Customer Reviews

The Burning of Rachel Hayes

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Veterinarian Dr. David Westbrook relocates to Algoma, Michigan after two years in prison for hitting a cop. David had been drinking away his sorrows over the death of his beloved child to Leukemia and ultimately his marriage when he lost it. Now he plans to start over in this remote northern community.

David hears a woman screaming for help;. He drives until he finds Brenda, whose eight year old son fell into a well. David convinces the much bigger and stronger Brenda to let him climb down while she anchors the tent nylon that he will use and eventually pull them up. He rescues Bobby, but saw a corpse in the well.

The official excavation at the well digs up the remains of a trapper and the fused skeletons of Rachel Hayes and her dog, who died in the Great Fire of 1871. Death and fire soon stalk David with the local sheriff suspecting him of every crime since the JFK assassination. David makes inquiries into Rachel's death as unexplained happenings seem to surround him including falling in love with an older woman.

Though David is a terrific center holding the mystery together, the women make this a . Besides the gender bender well rescue that shows how non-sexist the hero is, his relationships with a feisty reporter, the older Yvonne, and perhaps Rachel provide realism in a paranormal scenario. David ponders whether Rachel guides him so that history does not repeat itself with avarice destroying the land. Readers will enjoy this fabulous tale unless they are CEOs of the timber/development industries or employees of the misnamed EPA.

Harriet Klausner

Not a typical ghost story, but one filled with strong, diverse and interesting characters, both human and animal. I found myself caught up in the story. Parts of it stayed with me long after finishing the book. There are animals harmed in this book, but it was relevant to the plot. I've already ordered another of Mr. Allyn's books, which is as good a recommendation as is.

Dr. David Westbrook has just moved to a small town in Michigan. While Westbrook is beginning to remodel the barn that he will turn into an animal clinic, he hears a cry for help. Flinging the paint can away from him (accidently), Westbrook rushes about ten miles over to where he spots a woman digging frantically into the dirt. Her boy has fallen down a hole in the ground (Westbrook is not first sure if it is a sinkhole or a well). While rescuing the boy, Westbrook spots a skeleton. The authorities rush to the scene (Westbrook had called 911 prior to attempting the rescue, the boy was in freezing water and he figured he couldn't wait for the official rescue squad), and Westbrook makes note of the skeleton. The skeleton is brought up, and then strange occurrences begin.

This is the first book I've read by Allyn (who also writes under the name Kenneth Shepherd), though I've read many of his short stories and consider him to be one of the best short stories writers around. Unfortunately, Allyn's seven novels are hard to find, and I've previously only found the second novel in the Michelle Mitchell series (and that's a character I don't recall ever meeting in short story form; I've been trying to find the first book in that series before I begin it). Allyn is a very good writer, and one who I would tell to give up his day job (he is a member of a music group, which I, probably incorrectly, assume is his "day job" (the author information says a rock band, Devil's Triangle Rock Group - Co-Leader, singer/guitarist; though I thought that he also did Renaissance music)). It is hard to tell by just reading one of his novels, but it would appear that Allyn is very good in any length, and the music might be holding him back (though I know almost nothing about him, except for the music, the years in the USAF, the work as a book reviewer).

This is the first novel in the Dr. David Westbrook series, though there was a collection of stories titled "All Creatures Dark and Dangerous" released in 1999. While I really enjoy Allyn's short stories, the Westbrook character, and his stories, were not the ones that I particularly liked. I picked up the book because I really like Allyn's work (and they seem to go out of print quickly), but left the book lying around for a while, as I couldn't get myself to read a Westbrook novel. I'm very glad that I finally read this book, as it is very well crafted, the characters are fully developed, the plot is solid (it would probably be better to read the book without too much advance information), and for the most part, this is a very well-written book. The genre issue, though, might be a problem. Is this a mystery? A slice of life novel? A ghost story? This is a very good combination of many genre's (including more than just the three mentioned), but might not satisfy someone looking for one particular type of book (as opposed to a combo book). In the end, I would give this book 4.44 stars.

- Michael S. Briggs -

This is one book that I should imagine NO ONE
can put down. It's fast action, several plot lines
to keep straight, a bit of history of my home state
of Michigan, and all in all a FANTASTIC read! I
would recommend this to anyone who loves a love
story, a mystery, and has a love for animals,
specifically RESCUED greyhounds!

This is a well-written book. Up to the end, I was quite intrigued & considered it a 5-star. But, there's lots of violence, the mystery solution wasn't really possible for the reader to figure out (though some of the connections among the people seemed obvious to the reader--though not to the characters in the story), & there seemed to be something missing. I'm not sure if it's only the romantic relationships or the final financial relationships--but something seems lacking to me, & the fast-forward ending portions left something to be desired IMHO. In any case, if you're after a well-told, unusual story with lots of action, you'll probably like this book. The author does provide some interesting, collectible quotes: p. 80: I've spent enough time in therapy to qualify for an honorary degree. p. 144: Jokes can be as true as textbooks. & p. 354: Maybe that's the ultimate revenge. Indifference.

The take-no-prisoners style of Doug Allyn has returned in a tight, waste no words novel set in Michigan and drawing heavily on Michigan history and geography. It's far from dull though - I don't think Allyn is capable of being dull - and the geography lesson is nicely incorporated when the central character, Dr. David Westbrook, hears a cry, and upon invesigating finds an hysterical mother whose child has fallen down a long abandoned and neglected well. The resulting resuce sequence is practically a primer on how to write action - the overlay of emotion is almost a bonus. Think Nevada Barr on steroids. The plot centers around the doubt the authorities have when dealing with David - he is a recently released prisoner, as well as a veternarian - and his growing ties to the community in the form of both his landlady and a local newspaper reporter who is writing about Rachel Hayes, whose skeleton was discovered in the abandoned well after the rescue, and whose land David is renting. Her spirit haunts the book, but in a very low key (though sometimes creepy) way. Don't read this book if you are expecting Allyn to shield you form any kind of violence that, based on well built characters in his part, becomes all the more disturbing. This is not the work of a sentimental author - regardless of the fact that the book made me cry - but rather the work of a writer who can tell an interesting and compelling story in a straightforward manner.

Having admired many of Allyn's short stories, I found this novel disappointing. Allyn never decides whether he's writing a mystery or a supernatural/ghost thriller, and the two don't really work together here. His style seems tentative, too. It slides back and forth between artificial-sounding profanity and an almost prim, slightly wooden narration. Westbrook is a veterinarian, but the violence toward animals in the book felt gratuitous and kept my wife--also an Allyn fan--from reading it when I mentioned it to her (at least one book on writing that I have read cites cruelty to animals as a taboo). Allyn juggles two possible romantic subplots rather clumsily and arbitrarily decides that a character with little stage time is emotionally important. I also found the hired thug cartoonish and the "solution/final discovery" far from persuasive. All in all, this feels like it's still a work in progress, several steps below any other Allyn work I've read.