Customer Reviews

Hole in the Water

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

 

 

As I began to read this one, I felt like groaning aloud: "Oh, not another one about a brave mom having to defend herself and her child against evil!" In the end it is so only to a point, and the book ends up developing in a rather unexpected direction. Its ambiguous story (and dubious morality) would have been the stuff of a very good book, but the characters are flat and never seem to come across as quite alive, except the teenager Kara, who soon steals the protagonist role from her bewildered mother. The book is entertaining enough, however, which is no small feat.

Gretchen did not think she had to know about the details
from Chuck's past when she dated him or even when they
married, since it is the man he is today that matters. She
appreciates and likes his concern and protectiveness for her
and her sixteen year old daughter Kara and is not all
concerned he was a hell raiser in his youth. When the three
of them go to Madeline Island off Lake Superior for the
reading of the will of Chuck's estranged father, Gretchen
wanders if a little foreknowledge might have given her some
warning about what awaited them on that isolated area.
It is a shock to learn that Chuck escaped the draft by
going to Vietnam on a mental disability, that he, in fact,
was institutionalized for some months. It is even more
unnerving to learn that he was once married and that wife
died in a mysterious drowning accident, one that the
townsfolk still believe Chuck caused. The more time they
spend on the island, the more Chuck changes and though
Gretchen tries to believe Chuck's explanation for his odd
behavior and illegal activities, there comes a point where
she becomes afraid for her and Kara's lives. She makes the
decision to cut and run when one final revelation makes her
believe that Chuck is capable of anything including murder.
This decision throws them into a life and death situation
with no place to hide.
The inhabitants of the island will remind readers of "The
Children of the Corn" all grown up and unfathomable. However
it is the anti-hero Chuck, who will mesmerize the audience
as he constantly makes the world doubt him and themselves.
Robert Kearney has written a spine tingling work of
psychological suspense and terror, made all the more
frightening because the story line is locked into an all too
real world not a make believe imaginary scenario that could
never possibly happen. HOLE IN THE WATER makes our worst
nightmares feel like children's dreams. For that reason
alone, this is one book worth buying at any price.
Harriet Klausner

-

Back in the early nineties, Scott Smith wrote the definitive "what one act can lead to" novel, "A Simple Plan." That was a brilliant book and few have been able to come anywhere near it's domino effect crime. However, Kearney tries mightily hard in this thriller, which all occurs in one long day. Chuck Hausmann and his new wife, Gretchen, and step-daughter, Kara, return to an isolated island in the middle of Lake Superior, to attend the reading of his father's will. We soon learn Chuck is hated by pretty much everyone in the little village. We also learn Chuck had been married before and his first wife died under mysterious circumstances; Chuck feigned insanity to keep out of the draft. From the get-go, we know Gretchen and Kara are in for some dark, disturbing moments. The island is populated with stereotypical characters, but still they're interesting antagonists. We do wonder "Is Chuck really the insane killer" the town makes him out to be; was Mary's death really an accident; did the old man really extort money from his church-going parishioners; and is Chuck telling the truth about anything?
The novel spins towards it's unusual climax, and many people suffer because of one lie, one betrayal. Sharp and enthralling, this is no "Simple Plan" but is a fine psychological thriller, with an unexpected ending.
RECOMMENDED.

This book reminds me of one of those low budget horror movies. The writing is pretty elementary and undeveloped. However, I had just finished reading a novel by Dan Simmons and I guess that didn't help. If you enjoy Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, Stephen King, and Dan Simmons then this book will probably be a disappointment.

This is a suspense novel with little whiffs of Hitchcock and Anatomy of a Murder. It kept me up all night last summer, while the loons by the lake outside outside a-hoo-ha'ed.

Good stuff!