Kristin Dearborn

This was a creepy short story! After tropical storm Irene blows through Vermont, two women come together each with their own troubles. Sarah the main character picks up Neveah who is out on the highway hitchhiking, but instead of taking her on to her place in the woods, she drops her off down the road. But then Neveah shows up unexpectedly at Sarah's door. From there the story takes off on a rampant with something creeping around in the woods where Sarah lives. This book was a page turner and kept me riveted to see what was going to happen next. Four stars for this one.
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This one sat on my TBR pile for years before I read it and while I found the story pretty interesting, I wasn't interested beyond that and I doubt that this plot will stay with me very long.

The writing was competent in a narrative way, but there was little to no character development to make the story matter to the reader. In the first page we find out that the main character is getting out of prison and we are grudgingly furnished some details but nothing else. The circumstances leading up to him going to prison in the first place is a major issue for several of the characters that create key conflict points in the story, but we get nothing. In fact this is true for several major plot lines. Filling in this detail is what takes a narrative and makes it into a story. Every character has a backstory and I think you need it for them to really come alive.

That's my gripe. Some folks may disagree.… (more)

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I feel that the premise behind this story was good. The monster was original and interesting. Like some of my fellow reviewers, I feel that the blizzard atmosphere added quite a bit to the overall effect---I love stories in which weather (particularly snow) adds a level of isolation to a monster romp. The characters, however, felt to me to be pulled from the Book of Standard Monster Movie Characters---no surprises there. So much so that I didn’t really feel connection to any of them.
There also, in my opinion, was a lack of momentum and suspense in the telling that made the story one that I more or less slogged through to see how it ended, even though the creature was very interesting.

I give it a couple of points for a good monster and another point for the blizzard, but overall I only give this one three stars.… (more)

The author has brought together the perfect pairing of horror and science fiction. We're treated to a mysterious woman in white...seemingly a ghost by the traditional standard. Turns out she is much more. It makes for a spooky story indeed.

The character development in this short novella is extraordinary. Each character had such depth, I could actually visualize them in my mind. Usually in a novella, or even a short story, it's over so quickly, there isn't time to feel anything for the characters. That's not true in this excellent little novel.

Frankly, I couldn't put it down. Dearborn has grabbed my attention with this one. I now plan to check out her past offerings, the novels Sacrifice Island and Trinity, and I look forward to her future work. Well done!

(I received an eBook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)… (more)