Customer Reviews

Summer of the Cicadas

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I think all men in their late teens and early twenties go through a Stephen King or Clive Barker horror phase. After realizing that there are other genres of great literature, rabid dogs, gunslingers, and men with pins in their heads can sometimes fade from one's heart and mind. I picked up SUMMER OF THE CICADA not knowing what to expect. I instantly loved it. This is not a horror book, but it's pages reflect the hidden evils that go on in the neighborhoods of everyday America. The main character seems to creep through the chapters leaving your mind twisted and your stomach tied in a knot of anticipation. I thought the characters were well developed and the pacing left you always wanting more. This was definitely a great effort from an unknown writer, and has rekindled my love for disturbing, well written literature.

I strongly disagree with one the previous reviewers. I found this book fascinating. Oftentimes younger people (and I am only 32, so I am kind of in the middle here) have shorter attention spans, perhaps due to all the flashy, rapid fire stimulation they are surrounded by.
I found the introductory pages of this book to be incredibly tense and full of foreshadowing. The plot slowly crept up, and my nerves tingled. I felt this author carefully constructed his plot, in the vein of old horror novels.

Try it, be patient, and it will be a sure scare, but one with substance, that will leave you thinking.

So cicadas hatch every 19 years. It would have taken me about that amount of time to finish the book had I not received a reminder from the library to take it back. Couldn't get into it - averaged about 1 page a week. The plot was so slow that I just couldn't summon up the necessary sensitivity to identify with the suffering protagonist. In the end I felt I was the one who was being beaten up. Sorry.