Niceville

It starts with a disappearance straight from The Twilight Zone, moves into a Elmore Leonardesque crime thriller, takes a hard left into the seedy exploits of a voyeur with a grudge, and overlays it all with a heaping (and deadly) dose of Southern gothic supernatural. It’s amazing Stroud keeps it all straight, and a pure miracle it comes together as well as it does. I was never sure of where he was taking me, but I had a hell of a good time getting there. And since Stroud has been nice enough to continue the exploits of Niceville (in The Homecoming), I’m booking myself a return trip.

Read the full review here.

In March 2013, I read this book and I loved it...until the end. Have you ever been reading a book, and hit that point where you realize, barring a miracle, there's no way the story will be wrapped up in the few remaining pages you have left?

I've had that happen on several occasions, but I had never been more disappointed than I was when I reached the end of Niceville. Why?

I loved this book. As I was reading it, I recommended it to anyone I thought might like its quirky mix of hard-boiled action and gothic supernatural plotting.

But when I reached the end, I literally read the last line and said, "There's no way. There's absolutely no way someone who wrote a novel this well done leaves it hanging like this."

And yet, there had been no more show more pages to read.

In my profound disappointment, I came here and grudgingly gave the book a three-star rating, simply because everything up to that crappy ending was phenomenal.

Over the next few months, this book stuck with me. There had been so much potential and it was over.

Then I happened to see the next book released by Carsten Stroud. It was call The Homecoming and, when I read the blurb, realized it was the rest of the story from Niceville.

I've just finished The Homecoming and, before I wrote my review of it, came back to what I'd written for the first book. I'd uncharacteristically written nothing. Just rated it and moved on.

I was that disappointed.

Now I can say it. Niceville and The Homecoming aren't first novel and sequel. They aren't the first and second half of a story. They are one story. You read Niceville then, without pause, immediately pick up The Homecoming and continue on. There's no pause in the stories, no break. It's one book, confusingly broken into two parts, with no real indication in either book that the other even exists, which, to my mind, is an absolutely stupid decision on the publisher's part. Anyone picking up The Homecoming is going to realize there's an entire story they missed. Anyone ignorant of The Homecoming and ending at Niceville is going to suffer the same disappointment I felt.

The two books are one. Read them both.

And bask in the glory of a phenomenal story. show less

Carsten Stroud really knows how to write so that your chances of putting down anything he writes are next to nil. I immediately got swept up in this Southern Gothic horror mystery kind of like Stephen King's IT convoluted but compelling novel. I lost an entire day of potential cleaning and catching up on errands to this masterful, very very weird "Twin Peaks" ish world. Cannot recommend enough!!

I didn't really know what I was getting myself into with this one. I read about it, some quick little blurb somewhere, and it seemed like it could be a "lose yourself in here" kind of book. I think the quick synopsis is something like "boy suddenly disappears, like caught-on-camera disappears. town in a tizzy. something's weird in niceville."

I thought to myself, sure! that sounds good to me...
Now that I've read it (rather quickly), I find myself having a difficult time really describing it. So, the little two-liner above isn't inaccurate. it's just not accurate either.

Niceville is like reading a Stephen King without the gore. Or maybe a Grisham with ghosts. Or maybe nothing at all like Stephen King or John Grisham because it just show more doesn't fit.

It was well written. It was VERY well populated with characters. It was intriguing. It was funny (surprisingly). It was a horror story, kind of, but not gory, really. It was a thriller, maybe even psychological, but maybe it's more of a crime story. It would make a good crime tv series. Especially since I know that there are more coming (yay!).

So, what's it about? It's about this town, Niceville, where things aren't so nice. (that's not surprising, I don't think, from either the title or the cover image). There's a cliff and a sink hole that seem to make people act ... odd. There's a missing boy, then something happens (i hate spoilers), and then the boy is back. Kind of. Or maybe not.

But then there's also the bank robbers. There're the pervie side-characters. There's the genius techie. There're Nick, Kate, and Kate's dad. There's Glynis Ruelle. And there's Claire Mercer. There's also so much more. Again, I was impressed with the amount packed into this book, particularly because it read so quickly. I find that a rare skill -- the ability to introduce a reader to a high number of characters, to allow the reader to really get to know the characters, and to do so while moving the plot(s) along quickly and effortlessly.

I highly recommend, but I also warn it's dark. If you want something light & fluffy... well, if you want something light & fluffy I'm probably not your girl. But this is on the darker side of dark. But not squeamish. Not nightmare. Just ... you know, that slight discomfort in the quiet 2 a.m. when everyone else in the house is asleep...

FOUR of five stars. show less

Book Review - Niceville by Carsten Stroud

Niceville
Carsten Stroud
Trade Paperback
Advance Reader’s Copy
400 pages
Knopf Doubleday
Publication Date: June 12, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0307700957

Buried in Niceville is something evil… and the harvest is coming.

Carsten Stroud is probably not a name that immediately comes to mind when discussing horror or dark-suspense stories. In fact, he’s probably most well-known for his politically-driven, suspenseful mystery novels than for anything else. However, Mr. Stroud has found a way to channel all the coolest (read darkest and weirdest) parts of modern horror into one ominous place, Niceville. Stroud’s everyman style and the murky content of Niceville will inevitably elicit comparisons to Stephen show more King, Clive Barker, or Graham Masterton and while this happens quite often when authors cross into the horror genre it’s totally justified in this instance, and, for good reason. While their styles are complimentary and very similar (smart-mouthed characters and irreverent dialogue backed by an eerie premise) Stroud manages to incorporate elements of Southern Gothic, ghost-realms, Quentin Tarantino-like characters, bloody gun-battles, American Indian folklore, paranormal mystery, and some of the nastiest, most flawed antagonists you’ll ever come across in modern, dark fiction. It’s an outlandish combination, to be sure, but it all works and works quite well, in my estimation.

I have to admit that to me Niceville read very much like a Stephen King novel. Quickly paced, easy to read, and journeyman in approach much of Niceville’s horror is found “off page,” by which I mean it’s left somewhat to our own imaginations (especially when moving through the realms where the dead reside or when the living are murdered.) And my imagination can, when pushed just right, conjure more horrifying images than could ever be written, something that King has done perfectly for many years and that Stroud has tapped into.

With a name like Niceville you might immediately think of a sociable, idyllic village with friendly neighbors, an antiquated town-square, award winning rose bushes, and fun-filled, summer parades. You couldn’t be more wrong. Niceville is a very dark place. Children have disappeared at an alarming rate there which has the distinction of having the highest rate of stranger abduction in the country. When a security camera catches the most recent abduction it only fuels the mystery. One moment Rainey is there, on camera. The next he’s simply vanished. When he’s found alive in a sealed crypt the confusion deepens. Who, or what, is abducting the children of Niceville and why? And, what does a high-profile bank robbery, 80 years of disappearances, and a black lake at the edge of town have to do with each other? When you enter Niceville you’ll find out.

There’s a grocery list of characters in Niceville and the story moves from many of their perspectives, sometimes rather abruptly, and while that is slightly confusing and a little interruptive it bears mentioning that Stroud reels all the characters in together nicely as the story progresses and delivers a neat, tightly-woven climax that does not disappoint. While the numerous characters may seem a drawback to some I rather enjoyed the weaving together of the many characters, especially since Stroud brought them all together in a surprisingly satisfying (and spine-tingling) ending.

If you like Southern Gothic, Stephen King, imaginative horror, larger-than-life characters, or dark suspense then I recommend Niceville for you.

4 out of 5 stars

The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin show less

Carsten Stroud can really write. His prose is excellent and his descriptions are really vivid, as are his characters. This literary/suspense/horror novel kept me interested throughout, and I didn't have too much trouble keeping track of the myriad plot threads, even though I was reading a couple of other books also. The ending didn't really leave me wholly satisfied, however, and I thought that some of the plot threads were left dangling. Other plot rhreads were left open to interpretation, which I enjoy sometimes, but in this case, I felt a more concrete resolution to certain things would have been more satisfying.

That said, I certainly didn't mind reading Niceville. I was entertained & there were certainly some deliciously horrific show more "Oh shit" cringe-inducing moments. I wouldn't be opposed to reading some of Mr. Stroud's other novels. show less

I really enjoyed Niceville. Mystery/Horror is my kinda book. I assumed it'd have been a straightforward kidnapping, I didn't realise ghosts were involved when I purchased it. Maybe if I'd known that I wouldn't have picked it up. But I'm glad I did! It was incredibly well written, every chapter ending with something that made you want more. The characters were cleverly intertwined, and even though there were quite a few, I still knew who was who. Brilliantly written. I'm still not sure about the ending, but I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. I had shivers down my spine at points.