Book Reviews of Winter's Destiny and The Painted Darkness
Winter's Destiny / Nancy Allan
Synopsis - The gifted and talented and beautiful Amy is living a perfect life-by-the-sea. She has an angelic son, a successful and handsome doctor husband, and a fulfilling career as on in-demand architect. And she has the luxury of working from home in her seaside estate. What could possibly go wrong? Well, she just saw her double staring at her through her bedroom window. And to top it all off, now her husband doesn't want to badonkadonk anymore. Not with her, anyway. Next thing you know, her son is kidnapped. Enter Sherriff Dallas to the rescue! Together they leapfrog through a series of perilous beach excursions and cliffside cliffhangers while continuously asking what, who, why, and sometimes even where, when, and how.
Reaction - This is an eye-rolling tale of a smart / athletic / beautiful heroine saving the world with the help of her hunky hero. Read if you're in the mood for a thriller-action adventure with romance shoehorned in here and there. High on action / suspense, low on plausibility.
Recommendation - It's a literal beach read. Seriously, read this one beachside, or at least have a recording of pounding waves playing in the background.
***
The Painted Darkness / Brian James Freeman
Synopsis - Henry is a little boy with a big imagination. A vivid, dangerous imagination. Bad things happen in Henry's imagination, so bad that they become real. Or do they? Did Henry's daddy get eaten by the oil burner monster? He can't be sure, and so Henry colors against the darkness. Now Henry is an adult with a big imagination. The same vivid, dangerous imagination. And now an oil burner monster is after him. Or is it? He can't be sure, and so Henry paints against the darkness...
Reaction - This is a nightmarish tale of childhood monster fears carried through to adulthood monster fears. Lots of surreal winter scenery imagery and thump-in-the-dark foreboding. The storyline switches back and forth between childhood Henry and adult Henry, overlapping familial comforts with monster terror. The questions remains throughout the book: How much of reality is actually madness? How much of madness is actually reality?
Recommendation - Read this on a cold winter's night, right before bedtime, then you may dream about the rabbits with the glowing red eyes... or will it be a dream..?
