Tuesday 7 October 2014

Review ~ Black's Creek by Sam Millar

22842469
Brandon Books
An imprint of O'Brien
2014
A powerful and atmospheric coming of age story....


A trio of young boys, skinny dipping in Jackson’s Lake in upstate New York, witness a tragic  event which has a devastating effect, not just on the boys, but also on the rest of the small community of Black’s Creek. As the novel gets underway, the tone is dark and brooding, and you soon begin to realise that there are dangerous secrets to be uncovered, and as the insidious feeling of menace creeps ever deeper, the threat of danger soon gets right under your skin and enters into your bones.

Beautifully atmospheric, the unfolding story is hauntingly realistic and the sparseness of the narrative only emphasises the stark reality of the story. The writing is imaginative and well conceived; the author captures perfectly the brooding nature of small town America, a place where resentment lingers and long held grudges are allowed to fester and grow.

I read the book quickly. It very soon becomes a compelling page turner and the need to know just how the story would eventually be played out kept me turning the pages long into the night. This is the first book of Sam Millar’s that I have read and whilst I'm not sure that this dark and brooding gothic noir is to my taste, I can’t deny that his legions of fans will love it.

And just to be absolutely sure ~ this is a stand-alone novel and not part of Millar’s best selling Kane Series.



My thanks to Real Readers and O’Brien for my review copy of this book.




Sam Millar

2 comments:

  1. I like the sound of this one & have added it to my wishlist :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Samantha , thanks for visiting. I hope you get to read Black's Creek soon.

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