This was pretty good, especially the first part, it was hard to put down but the writing was so well done I didn't want to rush through. Very creepy, little glimpses that wet the appetite and kept you turning the pages. It lost some momentum, and I started getting annoyed with the father. The premise started out really good, but for some reason fell kinda flat towards the end. It's hard to put my finger on when the story unravelled and lost it's forward motion. It's a concept that's never been done and for that I give it 4 stars. ( )

http://shelf-monkey.blogspot.com/2008... ( )

**Warning! May Contain Traces of Spoiler!**

mmeh... it was OK... it never really affected me in any way. I was never significantly chilled and the story didn't linger in my mind in between sittings at all. There was too much that was left unexplained (although, admittedly, I am a little slow on the uptake sometimes...). I would have preferred having the explanations behind the conflict to be a little more explicit. Although some of the characters were interesting (I loved Ms. Laracy), I found them all a little too passive or resigned throughout the story. IMHO, it would have been a better focused story if one character could have truly and significantly "grabbed the reins". It would have been great to see it all though Joseph's eyes, let's say, but he "checked out of reality" halfway through the book, never to return (really). Chase didn't do a damn thing in the whole book. French was mostly wishy-washy. The only person who came close to playing detective was Dr. Thompson, but then he'd always get sidetracked by his injuries, his preoccupation with food, or his cat!? (oh, and I forgot about his brief bout of incontinence!... bad fish anyone?)

And finally, the moral of the story is... spirits no like electricity! Turn lights and TV off, then spirits happy and they visit proper and play nice like civilized ghosties. Then everybody breathe good and remember to fish!

mmeh... ( )

I'm not sure if I liked this book, but I know that I couldn't put it down. The first half was especially good, and Harvey sure knows how to set the scene... but it seemed to lose direction as it gained momentum towards the end. Overall, though, it was very well written, and if you like a really well developed, creepy setting, this is worth the read just for that.

The town of Bareneed in remote Newfoundland is not what it used to be - the fishing plant, the lifeblood of the community, sits unused. Moreover, people begin to get sick with some sort of breathing disorder that stumps the local doctor. As the sickness escalates, other strange events start happening around town as well. ( )

I picked this book up in Powell's City of Books on a recent trip to Portland to read on the plane ride home. The first half was a perfect plane read: eerie and atmospheric, and, though not exactly plot-driven, compelling enough to keep me turning the pages until touch-down. The second half, however, petered out and so did my interest. What started as a promisingly haunted portrait of a Newfoundland fishing village and its uneasy relationship to 21st-century modernity turned into a lame morality tale about how electric lights and the internet are bad for the soul, or something.

If this were made into a movie, though, I'd probably watch that on a future plane ride. ( )

I recommend this book, to you, if even just the title seems remotely interesting.

I found it by chance while browsing, and I don't feel I'm exagerating in saying that this book has a palpable atmosphere even before you begin reading. The title caught my eye, and I picked it up. The cover was at once so unique and so haunting that I had no choice but to buy the book--it's textured, and the computer can't do it justice. It took me some months to start it, though I wanted to.

This is a story which takes place in a Newfoundland seaside town, and follows an amazing array of characters over the span of a week (current day). I can honestly say that I've never seen an author create so many distinct characters to the extent that each is entirely different from the others and also feels absolutely real. They speak, feel, think, and act differently, and come across as individuals throughout though their stories are all wound together. Additionally, the detail of the town and scenery are drawn perfectly--never overwhelming, always clear and written with the perfect amount of description. The reality of the work and the characters here will lead you to every emotion you encounter with a good piece of work, from frustration to joy to sadness to fear to points when you'll laugh out loud.

I should say, this is a haunting and lyrical book. I would classify it as literary horror, though in my mind I'm still not quite happy with that phrase as fitting. I began this book in November, and read a hundred pages in one sitting. I put it down to sleep, and found I couldn't sleep peacefully--books don't normally get to me, but this one did, to the extent that while I'd been fully engaged and enamoured with the story, the characters, and the writing, the book so haunted me in the day after I read it that I was nearly afraid to pick it up again. I read another sixty pages three or four days later, and found I couldn't concentrate that night or the next day at all, so I simply put it down, though I considered it nearly daily in the interim after. I had something of a dread of what would happen, and a lasting feeling of being haunted that I wasn't ready to go back to just yet. I promised myself I would finish it over spring break when losing sleep wouldn't hurt me, and the book drew me back in within two pages. About three-fourths of the way through the book, the town was so real that it was absolutely separate from reality--I couldn't be frightened off anymore, because stepping into the book was honestly like stepping into a different world.

Does that sound sort of haunted? It does to me, but this is the most haunting book I've read, far more eerie than anything else I've picked up, and probably better written than any horror I've come across. The atmosphere and the story will suck you in if you give them a chance. I'd suggest reading them away from the ocean and with someone else around to knock you back into reality (at least for the first two hundred pages or so). If you do want a solid scare that'll have you running--sure, read them in a cottage by the sea. I'll be rereading this, but not there. If you end up picking it up, let me know what you think--for me, this is the best read of my year so far.

Five stars, absolutely ( )

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you had to consciously decide to take each and every breath? I always thought that would make a great curse for your enemies. While that idea isn't the premise of this book, it does come into play. I used to read a lot of horror and none of it ever really disturbed me (repulsed, maybe, but not disturbed), but this book did. Pay close attention in the very beginning and it will be even more fun later. I had to go flipping back to figure out if what I thought was happening really was. But read it, definitely. It's a great story, it's well written and it will still let you sleep at night. Though your heart might get a bit more of a workout than usual. ( )

I thought that this book was very well written, the characters were well formed and developed and the story was quite original. While reading this book I was able to envision the town of Bareneed and exactly what it was like there. The only real problem I had was the ending of the book where it just kind of fizzles out in a Stephen Kingish sort of way. I would recommend this book though, and I look forward to reading other books by this author. ( )

I had great hopes for this book. The title was intriguing; the premise--- original. But I think the writer lost his way . . . about 3 quarters into the book.

The prose itself is wonderfully wrought and the images described are unforgettably vivid. Some standouts is the description of the child ghost: Jessica who haunted her mother and freely interacted with a living child. The fact that she was drowned figures greatly in how she is seen. And the writing is so crystal-clear that I could practically smell her . . . I imagined sea urchins, snails and rotting Sargasso seaweed. The scene where she manifested her deterioration in the sea after death was particularly dreadful! In a Classic Horror --- sort of way. (This is a compliment.)

Kenneth Harvey is gifted. For me, there is no doubt. His character development , most evident in characters who had the Sight: Tom Quilty, an artist savant, Miss Laracy and Robin--- was outstanding. And his attention to detail in the physical world in this book . . . is beyond the painful ability of most writers. His writing is just too beautiful for words.

But I think he couldn't figure out how to write the resolution of his tale? I am still puzzled as to the source of the villagers' illness. And how the illness affected their environment. I read how they appeared to be cured but it seemed incomplete somehow. It was unsatisfying. It felt as if the author was just trying to close the book. The big event at the end of the book just seemed contrived. A device to finish the story. A unruly knot to close the thread

I will read the writer's next book. In hope that his next tale's denouement will improve. Because the other elements of his writing skills are top-notch!! 3 and a Half Stars for allowing me the pleasure of reading this book at least 3 quarters of the way. ( )

An interesting thriller that managed to create it’s own believable little – if somewhat “Dr. Who” style – world. The appeal of the setting kept me interested and helped ground the rather far fetched story, because you could believe that something supernatural might happen in a remote community in Newfoundland. The characters were never fully developed though, and the story sometimes seemed like it didn’t believe in itself, but it kept me going right to the end. ( )

I am kind of torn on my review of this book. I liked it in some areas, but others where just plain boring and annoying. It is a interesting story with good characters - I love Miss Laracy, but I just don't think I grasped the whole concept. ( )

I tried to read this book but it seemed like it was trying too hard to be good, when it clearly wasn't. The characters were weird and uninteresting. ( )