Customer Reviews

Cross County (Discoveries)

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

 

 

I love the writing's style of Tim Waggoner and how he can twist his stories. I never been disappointed with his work and I will buy anything from this author in the future.

This book is awesome. It is well written and the story is great. It is well balanced between crime and horror but I can understand that peoples looking only for a crime story may find it "hard" to believe.

A must read for any fan of "cthulhu mythos" story too.

Cross County is part mystery, part horror. It's the story of an investigation of possible serial killings eerily reminiscent of a long-dead serial killer by the name of Carl the Cutter. The recent killings bear his signature; a bolt of lightning in a triangle carved on the victims' flesh. Add to the mix a very powerful family, the Crosses, and their dark family secrets to interfere with investigating Sheriff Joanne Talon's repressed memories and you've got a complex whodunit.

This was my first Tim Waggoner book and although I found it tedious at times, it won't be my last. Waggoner has an engaging writing style and I'd love to read a straight horror or mystery book from him. The problem with Cross County is that it tries to be a mystery and it doesn't really work as such. Then it tries to be a horror novel and only half delivers on that end as well. It takes about a hundred pages to get going, too long for my taste. The whole isn't better than the sum of its parts. There are, however, really good parts in this book. And when it's good, it truly sucks you in. When you find out the identity of the killer and what follows makes for a good read and it got me hooked for the last third of the book. The characters had interesting background stories and I found myself growing more and more fond of Joanne as I went along, curious to find out what happened to her all those years ago. I also enjoyed the Lovecraftian undertones of the story.

Cross County is an ambitious book nonetheless, fascinating at times with its powerful family that seems above everything. It does have a few good twists but in the end, I found it too uneven and bumpy to fully enjoy it. I can't recommend it to hardcore horror fans but Tim Waggoner's readers will most likely enjoy this one and I'll be moving Tim's Darkness Wakes to the top of my TBR pile as this has whetted my appetite for it.

Alan Draven,
Author of Bitternest,
Editor of Sinister Landscapes

Cross County is a juxtaposition of horror and mystery, where a young boy's murder starts up an investigation for answers and it goes farther than anyone expected. The murder was done in a style that mimicked a previous serial killer from the county, but that man has been dead for years. Sheriff Talon, a woman, along with her local reporter friend try to find out who the killer is, while at the same time Mr. Cross (I can't remember his first name) has some paranormal skills and is also trying to find out who the killer is and is hiding all the evidence he can. Is it to save face for his family name? Whom the county is named after, and they are very rich. Or is he involved somehow?

The story seems like a mystery, then turns into supernatural, turns back into a standard mystery or crime novel, then heads back into supernatural horror: which turns out to be a lot of fun. The cross family history, the history of the serial killer, and the history of just about everyone involved in this book was very interesting, and Waggoner ties them all together and this little town at the and of the novel.

The way the novel ended was not what I was expecting, and there were plenty of surprises along the way. The book was believable even with some over-the-top supernatural scenes. I felt like I was in some little town in Ohio. I enjoyed this book a lot.

First, thank you Tim Waggoner and Wizard of the Coast Discoveries for letting me have the opportunity to do an Early Review.

Tim Waggoner's Cross County starts as a seemingly regular murder mystery/thriller, yet jumps quickly, and not very smoothly, to a horror story with supernatural overtones. While the writing is clumsy and long winded at times, the story is fast paced and the plot is good enough to keep the reader interested. With characters who are well conceptualized yet seem to lack some emotional base, the story seems like a made for television movie with over dramatic actors and a bad touch of melodrama. Yet, I truly enjoyed this book.
With that said, I fully enjoyed the darkness of the "bad guys," and the story as a whole. Waggoner's writing is descriptive and shows the reader the horror that the characters are feeling. The villains in this story were both known and not known to the reader, as the reader does not fully grasp the characters roles until late in the story. I liked this use of suspense and guess work that was left to the reader. The characters personalities unraveled as the story rolled on, giving one a good quick ride.
The main flaw was the transition from horror to thriller throughout the book. Instead of a smooth transition from one genre to the next we took a bumpy ride and skipped to each genre without looking at where we were headed. This took a lot away from the story as I tried to put together the missing parts of the map we were following.
Overall, the book was fun, and the fantasy horror aspects were well written for the most part. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a quick, and different read, and for fans of the dark and mystical. And one more thing, it sets up a sequel nicely.