For a number of different reasons, I didn’t manage to blog many of my book reviews last month, so I have decided to do a round-up instead. I read five books to complete the Aussie Winter Reading Challenge: The Good Daughter by Honey Brown (Mystery): Rebecca Toyer and Zach Kincaid each live …
Vigil wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story takes place in a modified version of Brisbane which has both the normal human elements as well as those of the Weyrd. It follows Verity’s investigation into the Weyrd’s involvement in the disappearance of normal human children, including a more personal element, and becomes more complex with added layers of intrigue as the novel progresses.
The Patterson girls are reunited at Christmas in their home town of Meadow Brook in South Australia. They are their to help their father who is grieving the loss of their mother and struggling with running the family motel. It is here that the four sisters uncover a curse bestowed upon the family generations before. The sisters then part to return to their lives, or start new ones with the curse running through their minds and affecting their decisions. The story does drag a little in the middle, but that’s because we are given four characters to follow. For most of them, the curse weighs on their minds and they react in ways that aren’t entirely rational.
This is the first novel I have read by Australian Author Tom Keneally, and I picked it up after being recommended it by another lady browsing the same section of the book store.
Evie is a woman after my own heart, chasing her dreams and doing whatever she can to make them come true. She also happens to fall in love with a man she doesn’t expect to, and it’s not love at first sight either. I enjoyed the fact that Evie had to work a second job in order to pay for her medical studies and her life. Thomas is the perfect man for her, and it’s easy for the reader to fall in love with him too. In fact, each character is brilliantly written, and there are so many who give the world a real-life feel.
The dry starts off with a great hook: the suicide murder committed by Luke as a result of the drought affecting Kiewarra. At the funeral, Falk is clearly seen to be some kind of outcast, and it’s not long before we find out why. He is reunited with old friends and enemies, and the plot quickly thickens, especially when he meets with Sergeant Raco.
