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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A terrifying vision..., July 16, 2005
This review is from: November Mourns (Mass Market Paperback)
I'll admit it. I've been afraid to read Tom Piccirrilli. Whenever you pick up his books you see blurbs with quotes like 'literate sensibility', 'lyrical voice', or 'a powerful meditation on isolation'. Eek! I like my horror to be scary, fast, furious, and above all readable! I read for entertainment - not just edification.
But, I took the plunge and I'm glad I did.
November Mourns is extremely readable and entertaining. It throws you into a backwoods horrorland and doesn't let go until the very last page.
The main character, Shad Jenkins, is a dark reluctant hero and is so well developed that you share his every sorrow and triumph.
This is a great book for any fan of horror and it doesn't disappoint. Ignore all the highbrow blurbs and just sit back and enjoy a dark, spooky tale!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"You could always go home again, the trouble was getting back out.", October 14, 2005
This review is from: November Mourns (Mass Market Paperback)
Shad Jenkins returns to his hometown of Moon Run Hollow (no doubt down the road a spell from Kingdom Come, the setting of Piccirilli's 2004 novel A Choir of Ill Children) after two years in jail to find out exactly what happened to his sister Maggie, who was found dead a few months prior on the Gospel Trail Road. Although the police have ruled it "death by misadventure," the fact that Maggie's ghost has haunted him ever since her death leads Shad to suspect that wasn't the case. Thus, back in his birthplace to investigate, the ex-con discovers that "You could always go home again, the trouble was getting back out." Digging into the matter, Shad traverses the town's environs, speaking with many of its most colorful citizens. Despite his persistence in his quest for the truth, Shad turns up little. Unfortunately for Shad, revelations ARE coming. When they do come, they are tragic, but not wholly unexpected.
Having previously penned straight crime novels, westerns, operatic horror, and poetry, Piccirilli has now written a book which can best be described as a hybrid of Gold Medal suspense novel and southern gothic, sort of John D. MacDonald by way of Manley Wade Wellman. Piccirilli's prose is spellbinding, creating an atmosphere of dread so thick it becomes disorienting at times, placing readers in the same position as the book's hero, Shad Jenkins; he also does a wonderful job of what science fiction aficionados would label world building, creating a town and populace so vivid you're left feeling as if you actually visited the place.
November Mourns is a book with big ambitions, most of which it achieves. Inside its pages, you'll find abundant evidence of a writer in love with the English language, successfully experimenting with its nuances and cadences to achieve the effects he desires. You'll also find evidence of a talented storyteller, one capable of entrancing his audience and taking them away from the real world for hours at a time. Keep in mind, though, that this bittersweet novel doesn't let readers off easily--the events it depicts, especially its ambiguous climax, will give them plenty to ponder for days after finishing.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You can't go home again or at least to the home you knew, August 23, 2005
This review is from: November Mourns (Mass Market Paperback)
Shad Jenkins is in prison and about to be let out when his father calls to let him know his sister Megan (Mags) is dead. That night Shad wakes as Mags tries to reach him through his cell door. The other prisoners are awake and watchful but no one will talk to him. The fury inside him is awake and spoiling for revenge. November Mourns starts with a question: Who killed Shad Jenkins' sister Megan? It ends leaving you with many more questions than you started with but somehow satisfied, even though the hairs on the back of your neck might not lie down for a while.
From the first page, I found myself drawn into the story. The story hangs together but it's so convoluted, twisted, and just plain weird that it's hard to sort things out. Finally, you find yourself just going with it. Shad talks to his dead mother and her various companions when he night walks. His sister, or mostly her hand, seems to be directing Shads investigations as he sees her gesturing to him out of the corner of his eye.
Shads father has never recovered from the death of Shads mother. Then Megan's mother ran away to marry her own cousin. The relationships in this book are often convoluted since everyone in town seems to be related in several degrees to everyone else in town. Moonshine running is the biggest industry and most everyone is addicted to moonshine in one way or another. Shad, after drying out in prison, can taste the moonshine on the air and understands the hunger but won't give in to the temptation because finding out what happened to Megan takes priority.
From the beginning the plot is multi-threaded and convoluted. We begin to get glimpses of the town, its people, and Shad as he searches for answers. It's a quest story but not in the usual sense. Shad is looking to find the murderer but he's also looking to find himself. Prison has changed him, but can he resist getting pulled back into this town and its own history and story. Shad has a part to play but will he discover what that part is before it takes him over.
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