Persistence of Vision Book Tour: Guest Post by Liesel Hill

My Path to Writing

Hello Everyone and thanks for dropping by! I would like to thank our friendly neighborhood Bibliophile for hosting me here today! I’m so glad to be here!

Books have always been a large part of my life. When I was a kid, I would lie on my mom’s bed with her for hours while she read to me. We did that every single day! One of my earliest memories is of my dad, sitting with his back against the door frame of my room and telling us The Lord of the Rings stories. He didn’t recite them verbatim or anything, but he’d read them enough to know the plots by heart. I was three or four years old at the time. At that age I was falling asleep to stories of Frodo and the Ring.

When I was in the fifth grade, my teacher told my mom that my vocabulary was good enough to write a book. I didn’t write a book at that age, but I thought about doing it all the time after that.

I often wrote stories in my spare time, though I was generally too afraid to let people read them. I got more chances to write in junior high and high school, and though I was pretty good at it, I didn’t think of pursuing it seriously as a career. I always thought I’d go into health science.

When I got to college, I started taking science classes, and my GPA promptly dropped. I was miserable and hated my courses. Eventually I realized science, though still fascinating to me, was not my path. At that point, I felt lost for a while, not sure what to do with myself. Then it occurred to me that I should put all my energy into my dreams of writing novels on the side.

Once I did, my whole life changed. I suddenly loved my classes (English and writing, now) and couldn’t wait to get to work on things. There are many professions out there that are considered callings by those that follow them. Things like police work or philanthropic work. For me, writing was the same way. And trust me, when it calls to you, there’s simply no denying it. ;D

"A flash of purple light.  A rock formation.  Brown boots walking across a room at eye level.  Two large hands covering hers.  A woman standing in front of a broken lighthouse.  Blood on her hands.  A whisper of a voice.

"These are the images that haunt Maggie. One afternoon a year ago, Maggie blacked out inexplicably. now a man with a spider's web tattooed on his eye has attacked her in her home. Things only get more confusing when Marcus, a man she vaguely remembers from her black out, show sup to take her away.

"Marcus is from the future and is a member of the Brain Chemistry Optimists (BCO). And so is Maggie. Her black out was actually a year's worth of time she spent in the future, fighting against collectives—people who have linked their minds together and given up individuality. The collectives are working to bring down the few individuals left, and Maggie learns that she is supposed to play a crucial role in these efforts.

"The members of the BCO explain that in battle, her brain was attacked, and she lost all of her memories of her time in the future. All she has left are flashes, afterimages, Persistence of Vision. Now she must relearn everything about this different world, harness mental powers beyond anyone's imagining, and navigate what was once a romance with Marcus. On top of all of that, she begins unraveling the mystery of her lost memory. However, for every answer she finds, it seems that another, more complicated questions arises. Will she be able to remember enough to help the BCO?"

Author Links:

Website: Interchron.tateauthor.com
Blog: musingsonfantasia.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/interchronseries or facebook.com/lieselkhill
Twitter: twitter.com/lkhillbooks 
Pinterest: pinterest.com/lkhillbooks
Goodreads Author Page: goodreads.com/lieselkhill
Goodreads Book Page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15982000-persistence-of-vision

Stayed tuned for my review of Persistence of Vision!

Book Tour -- It Takes a Witch

Title: It Takes a Witch
Author: Heather Blake
Genre: Paranormal romance
Pages: ARC uncorrected proof, 299
Published: Jan. 3, 2012
Opening Lines: "Usually I'm not in the habit of tiptoeing through strange houses under the cover of darkness."

"Darcy Merriweather and her sister, Harper, hail from a long line of witches who have the power to grant wishes using spells. They've come to Enchanted Village in Salem, Massachusetts, to join the family business . . .

"Until three weeks ago, Darcy and Harper were working dead-end jobs and trying to put their troubles behind them. Then their aunt Velma delivered a bombshell: They're actually Wishcrafters -- witches with the power to grant wishes with a mere spell. Wanting a fresh start, they head to their aunt's magic-themed tourist town to master their newfound skills.

"But their magic fails them when a wannabe witch turns up dead -- strangled with Aunt Velma's scarf -- and Ve's sweetheart, Sylar, is found looming over the body. Ve is standing by her man, but Darcy overheard Sylar wish that the victim would disappear --- forever. With Harper distracted by her handsome new crush, Darcy is determined to sleuth her way to the truth. But it'll take more than a wish to unravel this mystery."

~Jacket copy

Thoughts: I was so excited to receive this book in the mail! The "Uncorrected Proofs" got me extremely excited! It made me feel like I was finally coming into my own as a book blogger! I really, really, really wanted to like this book, especially with the nice note left by the author. Unfortunately, I could not convince myself.

Where do I start? When I started reading this book, my husband asked what I thought of it. I told him that it was obvious it was the author's first book. It needed a lot of work. The author, while having an interesting story idea, needed to mature into her craft. After that, I found out the author has written several books. Oh wow . . .

First of all, I found Darcy and Harper's last name to be way too cliche. I could see it as a cute touch to a first time author, but it really annoyed me. Also, when a pickpocket was mentioned at the village meeting, Darcy was quick to jump to the conclusion that her sister was responsible. However, the audience is told that Harper only did crimes related to activism. That being the case, why does Darcy automatically assume her sister is stealing money from tourists? And that brings up the Enchanted Village . . . I cannot put my finger on it, but it felt too contrived.

The residents and business owners in the Enchanted Village are concerned about the pickpocket and the fact that it was driving tourists away. However, the murder had no effect on them. Does this seem weird? In addition, the residents didn't seem to be phased by the fact that someone was strangled behind the local bookstore. It was more of a novelty and something to titter about around the green. To a point I can see the gossip, but the author pushed it to an unbelievable point.

Multiple times Darcy and other people break into the victim's house/place of business. On the first occasion, it was to stop a thief. Unfortunately, the thief disappears into thin air, which leaves Darcy and her accomplice on the scene of a crime. Does this strike the cops as weird . . .? And, if this isn't enough, Darcy constantly tells the audience that she frowns upon breaking laws; however, since it was fine to break in once, she breaks in AGAIN!

Almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger. The following chapter picks up sometime after the cliffhanger and barely comes back to it. While I understand a few cliffhangers, constantly doing it is a sign of an immature writer. It felt as though she was doing it in an effort to keep the readers reading.

And, to add insult of injury, the characters in the book honestly believe that an allergic reaction is CONTAGIOUS!

There are many more issues I had with the book, but going into all of them would be overkill. To distill it down, I really did not enjoy this book. The idea was a creative one; however, it was not implemented properly. Normally, I would have given the author a lot of grace if this was her first book. It can take awhile for an author to mature into their craft. However, since she has many books out, there is no excuse. I'm sorry to give a low rating. The only thing that kept this book from getting one skull was the fact that I was curious who murdered Alex.


Rating:

Take a look at the other tour stops: http://crazybooktours.blogspot.com/2011/12/january-tour-it-takes-witch-by-heather.html

Book Tour -- Jane Was Here

Title: Jane Was Here
Author: Sarah Kernochan
Genre: Mystery, horror
Pages: Hardback, 396
Published: 2011
Opening Lines: "The night is pale, humid, with a few begrimed clouds. The moon has hung around so long it's ignored, unremarkable as a thumb-tack."

"A mysterious young woman calling herself Jane turns up in a small New England town. She claims a fragmentary memory of growing up in this place, yet she has never been here before in her life. Upon her arrival, strange and alarming things begin happening to some of the town's inhabitants. As Jane's memories reawaken piece by piece, they carry her back to a long-buried secret, while the townspeople hurtle forward to a horrific event when past and present fatally collide."

~ Jacket copy

Thoughts: Jane Was Here is definitely the kind of book I would normally pick up when it is sitting on the shelf. It was not a stretch that I literally jumped on the opportunity to be part of a book tour for this book. According to the jacket copy, it has all the elements of a good mystery, and the cover is a good draw with bones!

The book follows the path of several different characters: Marly, the town "whore"; Hoyt, who I might call the town screw up and barfly/alcoholic; Brett, a man caught up in Jane; Collin, a boy desperately wanting to connect with his father; Jane; and, to a lesser extent,Gita. One way or the other, all of these characters get wrapped up in Jane and her story. From the title, it might seem that Jane is the main character; however, I would argue that, at some level, all of these people are a corner stone for the story. Okay, let me rephrase that, Collin and Gita help move the plot forward and are catalysts for several things in the book. While their story is connected to Jane, they are not as wrapped up in her as the other characters. It is hard to explain without spoiling the books, and spoiling it would do a disservice to the book!

The major victory of this book are the characters. Even though they are all connected to Jane's story, I felt that each character was fleshed out and given enough time in the book. I felt connected to all of the them. The author provides enough background to each character to make them more sympathetic; however, she does not spend a lavish amount of time plotting out their full histories. She sets the stage beautifully and gives the audience just enough to paint their own picture of the characters. To me, it was the same with her scenery. It was there, fleshed out, but it didn't take over the book.

The book presented a growing sense of exigency. The plot continued to move forward, and the audience can feel Jane's anxiety about finding her true identity.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was hard getting anything done, because I could not put this book down. The book presented a growing sense of creepiness, which was a nice bonus! If you're interested in a good mystery, I highly recommend this book. It is a page turner.

Rating:

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About the Author

Sarah Kernochan received early acclaim for her Academy Award winning documentary Marjoe. She then recorded two albums for RCA as a singer-songwriter. In 1977, her first novel Dry Hustle was published. Returning to film, she scripted the the film Nine and ½ Weeks, Impromptu, Sommersby, What Lies Beneath and All I Wanna Do, which she also directed. She received a second Academy Award in 2002 for her short documentary Thoth. 2010 brought the re-issue of Dry Hustle as an ebook, and a third album of songs. 2011 brings us to Jane Was Here; Sarah’s first love and teenage ambition – a novel about reincarnation.

Check out the tour stops: http://crazybooktours.blogspot.com/2011/09/novdec-tour-jane-was-here-by-sarah.html

Book Tour -- The Lady of the Rivers

Title: The Lady of the Rivers
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: Hardback, 439
Published: 2011
Opening Lines: "She sits, this odd trophy of war, as neat as an obedient child, on a small stool in the corner of her cell. At her feet are the remains of her dinner on a pewter platter, laid on the straw."

"Descended from Melusina, the river goddess, Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card and the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death at the hands of the English rulers of France. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream.

"Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke's squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke's death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.

"The Woodvilles soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of Engliand and the danger of royal rivals. Not even their courage and loyalty can keep the House of Lancaster on the throne. Henry the king slides into a mysterious sleep; Margaret the queen turns to untrustworthy favorites for help; and Richard, Duke of York, threatens to overturn the whole kingdom for his rival dynasty.

"Jacquetta fights for her king, her queen, and for her daughter Elizabeth for whom Jacquetta can sense an extraordinary and unexpected future: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York."

~ Jacket copy

Thoughts: Wow! What else can I say? I've wanted to read Philippa Gregory for years, but never got around to picking up her books at the local bookstore or library. When I saw the book tour for this book come around, I was quick to jump at the opportunity. And, honestly, I am extremely happy that I did!

This book takes place over the years 1430 - 1464. It follows the major part of Jacquetta of Luxembourg the Dowager Duchess of Bedford and the Lady of Rivers. After living with and befriending Joan of Arc before her death at the hands of the English, the young woman is married to the widowed John Duke of Bedford. Wanting to secure the French lands for his young nephew, Henry VI the King of England, he marries Jacquetta to gain use of her talents as the descendant of Melusina. After his untimely death, the book follows Jacquetta through her secret marriage to John's squire, Richard of Woodville, and the beginning of the War of the Roses.

I read a view reviews on Goodreads that express concern over Gregory's continual use of titles. While I agree that Jacquetta and the queen might not always use titles when conversing together, I found that I appreciated the author continuing to tell the audience the titles. With several royals in England -- and France -- sharing names, I could see myself getting confused.

Since this is the first book I've read by Gregory, I don't have anything else to compare this to. That being said, I really enjoyed this book! It was extremely engaging. The passing of time did not get boggy, and I felt the pacing and flow stayed consistence through the book. Even though they were minor in comparison to Jacquetta, the over characters in the book felt as richly fleshed out as Jacquetta herself.

When I was still in school, I seriously pursued getting at grad degree in Medieval Studies. But, after reading this book, I am ashamed to say that I don't know much about the War of Roses. Considering that this was the war that put the Tudors on the throne, it is really sad that I don't know much about it. However, after reading this book, I am very interested in learning more. In addition, the previous books in this series has made their way onto my wishlist!

Rating:
For: Crazy Book Tours
Tour Info: The list of tour stops

Book Tour -- Children of Paranoia

Title: Children of Paranoia
Author: Trevor Shane
Genre: Dystopian fiction
Pages: Hardback, 371
Published: 2011
Opening Lines: "Dear Maria,
"I doubt you expected this journal to amount to much when you gave it to me, but here it is."

"Since the age of eighteen, Joseph has been assassinating people on behalf of a cause that he believes in but doesn't fully understand. The War is ageless, hidden in the shadows, governed by a rigid set of rules, and fought bt two distinct sides -- one good, one evil. The only unknown is which side is which. Soldiers in the War hide in plain sight, their deeds disguised as accidents or random acts of violence amid an unsuspecting population ignorant of the brutality that is always inches away.

"Killing people is the only life Joseph has ever known, and he's one of the best at it. But when a job goes wrong, and he's sent away to complete a punishingly dangerous assignment, Joseph meets a girl named Marie, and for the first time in his life, his single-minded, bloody purpose fades away.

"Before Maria, Joseph's only responsibility was dealing death to the anonymous targets fingered by his superiors. Now he must run from the people who have fought by his side to save what he loves the most in the world. As Children of Paranoia reaches its heart-in-throat climax, Joseph will learn that only one rule remains immutable: The only thing more dangerous than fighting the War . . . is leaving it."

~Jacket copy

Thoughts: I've read a lot of reviews about this book before I got it in the mail for the book tour, and I was extremely excited to read it. The premise really caught my attention, and I'm a sucker for dystopic novels. Once I started reading the book, however, everything just changed. I had an exceptionally hard time getting into it. Honestly, I dug my heels in and forced myself not to pick up another book because I had to read this for a book tour.

When I read the info about the book, I did not expect it to be a journal. In some ways, I was a little taken aback. It is an interesting concept. However, after several pages when the main character addresses the person he's writing it for, it really breaks the story. To me, even though it was hard to get into the story, it just brought everything to a shuddering halt. I felt as though I had hit a brick wall.

In books, it is nice to have a far amount of detail to set the stage for the reader. It allows the audience to fully immerse themselves into the world of the book and form a connection with the characters. While I felt that, in some cases, the author did a good job of doing this, overall I felt the huge blocks of text for pages on end was daunting. I found myself reading through it quickly just to get to sections where Joe was interacting with other people. If the author wanted the reader to feel isolated in an attempt to form some sort of sympathetic bond with Joe, then he did a good job. However, after awhile, I just felt bogged down and bored.

I loved the relationship with Maria. Near the beginning of the book, Joe is already starting to question what he truly believes, and I feel that Maria made him finally answer those questions for himself. While Jared's answers give a philosophical answer, they were still steering him in a desired direction. Maria forced Joe to start opening his eyes and really think about things. Also, his conversations with Dan helped as well.

I hated the ending of this book. Hated it. However, I completely understand why the book ended this way, considering that it is in a series. That being said, it should have ended on page 347. I'm not always the sappy-ending lover, but I really, really desired it in this book. To me, it was beautiful and well written. Plus, I'm not sure if I like Maria's voice.

After giving the book a day to stew in my mind, I still have mixed feelings. I'm not sure what I think about it. There are parts I loved and parts I hated. Parts of the book worked really, really well, but there were others that just fell flat. I still think the concept is interesting. At this point, I'm waiting to see what the other books are like. This is a first book in a number of ways -- for the author, in the series, etc.

Rating: ☆ ☆
Currently: Children of Paranoia by Trevor Shane
Current Pages: 21168
Current Progress:

59/50 books

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Note: I asked the author several questions concerning dysptoic fiction and the rise thereof for his guest post; however, the following post is how he chose to answer.

Sinnful Books Guest Post

There’s a scene in Children of Paranoia about homing pigeons. The main character is being chased from his home in New Jersey and is driving his car through the Delaware Water Gap. He feels safe for a few moments and starts to think back to when he was a little kid and he spent at the Delaware Water Gap with his grandfather. He and his grandfather used to drive down to the Water Gap to release his grandfhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifather’s homing pigeons. Then they’d drive home, stopping on the way for big breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs. During those five or so pages, Joseph, Children of Paranoia’s protagonist, is me. When I was a kid, my grandfather and I used to drive down to the Delaware Water Gap to release his homing pigeons before heading back to his house to track their return. As I watched those pigeons return to their wire coop, I always wondered why they came back.

When you publish a novel, especially one like Children of Paranoia that is centered around a big, unique idea (in Children of Paranoia’s case, a secret war that has been raging in the shadows of society for hundreds of years), people always ask you what inspired you. Readers want to know where you got this crazy idea. For Children of Paranoia, the first chapter, where the protagonist follows a woman he doesn’t know home from her job and strangles her in front of her house, really did hit me like a bolt of lightening as I was walking down the street. The idea of the secret war and the war’s rules (which have been a big part of the Children of Paranoia marketing campaign) shortly followed. As a writer, what I think is equally as interesting as the big inspiration for the books that I read, is what inspired the details.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a writer but I believed that I needed some life experience to write about first. So, I had a dream of becoming a carpenter (like Jesus or a pre-fame Harrison Ford) and, like Jesus or Harrison Ford, moving on to a different career once I absorbed what carpentry had to teach me. The summer after my freshman year of college, I got a job working for a builder, helping him to build a new house on top of an old foundation. It was grueling work, the hardest job I’ve ever had. I was always tired and my forearms were constantly sore from hammering. To the annoyance of my boss, I looked at everything that I learned in that job as some sort of grand metaphor. A good example is when I was taught to use the circular saw. My boss taught me that you always have to the width of the blade of the saw into account or you’ll cut the piece of wood too short. That’s because you lose the width of the saw blade whenever you saw a piece of wood. I always assumed this had some sort of grand metaphorical meaning (even if I’m not sure what it is). All of this made it into Children of Paranoia in one form or another.

I had lunch with a friend of mine today. He’s an attorney and a Buddhist and wanted to take me out to lunch because he had finished reading Children of Paranoia and had some questions. One of his questions was, “Are you Joe?” (Children of Paranoia’s protagonist). The answer I gave him was “sometimes” like when Joe is thinking about racing pigeons with his grandfather or working as a carpenter’s assistant “but not others.” The fact is that, as an author, you can never completely write yourself into your work because every character has to be a little bit of you or they will end up being totally flat characters. If you use up all of you on one character, there won’t be anything else to give to the other characters.

The goal I had when writing Children of Paranoia was to write a conceptual, thrilling novel which eschewed the idea of the self-acknowledging bad guy (did anybody in the old west actually where a black hat or were the all simply brown?) The secrecy of the war and the rules (Rule #1 - No killing innocent bystanders; Rule #2 - No killing anyone under the age of 18; etc.) grew out of this goal. The details, however, which come to all of us every single day, are what make the story come to life.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.childrenofparanoia.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/childofparanoia
Trevor Shane on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trevor-Shane/150972244938983
Children of Paranoia on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=151640338211999
Read an Excerpt: http://www.childrenofparanoia.com/excerpt.html

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Children of Paranoia Book Tour

10/11/2011 - Kristin @ Kritters Ramblings - http://www.krittersramblings.com	10/12/2011 - Lauren @ Ravishing Reads - http://ravishingreads.blogspot.com
10/13/2011 - Maggie @ My Utopia - http://myutopia36.blogspot.com/	10/14/2011 - Laurie @ Reader Girls - http://readergirls.blogspot.com
10/16/2011 - Christa @ Mental Foodie - http://mentalfoodie.blogspot.com	10/17/2011 - Gwenyth Love @ Rants~N~Scribbles - http://rantsnscribbles.blogspot.com
10/18/2011 - Sinn @ Sinnful Books - http://sinnfulbooks.blogspot.com	10/19/2011 - Meg @ A Bookish Affair - http://abookishaffair.blogspot.com/
10/20/2011 - Louise @ Between the Covers - http://www.betweenthecoversblog.net/	10/21/2011 - Christie @ The Fiction Enthusiast - http://thefictionenthusiast.blogspot.com/
10/22/2011 - Heather @ Proud Book Nerd - http://proudbooknerd.com/	10/23/2011 - Julie @ Book Hooked - http://www.bookhookedblog.com
10/24/2011 - Stacy @ Girls in the Stacks - http://www.girlsinthestacks.com	10/25/2011 - Nicole @ All I Ever Read - http://books.nicoleabouttown.com

Business and Book Review

Book 3 is ready to review. However, before that, there is some business that needs to be addressed.

Last night, I was approached by Tami Jackson to join her book tour! The book is called Ravena & the Resurrected. On February 28th, Ms. Jackson will visit this lovely blog and answer some questions. It would be awesome if you book junkies would stop by and show her support!

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Title: Fear Nothing
Author: Dean Koontz
Genre Horror/thriller
Pages: Hardback, 391
Published: 1998
First Lines: "On the desk in my candlelit study, the telephone rang, and I knew that a terrible change was coming."

"Christopher Snow is different from all the other residents of Moonlight Bay, different from anyone you've ever met. For Christopher Snow has made his peace with a very rare genetic disorder shared by only one thousand other Americans, a disorder that leaves him dangerously vulnerable to light. His life is filled with the fascinating rituals of one who must embrace the dark. He knows the night as no one else ever will, ever can -- the mystery, the beauty, the many terrors, and the eerie, silken rhythms of the night -- for it is only at night that he is free.

"Until the night he witnessed a series of disturbing incidents that sweep him into a violent mystery only he can solve, a mystery that will force him to rise above all fears and confront the many-layered strangeness of Moonlight Bay and its residents."

Jacket copy

Thoughts (will contain SPOILERS): This book follows one adventurous night with Christopher Snow. He lives with a rare disorder called xeroderma pigmentosum, which keeps him out of the sunlight. He spends his time riding around Moonlight Bay on his bicycle with his trusted dog, Orson. This night, the night of his father's death, is different than anything he has ever dreamed. This night will change his life.

Focusing on a main character that has a disability that keeps him inside during the day time is a really interesting concept. Having access to the nightlife, gives the readers' a unique invitation to the world of the unseen and sinister.

Throughout the novel, Koontz alludes to the fact that Orson is not your typical dog. He appears to understand Chris and show other signs of above average intelligence. Near the end of the book, one of the characters suggests that Orson may not be your average dog. In fact, he is part of a secret government research project. Koontz even addresses the Francis Project from the Watchers. Did Koontz want to revisit and explore this subject in more depth?

As in Watchers and, later, in the Prodigal Son series, Koontz once again tries to bring Frankenstein and Creature back to the table. As a way to correct Chris' disorder, his mother uses government contracts to do genetic research. They swap DNA from animals and people and mix it with a diluted virus to carry it into the subject. In other words, they make a retrovirus. This retrovirus completely changes the composition of the carriers. Through the animal testing, they created this group of rhesus monkeys called the Troop. They are evil and violent. Their main goal is to destroy anyone and anything they associate with their creation. In addition, court-matrialed soldiers are also injected with the retrovirus.

Koontz then extends this Frankenstein theme by looking into birth defects. Since this genetic testing was originally started to reverse Chris' XP, many of the people involved believe that it might be able to reverse or correct other issues.

His fierce pride in Toby's exhibition of this new verbal skill was so touching and so deeply sad that I could not look at him.
"In spite of all that he didn't have, he was always happy," I said of Toby. "He found a purpose, fulfillment. Now what if they can take him far enough that he's dissatisfied with what he is . . . but then they can't take him all the way to normal?"
"They will," Manuel said with a measure of conviction for which there could be no justification. "They will."
"The same people who've created this nightmare?"

pg 341

Is it worth it? How far is too far? Koontz posits these questions, but doesn't pass judgment. The questions are meant to make us think. And, I feel, that Koontz maybe a very powerful argument either way.

I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down! At points during the book, I felt really creeped out and paranoid. The scene inside the nurse's house was almost too much! I still stand by the fact that porcelain dolls are creepy and evil!

Rating: 5/5
Currently Reading: Ravena & the Resurrected by Tami Jackson and Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey
Horro/Urban Fantasy Challenge: 3/24
Current Progress:

3/50 books

Pages Read: 1364