Everyone by now knows how I feel about books that switch from one character and apparently different storyline to another. Back and forth, back and forth without one connecting thread until I want to SCREAM with frustration. It is a quirk of mine, and I can't seem to give the authors (and editors) a break when they use this gambit. It does NOT make the story more interesting and creates unnecessary tension, in my opinion. My old, feeble brain can't seem to make the connections between the dots that are so far apart they have no relationship. And please, don't tell me on the outside back cover what I won't find until the last half of the book. That is so totally unfair!
However, let me see if I can give it a fair shot...
Scream is an excellently written novel by Mike Dellosso with a great deal of suspense. I cannot imagine what it would be like to hear screams from Hell just before my best friend died. It would be mind numbing. Dellosso does a great job describing this and drawing you into a most satisfying mystery until you are jerked away into another, completely different mystery into the mind of a kidnapper and apparent serial killer.
Dellosso also does a very good job getting inside the head of an unfaithful husband who no longer believes God. The characters are very well developed, but you do not have an immediate sense of who the protagonist actually is because you slip inside the heads of a lot of characters right up front. That doesn't help the reader to latch onto, or begin to actually care about a particular person immediately. You really don't want to waste some emotion on someone who ends up dead within a few pages. That makes you draw back from the characters somewhat. But, don't. It is well worth it to the last page because the investment you make in Mark Stone (the guy who hears the screams from Hell) is a worthy character.
Unless you are a person who reads the last page of a novel, don't read that outside back cover. Well, if you do, please note the name Mark Stone. That's the guy that you'll need to develop an emotional attachment to in order to keep from getting dizzy the first half of the book. But, it does, even though you have strong doubts, have a happy ending.
This novel is not for the fainthearted. It has some heart-stopping pages that will keep you up at night. Happy reading...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mike now lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jen, and their three daughters. He writes a monthly column for Writer . . .Interrupted.He was a newspaper correspondent/columnist for over three years and has published several articles for The Candle of Prayer inspirational booklets. Mike also has edited and contributed to numerous Christian-themed Web sites and e-newsletters.
Mike is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, the Relief Writer's Network, and International Thriller Writers. He received his BA degree in sports exercise and medicine from Messiah College and his MBS degree in theology from Master's Graduate School of Divinity.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Otherworldly Screams...
A Madman on the Loose...
This Time the Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
While talking to his friend on the phone, Mark Stone is startled by a cacophony of otherworldly screams. Seconds later, a tragic accident claims his friend's life. When this happens several more times--screams followed by an untimely death--he is compelled to act.
Battling his failure as a husband and struggling with his own damaged faith, Mark embarks on a mission to find the meaning behind the screams and hopefully stop death from calling on its next victim. When his estranged wife is kidnapped and he again hears the screams as she calls from her cell phone, his search becomes much more personal and much more urgent.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Scream, go HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment