Customer Reviews

River Bones: A Mystery Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mary Deal has hit a "home run" with River Bones! I was raised on a ranch just west of Rio Vista right on the Sacramento River, attended Rio Vista High School and spent many a scary night slowly wending my way home along winding back roads through the tule fog so accurately described in the book.

River Bones is a great mystery thriller and the fast pace of the story keeps you turning page after page! This book will easily become a "one-nighter" for many readers. It is hard to stop reading! Mary's character, Sara, is very believable and the descriptions of the delta area, towns and seasons are right on the mark.

The rest of the cast of characters in the book are excellent and the reader will not be able to determine who the real villain is until the last few pages of the book.

Let us all hope that we will see Sara Mason in future books.

Don Dozier
Redding, CA

Once I started reading River Bones, I didn't want to put it down. The characters are captivating and real. I was soon deeply involved in their lives. I love a book that isn't patently predictible and this book delivered continuous surprise and suspense. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

I'm one for mysteries, all kinds of mysteries, so when I read River Bones,I felt the easy going life that these people had there and the peacefulness that was felt. Everyone knew each other, the way a small town should be and what better way to have a murder mystery happen in a small town. I liked how each character was developed, you really got a feel for each one and got to know what makes each one "tick", even down to the smallest of characters, such as the dogs. I won't say much more than that, you just have to read, because this is not a book to be read fast. It's like a fine wine that has been stored for many years, and once opened, you let it sit and breathe. Then, as you drink, you take in just a little to taste the many flavors (meaning, characters)how each of the flavors gives the wine its unique taste (how each character and their traits lends themselves to the story).

The characters are the "key" to the book, so you have to read carefully (read between the lines and around the lines, think outside the box). This book, this wonderful book, is to be savored slowly and because if not, you will miss out on such tiniest clues, hints and without doing so, you will find yourself lost or worse. not liking the book because you want the clues SMACK DAB right in your face. It's not going to happen like that, sorry but it's not. For those of you who hate it, re-read and tell me, if you saw any indication of a clue. I bet none of you can find one.

This is no ordinary mystery book, you have to really dig deep to really appreciate what this author did to make this book a master piece.

Barbara Deming of The US Review of Books wrote this review of River Bones, a thriller:

"A serial killer on the loose is not of much concern to Sara Mason when she returns to her hometown in the California Sacramento River area. Whether there on a quest for revenge or the healing of old wounds, Sara soon finds the renewed friendship with Daphne, meeting eccentric Esmerelda, renovating her Talbot House, and cautiously allowing a special man into her life, may be more productive than righting old wrongs.

"Then, Sara and an old friend are drugged. Pierce remains in a coma, suspected of being the killer. The next morning, searching for her missing dogs, Sara finds them unearthing human bones along the river bank. Suddenly, old bones and new begin to pop up all around her.

"Are the local cops doing all they can to find the criminal? Why does Tripp, Esmerelda's groundskeeper, give everyone the willies? Is the attraction between Sara and Huxley a lasting one? Or what if her feelings have been perpetuated by a clever killer as a way to hide his crimes? These questions will be addressed in this quick-paced novel as Sara discovers clues to the killer and seeks her own answers to the mysteries of life.

"Mary Deal offers a thrilling mystery while documenting the history and lives of people who call the California Delta home. The author has created a believable story of old wounds and the power of healing through friendships and love, while uncovering the truth about these crimes of passion at the riveting end."

In addition to being a fast, exciting thriller River Bones is loaded with a wealth of fascinating characters. Mary Deal has created believable riveting "people". As a psychologist I was especially impressed by the authenticity of Mary Deal's depiction of her psychopathic killer. She accurately portrays the inner workings of a mind troubled by acute pathology. Her understanding of intricate clinical insights is clearly illuminated in River Bone's scenes involving the heroine interacting with the villain.

Mary Deal's descriptive narrations, from migrating wild birds to eerie dense fog, vividly place the reader in the Delta. She paints vibrant pictures expertly brushing imaginative words onto a canvas of perfect syntax. Mary Deal's rare ability to create a novel both eloquently written and artfully suspenseful is definitely to be applauded.

Animal skeletons...human skeletons...fresh dirt, boulders, ghosts?

Deal's River Bones has all that and more. She kept me in suspense from the time Sara moved back home until the last page. My kind of book! Congratulations to Mary Deal on a successful first mystery novel.

This is one of my favorite books, can't wait for the sequel !! I loved reading about the Delta and recognizing some of the places mentioned in the book !
Its a very thrilling story !

Mary Deal's River Bones is the real deal, a mystery novel that will keep you reading into the scary predawn hours.

Life should be simple for Sara Mason recently returned to the Sacramento Delta of her orphaned and impoverished youth. Now a successful developer of computer games she plans the good life in a lovingly restored Victorian mansion. But, long buried bodies start turning up it becomes obvious that a serial killer still stalks the Delta and has zeroed in on Sarah. There are plenty of suspects: Crazy Ike and his shovel, Huxley the man who has romantically intrigued Sara, Pierce a man who apparently died from a lightning strike but returned, Tripp the odd groundskeeper at an old folks home, Fredrik, a man obsessed with death. Sara cannot live her envisioned life until the killer is caught and the police don't seem up to the job, So Sara has no choice but to seek the solution.

Like I said, following this thriller will keep you up until the murders are solved. That's okay, you'll find staying up for the resolution of this most satisfying mystery worth the sleep deprivation. It's that good.

Sara, Daphine, Esmerelda, the gardener and of course the dogs Choco and Latte all come together to give the reader a pleasurable experience.

I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST POORLY
WRITTEN BOOKS THAT I HAVE EVER READ. I'M SORRY THAT I
WASTED MY MONEY PURCHASING IT AND MY TIME SPENT READING
IT.