J. A. Tyler

This book sounded intriguing and I loved the cover -- A piratical father, two twin boys with pirate aspirations and a ghostly mother live in a town that is constantly raining. Along with some other subtle hints to classic movie monsters... not the creature from the black lagoon though... (though there is a lagoon!) I thought this would be a moody book, but it's almost a type of horror. Very dark at times, if this sort of story is unsettling to a certain reader. Sometimes I can't handle show more darkness of a certain flavor at certain reading times in my life. A horror based on Parenting and what parents will sometimes do to save their children. I began to think of Tyler as an Oulipo writer whose particular "writing restraint" is mentioning "rain" at least once on every page. I think Tyler does write books of poetry, so who knows if I'm correct. I did enjoy the writing on a poetic sentence level, but again, a lot of that rain could have been cut out. Overall, the plot reminded me of a missing season of the show 'Channel Zero'. (I'm a fan of 'Channel Zero'!) If you're looking for a moody, heavy on pirates, body horror, type of magical realism fable, give this a try. show less