The Devil's Churn [Paperback]

Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996

Fifty years after a young man dies in Devil's Churn, a tourist attraction that is credited with being the most evil place in the sea, the man returns, alive and well, and looking no older than the day he disappeared.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In 1939, a freak storm blew across the village of Dory Cove on the Oregon coast, destroying homes and boats, and leaving three people dead. Young Spence Chadwick was swept into the sea at the treacherous Devil's Churn, a huge cleft in the rocks next to the ocean. His body was never found.

Fifty years later, Spence's old sweetheart, Addy, comes across a young man in the yard of her recently deceased mother, a young man who looks just like her beloved Spence did---fifty years ago. At first she cannot believe it is him. No one in the town can, except for one crochety old war veteran. But soon the people of Dory Cove realize that this really is Spence, though they do not know if he is a ghost, back from the dead, or a man who has slept through the last fifty years of his life, like the legendary Rip Van Winkle. Spence's return brings to the surface terrible secrets long hidden by the people of Dory Cove, and unleashes a terrifying power, born in the sea, that threatens to destroy the whole town.

In The Devil's Churn, Kristine Kathryn Rusch unveils a whole new world of terror, a secret hidden by the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean . For Spence Chadwick, those fifty years were not a blissful dream, but a strange and frightening time. The Devil's Churn is a truly haunting tale of the mystery of the sea, and what evil it can contain.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440217954
• ISBN-13: 978-0440217954
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,004,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very little horror or anything else., May 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Devil's Churn (Paperback)

A dull, plodding novel about a bunch of seaside citizens who endlessly lament their collective past. A boy comes back from the dead. Some witchcraft nonsense. Rather unlikeable.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AS THE WORLD CHURNS, February 18, 2003

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Devil's Churn (Paperback)

This book is one of those you have to ask yourself, why was it written? It advances no new fields in spook writing, or even psychological suspense. Ms. Rusch's novel is slow and plodding, yet she does give you some richly developed characters. The problem is most of them are not very likeable at all. Take the novel's focal character: Addie Hawthorne..what a real bi..anyway, somehow she manages to come out sort of a heroine by the novel's end, but you have to go through some really lengthy scenes to get there.
The plot is somewhat muddled at times and one never really knows who to blame for the disasters befalling the cove and what really lies within the churn. Although the climactic scene does reveal some facts, overall I found myself wanting to know more: what was Lisa's involvement? Who really killed the man in the car? What will happen to Spencer?
Why the three? I guess I found myself involved in the book and there are some really touching scenes. Not a great book by any means, but a good time-passer.