Customer Reviews

Thin Line Between

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

 

 

Most fantasy books fall into the European-Arthur mold or some kind of medieval style sword and sorcery world. What I enjoyed about this book was the setting of Dreamtime supernatural events, which is very different from typical fantasy setting. I thought the museum setting, for the modern parts of the book, was especially well done.

The characters are three dimensional, but the character of Margaret was the most appealing to me, bratty, smart, and a loner. But this is not a children's book, it has plenty of graphic violence and a bit of sex, plus a complicated storyline that is interstingly set up in book one, so I'm assuming book two will fill in some more of the back-story. There are some really effective suspense scenes where the main characters are stalked (and finally encounter) a horrific creature from another world.

I read it over a weekend and then loaned it to a friend who works in an art gallery. She's having a good time with it. I think anyone who likes fantasy or the supernatural and wants something a little different will enjoy reading it.

Written in a very visual style with great suspense. I was holding my breath in places, turning pages like mad. The characters are interesting and three-dimensional, and easy to get attached to. But the best thing this book has going for it is the dreamtime myths that make the background for the story - this makes the story totally unique and different.

Book 1 of this series ends in a cliffhanger, with an important dangerous magical object that was lost for awhile suddenly being found again. A lot of setup has gone into this first plot, so now many questions are waiting to be answered in the rest of the series. I'm not sure if you would call this a fantasy book or horror or mystery. Its all three rolled into one, and I think people who like to read any of those categories would definitely enjoy Thin Line Between.

After seeing so many trashy books out there, this book should really go places. It is full of action and mystery for the reader. Starting off in swamps of Florida secrets of the past start coming to life with a Mother and her daughter. Then when an art exhibit comes to the museum where the mother works, Old legends and folklore from two different Continents bring together an exciting story for readers of all ages.

Keeps the readers attention and you do not want to put the book down. Waiting for the next 3 books to come to the shelves.
Mary Grimes

I picked up Thin Line Between based on the cover and took it home based on the quote on the back from the book itself: "Telling ghost stories and writing about them was one thing, even fun in a daring sot of way, but it didn't make them real..."
This book is both engaging and spooky. Set mostly in the Florida swamps, you begin a tale of a strong mother-daughter team whose lives begin to spin out of control when past legends (local and Australian) come to life.
This first of four novels will make you wonder if that monster in your closet or under your bed, when you were a kid, was just your imagination after all.

Bought teh book on the basis of the cover, and it turned out to be really good. STrange unusual subject matter with a good fantasy plot that pulled all the strings together at the end, but promised much more to come. I am now very interested to see how the next book inthe series turns out. The author is very good at dialog and descriptions. Highly reccommended.

Mini-review: I really enjoyed that this book was about a mythology that I have never read before: the Aboriginal Dreamtime. It talked about Wandjinas and Quinkans, and Namarrkun the Lightning Man. I had a hard time wrapping my idea around these entities, but I understood enough of it to be able to keep up with the story.

At the same time, they talk about a story from Florida's past (around 1899/1900), and what appears to be an evil preacher at a little church close to where the MCs (Alice Waterston and her daughter, Margaret) live. Ms. Petty did a really good job of blending the two stories, so it didn't give you whiplash switching back and forth between them.

The characters were all very likeable and Ms. Petty is an excellent writer, in that she can describe a scene so that you feel you are actually looking at it. Let me be very clear, this is not a book for teens. There are violent parts and there is a rape, and although these things do not happen constantly throughout the book, I personally would not feel comfortable with my teen reading it. That is only my opinion.

I also thought the book started rather slowly. I almost gave up a couple of times, but because Ms. Petty is such a good writer, I stuck with it, and boy am I glad I did!! The second half of the book is just one thing after another, with all of the action that the first half is lacking. By the time I reached the end I felt like I had run a marathon! I was out of breath from holding it through the sticky, suspenseful parts of the book!

Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 because although it was slow at the beginning, it more than made up for it in the second part of the book.