Customer Reviews

French Creek

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oh wow, am I happy to have read this book.
Do you remember the movie "The Duel," with Dennis Weaver? Terrifying!
"French Creek" had, for me, the same level of intensity. Read this and
you'll never drive by another junkyard in your life without thinking of
this book (and driving quickly past the junkyard). Through all the
terror, however, there is a lovely, well-written story about a man, his
hopes and his dreams. The characters are so well drawn that they'll
live in your mind for a long time. Even the characters you wish would
go away quickly and leave you alone because they are SO evil. Excellent book!

The lesson to be gleaned from Peter Rennebohm's "French Creek" is this: In life, bad things really do happen to good people, more often than we'd like to believe, and I guess the best we can hope for is that we, ourselves, are never selected by the vagaries of life to be one of them. John R. Rule is "good people" and when he ventures out one wintry February day from his Minneapolis office deep into the Minnesota hinterlands, searching for a remote auto salvage yard to find a part for an old truck he's restoring, he soon meets some very bad people doing some very bad things. In tone, mood, and geography this novel reminded me of the movie "Fargo"; which in my opinion is one of the ten best American films ever made. Although the two stories are really nothing alike, the landscape in "French Creek" couldn't be bleaker, the bad guys couldn't be worse, and John Rule's predicament couldn't be more desperate. Besides being an author of crime fiction myself, I am also a full time police officer, and let me tell you, Rennebohm has absolutely nailed his worst evil doer in the book, Ray Steckel, from the shop grease embedded beneath his fingernails, to his foul onion and nicotine breath and his stained, yellow teeth. Rennebohm keeps the story moving at a brisk pace and even though "French Creek" isn't so much a "whodunnit" from a pure mystery standpoint, it is a great suspense novel that positively will not disappoint readers of this genre. This one is definitely in the "two thumbs up" category, and I highly recommend it.

Little Blue Whales: a novel

Sometimes the simplest step can put a person in big trouble.

Peter Rennebohm uses that premise to build a novel that stokes up tension at a consistent rate and won't let you put French Creek down until the last page.

John L. Rule goes looking for a part for a pickup truck he's restoring. His search takes him to a salvage yard in a desolate rural area of Minnesota where he confronts danger that puts him in a struggle for his life.

Time after time, Rule escapes one threat only to face another. And, each is a logical, realistic possibility of what could happen to a person in such circumstance. The plot is deftly orchestrated and keeps one turning the pages, seeking just a little more of the same.

Intertwined with this central theme, Rennebohm gives us insight into Rule's character and his relationship with his wife and children and the father-in-law who, while not entirely trusting the man, goes to great lengths to rescue him.

The story is an adrenalin rush that will have you begging for more.

The main character John Rule goes to a junk yard to buy the truck part he needs. He realizes he should not have gone to such lengths to find the part, as he goes to leave the owners of the junk yard have much different plans for John.

The story takes John through many threatening scenes. John looks at his hopes, his dreams, his failures and his successes and is determined not to give into his feelings of hopelessness.You will experience John's terror as he adventures through everything that is being thrown his way.
French Creek is an excellent novel; I could not put it down. Wonderful character development, unexpected story lines, terror, thrills and suspense are incorporated into the story. The novel jumps off the pages, you can visualize the characters and the action taking place as you read.

The beautiful serene winter scene on the cover of French Creek belies the terror that awaits the reader inside. John L. Rule, Minneapolis salesman, understands the benefit of combining business with pleasure. He books client appointments near the Minnesota-South Dakota state line so he can finish the business day locating a steering wheel for his old pick-up truck. He was told French Creek is the place to go to get exactly what he needs.

He wasn't told it was also the place to go for the fight of his life. Although he thought the rude junkyard owner was a bit odd, Rule had no idea the owner had plans to make sure Rule and his Ford Explorer never left the junkyard.

Rennebohm knows how to keep a reader turning pages. I could see the characters, see the scenes, and hear the different voices he created. He's also good at weaving the various scenes within a chapter so I never had to wonder too long about what was happening in another part of the story.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want a page turner, this is it.

Award-winning author Peter Rennebohm presents French Creek, a suspenseful novel about an ordinary Minneapolis salesman whose trip to a junkyard in search of a part to rebuild an old truck quickly entangled him in a lethal struggle with his life as the prize. Against ruthless and experienced killers, he must weather a severe winter storm amid the rural farmland of central Minnesota and the prairies of the South Dakota borderland. A gripping saga of personal defiance, ingenuity, and courage, compelling to the last page.

leave yourself plenty of time when you start this book, because i guarantee you won't be able to put it down. such great character development that you like you are watching the action instead of just reading it. can't wait for his next novel.

Pete Rennebohm does an excellent job of building his characters and bringing unexpected twists to a story line that at first seemed fairly simple and common. I couldn't put the book down. The story seemed to gain momentum as I got into it. When I finished the book, I felt a certain sense of relief for certain of the characters coupled with a sense of anxiety as the story reached a feverish conclusion. I had to stop for a minute and catch my breath. The author did a great job of building his characters to the point where you really felt you knew them and they were very believable.
I can't wait for his next book!

What a great book! I started reading the book one afternoon thinking that I would read enough to get started and then put it down. What a mistake that was! I finished the book in bed that night!