CATHERINE CHANT - MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEWS
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Catherine Chant is an award-winning writer from New England. In addition to serving as the FMAM webmaster and book review coordinator, Catherine is an editor at Chippewa Publishing LLC. She is also a PRO member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and an active member of the From the Heart Romance Writers (FTHRW) chapter and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She is currently working on a young adult time travel romance. She can be reached at webmaster@fmam.biz. |
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November 2006
THE
HARROWING
Alexandra Sokoloff
St. Martins, September 2006
Isbn-13: 978-0-312-35748-1
Isbn-10: 0-312-35748-6
Robin Stone and four other college students at Baird's College who are
not going home for the Thanksgiving holiday find each other in the darkened
lounge at Mendenhall, the converted frat house that now serves as a co-ed
residence hall at this New England school. Robin the suicidal daughter
of a mentally ill mother and absent father, Patrick the sports star who
hates football, Martin the atheistic son of a rabbi, Lisa the LA party
girl, and Cain the tortured musician each have their own dark reasons
for wanting to avoid their families and reluctantly gravitate toward one
another like kindred spirits.
When a nor'easter blows through that first evening, killing the electricity,
they congregate in the lounge and throw themselves a little party that
culminates in toying with a Ouiji board Lisa finds in the game cabinet.
No one takes the 'séance' seriously, but Robin starts to sense
another presence in the room. Robin and Lisa use the planchette, each
believing the other is moving it to the letters that spell out Zachary
Prince-the name of a student killed in a fire at Mendenhall in 1920-and
other uncannily accurate responses to their questions. When board's comments
turn angry and anti-semitic, Martin takes a keen interest and Robin senses
he knows more about what's going on than he's telling them.
As the weekend progresses, the five continue their fascination with the
Ouiji board, still resistant to believe it is real, but drawn to continue
talking to Zachary all the same. When school resumes the following week
and strange things continue to happen that strengthen Robin's belief that
Zachary is real, the gravity of what they've started begins to come clear.
I don't want to give too much more of the plot away, because half the
fun of this book is discovering what will happening next. The ancient
mysteries, dark secrets, and gothic atmosphere will draw you in. THE HARROWING
kept me turning the pages late into the night. Every time I put the book
down to do something vital (like sleep), I couldn't wait to get back to
it.
THE HARROWING is a good example of a YA/Adult crossover novel where the
characters are college students, dealing with young adult problems and
emotions, but the story also contains an intriguing mystery plot that
appeals to an adult audience.
The one weakness I saw (and this may be due to my own personal preference
for tight point-of-view (POV) ) was in the climax scene. In the fervor
of the events, the POVs started overlapping one another at an alarming
rate because so much was happening in different locations, which made
it impossible for one POV character to capture it all. But this made it
a little difficult at times to know through whose eyes I was experiencing
the scene when two or more characters came together. It was almost like
a screenplay at that point instead of a novel.
But, the suspense of finding out what was happening pulled me through
that rough bit, and I found the book overall a very satisfying read.
I'm looking forward to the author's next book with enthusiasm.
4 stars--don't miss this one!
Catherine Chant
Catherine's Archived Reviews
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