Customer Reviews

Stonecypher Road

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

 

 

To say that Stonecypher Road crosses genres is an understatement. First of all, it's literate. But then again, it's also a pulp novel, and pulp adventure thrillers don't usually read like literary fiction. The subject matter is even more of a paradox. Crystal skulls and The Holy Grail and "mole people" are preposterous to the point of being tacky, and yet in the hands of these two authors, these cliches seem totally believable. Maybe even mundane.

With this book, it's hard to know what's real and what's fiction. That sense of reality stems partly from the rich dialog. It's exceedingly conversational. Again, this is something not normally found in a pulp novel. It is perhaps because of this believability growing throughout the pages that the ending achieves its shock value. And shocking it is! I defy any reader to say they see it coming.

This book is either a brilliantly-plotted novel, or a confusing enigma. I've read it twice, and I'm still perplexed by it. Whatever it is, it's certainly unique.

Crystal skulls? Subterranean mole people? This isn't exactly my cup of tea since I tend more toward the literary end of the spectrum. It was, therefore, a rewarding and pleasant surprise when I read Stonecypher Road on the advice of some friends. First time authors, Warren and Nancy Longwell, have cooked up a little gem of a book, with a plot that's intricate and richly patterned. And they've liberally sprinkled it with passages written in my favorite language-Pulitzereeze. What a true delight!

...And the goose gets caught. I was secreted an author's manuscript of this book, (I have connections) and found little of the errors mentioned in an earlier review. But, I'm hardly concerned with such trivial things anyway. This is an outstanding story. Co-written by a married couple, it reads like...well, a married couple. The writing is superb, and the 'banter' is genuine. That is the source of its charm.

The source of its excitement is a stunningly plausible explanation for the existence of a message within the crystal skulls. A possibility that every Alien/Atlantis/Holy Grail theorist has wondered about for generations. I found myself nodding in agreement, and smiling through the whole thing.

So, I say, 'Well done Mr. & Mrs. Longwell! Write something else. You have my interest!"

Stonecypher Road- the debut novel from co-authors, Warren and Nancy Longwell-has a tone and style that's remarkably literate for a potboiler. But, then, this isn't an average potboiler.
If you wonder, as I did, how a married couple would go about the process of co-authoring a book, the answer becomes evident as two stories are combined seamlessly in this work. The death of a mother and the confrontation of childhood poverty (Nancy's story) blends with the cat-and-mouse intrigue of an ingeniously-hidden code and an ancient prophecy (Warren's story) into a believable tale with an ending that is truly stunning. I can enthusiastically recommend this book for its multiple-story-line plot.

The one word that best describes Stonecypher Road is intelligent. The prose is as good as the plot, and both are superb. If these two budding authors have any more stories up their sleeves like this, I predict a bright future for them in writing.

Unfortunately, this praise doesn't extend to their publisher, ICP. The book is riddled with typos, and frankly, this writing deserved better treatment. Nevertheless, the novel is well worth the effort of wading through the publication errors in order to savor everything else.

Secret societies. Crystal skulls. Islamic terrorists (in the background). Spanish conquistadores. Pedophile priests. Political leftism. Shoulders with chips. Cranky Canadians. Wifely jealousy. Funerals in small-town. A visit to the library. This book has lots of appealing stuff.
Well, my review will differ remarkably from the others.
This book consists primarily of dialogue between an old man and his old wife. Actually, it's mostly the old man lecturing his wife, who plays Gracie to his George, in a non-comedic way.
Near the beginning we are introduced the woman, an Iowa native; the man, who likes to drive a fast car on the Bonneville Salt Flats; and some scientists at Los Alamos. For all intents and purposes, that's the last we ever encounter the scientists. Except for ten boring pages of the old lady reminiscing about her even older mother (who has just died), nearly every page of the rest of the book is a conversation -- or a lecture, depending on your point of view. And there was entirely too much "What the heck does THIS have to do with the story?" (answer: nothing. Just authors who want to read their own words).
The information imparted in the droning pedantics of the old man should have been incorporated into prose action sequences, possibly given to the scientists (who should have had a larger role).
In terms of literary style, because it's mainly lecture-cum-dialogue, the book is crap. However, in spite of all my criticism, in general I enjoyed the book. Maybe because I've lived in New Mexico, Utah and Iowa :-)
I think it would make a good movie. I gave it two stars not for the premise or the plot, but because it really should have been written in a different style or handed off to a ghostwriter to modify. The ending is a let-down and the title is almost a non-sequitur (not really, because the skull itself is the stonecypher, but why 'road?'). And the authors plan on another book, judging by the constant references to a golden disk.
""... a stunning and literate debut novel..." my eye. Sorry, folks. It isn't a well-written book at all. But more than half of it is a fun read.