback & ebook
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Part of Series: Book Two in the Tent City Series
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Kelly Van Hull continues to keep our attention in the Second Book of the Tent City Series: Red River. Many writers of dystopian fiction can fall out of balance between maintaining realism versus “crossing the line” in the sequel. However, Van Hull maintains a realistic balance in this novel for young adults despite her apocalyptic theme, the Biblical references to end of times plagues and the “advancements” which empower some of the characters. Continuity is maintained between the first and second books with the first-person point of view narration through the eyes of 17-year-old Dani. We learn that Dani’s 5-year-old brother, Brody, is the prophesized “Golden Child”. Dani’s determined to protect Brody by keeping his identity secret, even from their friends in Tent City. Like Van Hull, Dani is doing a balancing act. Dani is still undecided about her feeling for the brothers, Bentley and Jack, but that’s the least of her worries.

The novel opens with Dani discovering that Brody has the mark of the Golden Child as the young people from Tent City, along with Dani’s mother and father are on their way back to Tent City. The second plague occurs as they cross the river, which has turned to blood. This means that Bentley and Jack’s father, General Burke, can no longer be called a religious lunatic, he’s right! They now know they must face the remaining plagues soon. However, even concern about the plagues must be put on the back burner because winter in the Black Hills is approaching and they need a new camp.

The plot pacing is enjoyable, as Dani and Bentley search for a winter camp, but for me it’s just a backdrop for the inner conflict which Dani faces as she wavers between the pouting teenager whose parents are “in charge” and the strong young woman she is becoming. I like that her protectiveness of Brody keeps her firmly rooted in her own strength and that she constantly battles her own temper when she is forced to share the camp with the infamous General Burke. New characters are smoothly introduced into the sequel and flesh it out to create a lively conflict for Dani’s inner conflict. A few surprising twists toward the end makes us wonder what will happen in the third book to this trilogy.

Though I enjoyed Kelly Van Hull’s second book, Red River, it didn’t capture my attention as much as the first book, Tent City, which I gave five stars. It’s still a good read, though, and I highly recommend it for the young people and adults who are following Van Hull’s series.

Full of Grace: Tuesday’s Child Earns It!

Title: Tuesday’s Child

Author(s): Dale Mayer
Publisher: Valley Publishing
Copyright: 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-927461-31-0
Format: trade paperback & ebook
Genre: Paranormal/Romance
Part of Series: Book #3 of Psychic Visions
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

A Gift I Wouldn’t Want Either

We’ve often heard that psychic “gifts” can be a curse, but Tuesday’s Child takes the cursing part to the extreme. Dale Mayer creates a compelling paranormal/romance novel, where the main character is reclusive psychic Samantha Blair. Sam’s psychic gift isn’t just an audio-visual or emotional connection to the subject; she has a physical connection to murder victims. Sam lives through each ghoulish detail with the victims in real time, including their bleeding. She gains our sympathy in the opening scene while experiencing one of these psychic episodes: “The attack became a frenzy of stabs and slices, snatching all thought away. Her body jerked and arched in a macabre dance. Black spots blurred her vision and still the slaughter continued.” Experiencing these horrific episodes leaves Sam physically depleted, often with wounds that heal at a paranormal rate. We see how frail and vulnerable she is in a wide world that doesn’t accept her strange ability. Where police suspect her involvement if she tells them about the murders and where harassment or rejection is what Sam expects from everyone. Mayer compels us to want to see Sam nurtured with vivid descriptions. We want someone to come to her rescue, to help her, protect her and offer her some repast from the brutality she lives.

Dale Mayer creates the perfect compatibility in the form of Detective Brandt Sutherland. Brandt is researching cold cases he believes are related to a series of murders he’s been investigating. Brandt isn’t the stereotypical hard-nosed cop we’ve come to expect. He is an intelligent and capable member of Law Enforcement, but he is also open-minded. Hints of his previous work with a psychic gives us hope for Brandt working with Sam. There is the added bonus of the patient way he handles his mother when she gets in trouble at the assisted living facility. We feel confident that he can nurture Sam in the same way. So even though Sam doesn’t trust Brandt, we do and we root for their successful union through the period of mistrust that’s bound to occur.

A Plot That Moves With Intelligence

Tuesday’s Child combines a dichotomous plot of both fast-moving murder investigation and the importance of friends and family that keeps us reading to the end. Brandt’s gentle interactions with his mother combine with Sam’s helping dogs at the local vets to create a loving backdrop in which a serial killer strikes at select victims with horrifying violence and blood-letting. The murder has the glee of a naughty child who doesn’t get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. This contrast of gentleness versus violence, love versus hatred continues throughout the novel’s plot and subplot giving us the real-world feel of both the safety and danger around us and reminds us why we fight to keep the world safe. Dale Mayer creates an interesting read blended with a formula romance to produce the perfect book to read on a rainy night or at the beach.