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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was one host for the Virtual book Tour for this one, January 21, 2008
It has been my pleasure to take part in a "virtual" or online book tour for the book, Tremolo: Cry of the Loon, a book written by Aaron Paul Lazar.
This novel set off powerful waves of memories and pure, unabased nostalgia in me, taking me back to a time when the Beatles were popular. There was even a term for it - Beatlemania. It was in full swing and John Kennedy and Martin Luther King were well-known as well. In those days, children spent summers outside, not in front of video games.TV? Four channels, at best, and one of those was a budding PBS station, another usually a local channel.
The power and importance of spending time outside is not a minor theme in this book but a major factor. I think nature is almost like another character here, multi-faceted, haunting. Those sections that described life outdoors renewed my desire to take the family camping and to enjoy simpler pleasures, those that are all around us, from a misty morning to the glare of sun on a bright patch of snow. Good timing, too, because it looks like me might be heading into a recession...but I digress.
At the heart of this book is a missing girl, the mystery surrounding her disappearance and young Gus, turning from child to man, coming of age during one memorable summer at a lakeside camp in Maine. From the first sentence in Chapter One: "We're not gonna make it" to the closing lines I felt swept into this book and wanted to know what would happen next.
I was captured by the main story, that lost girl and the three children (Gus and his friends, Sigfried and Elsbeth) who try to find out what happened to her. Along the way, mysterious guests arrive, ominous men appear and Gus has to deal with real danger as well as the inevitable turbulence of adolescence, from those first stirrings of love to the odd feelings he has about changes in his family.
One of the hardest jobs as a reviewer is trying to give a sense of the style and power of a book. In Tremolo, I'll note that several things grabbed my attention; the mystery at the heart of the book and also the strong sense of time, the details about a particular time in history. I also loved the personality of Gus as well as the way Mr. Lazar intersperses some very real events in his own life with those that are fictional. For example, there is one scene with a bat...that really did happen to Mr. Lazar when he was a boy.
In many ways, this book came about - and is a testimony - to Mr. Lazar's father. This makes it particularly special for me. It is impossible to read the Preface to this book and learn about the incredible man who was Mr. Lazar's father without feeling his spirit in many parts of the book, from an incident when that bat gets into the house,causing chaos, to sections covering racism, a first viewing of To Kill a Mockingbird and other scenes that paralleled Mr. Lazar's upbringing and childhood.
At the same time, this is not a memoir, not in the sense that every event described actually happened in "real" life. If you lived through the '60s, you won't be able to help feeling nostalgic, though. The icing on the cake is the suspense and mystery in the book, backed up by one boys' take on the whole situaton.
I urge you to visit the author's website at :
www.legardemysteries.com
and also to visit the author interview to get a fuller look at the author's life and writing habits and suggestions. Most of all, I urge you to read this nicely crafted book and discover a promising voice whose mystery series and books are worth savoring.Tremolo: cry of the loon
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Missing Girl, Stolen Artifacts, and a Mysterious Old Lady, November 24, 2007
Set in 1964, in the Belgrade Lakes of Maine, Aaron Paul Lazar's novel "Tremolo, Cry of the Loon" presented one mystery after another begging to be solved and kept me turning pages to the very end to see who the guilty person or persons were.
At the tender age of eleven, Gus LeGarde has a lot to deal with. First, when Gus and his friends, Elsbeth and Siegfried, wreck their small boat, they manage to swim to shore, but as they make their way through the trees to Gus's grandparents' fishing camp where Gus and his family are spending the summer, they almost collide with a young girl. She's bleeding and frightened and running from a drunken man. Who is the girl the man calls Sharon? Why is he after her? Gus worries about Sharon and wants to help her, so he tells the authorities, but they give little credit to the young boy.
Second, who is the mysterious woman staying in Cabin Fifteen? Everyone is hush, hush about her, and all Gus knows is that she is old, has a cat, and recently lost a family member. She also has "guardians" who live in the cabin next to her, which means she's probably someone important.
Third, while authorities search for Sharon, valuable religious artifacts are stolen: a bell cast by Paul Revere and a rare marble statue of the Virgin Mary, along with other priceless objects. Is there a connection between Sharon's disappearance and the theft of the artifacts?
When Gus and his friends get too close to the truth, their lives become endangered. Will they rescue the missing girl, or will their fate be the same as hers, whatever that might be? If you're a child of the '60s, you'll remember the thirty-three rpm records, the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird," the Beatles, and five-cent sodas. If you're not a child of the '60s, you'll enjoy the twists and turns and surprises in this breathtaking mystery.
Beautiful imagery and touches of nostalgia make this a must read for all ages. You'll be glad you read it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tremolo is a spellbinding prequel to Aaron Lazar's Gus LeGarde Mystery Series, March 4, 2008
Tremolo: Cry of the Loon - is a beautifully written prequel to Aaron Lazar's Gus LeGarde mystery series.
Tremolo has a terrific sense about it; it is set it Maine in 1964; it brings back nostalgia to us all - and a sense of the 60s you don't want to miss.
This is the prequel to the Gus LeGarde mystery series, with Double Forte being the first in the series. I have read both Double Forte and Tremolo; I have to say that Tremolo is a very fine read.
It will grip you from page one and not let go.
***
Excerpt: from Chapter One:
"We're not gonna make it.
I looked across the darkened lake and pulled hard on the oars in the direction of home. Feathers of fog slipped over the glassy water, whispering moist threats.
Siegfried shrugged out of his sweatshirt and handed it to his sister, who shivered in the stern of the old skiff. She tossed him an uneasy smile and put it on....
..."It's just the fog. Don't worry. I'll row to shore and we'll wait it out, okay?"
..."You'll row to shore? What shore?"
The land had vanished...
...Elspeth stiffened, staring across the bow.
"Listen."
The faint drone of a motor board purred in the distance. Motionless, we strained to hear. It grew louder, heading toward us. Siegfried's blue eyes widened in alarm.
"Schnell!" he shouted, pointing to the oars....
...A dark shape emerged from the fog and scraped against our stern. Barely avoiding a collision, he swerved away, accelerating into the mist. His passengers shrieked with laughter and the wake from their boat rocked us violently, causing our craft to skitter forward.
Without warning, a crash jolted us from our seats....
***
And from Chapter Twenty-Nine:
Officer Lawson crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward slightly, looking at me.
"Your father tells me you think you've seen Sharon in the woods, Gus. Would you be willing to show me where you saw her? Could you find the place again?
I nodded quickly, relieved that someone was finally listening.
"Yes sir. We've marked the spot. We've left food several times, and it's been gone by the next morning. "
He nodded and looked hard at me.
"Have you actually seen her, Gus? I mean, really seen her close up, since that first night?
I hesitated and looked at Siegfied and Elspeth. I'd been the only one to see something flash white in the forest. It seemed to be running away from me and I hadn't actually seen a person, just a glimpse. I explained it to the officer.
After several more turns each, Officer Lawson closed his notebook and stood up. He finished the coffee and thanked Mrs. Marggrander for her hospitality.
Before he left, he asked one more question.
"You're quite sure Sharon was running away from Frank Adamski? There's no doubt about it?"
Siegried answered for us.
"Sir, the girl was frightened for her life, and the man looked as if he'd kill her if he caught her."
***
A gripping tale.
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