Reviews and Comments

Some very good stories, some barely mediocre.

Where Red Rabbit was an epic journey, Rose of Jerico was a tight story of life, death, and love.

While not nearly as grand in scale or deeply reflective if the human condition, there is something about this one that evokes McMurtry's view of the American Frontier. The ease and unpredictability of death. The way the enormous isolation twisted people and societies.

Of course, this one has demons, witches, and shapeshifters.

Also, can I just say, the use of places I grew up near is quite a trip. I mean, I have family living in the small town of Oswego, Kansas!

Something about this story was compelling. I wanted to read it. To get to the end and find out what was waiting. But jeez, what clumsy writing. What awkward dialog. What unfathomable decisions by so many characters. I don't know. It's a competent serial killer story wrapped in clumsy King-style nostalgia and poor prose.

So long. Interesting. Exciting, even, but so, so long.

Of all the Detective Kaga novels I've read, this was there closest to "let down" I've felt. I appreciate the effort at something new in the structure, but the whole reveal just felt so forced. Still, it was overall a smooth and enjoyable read.

This is one of those books where style and substance meet in a fascinating mix, but are almost spoiled by a baffling choice. This time, the writer (and publishers?) tried to frame what is at heart a socially conscious serial killer thriller with a mystery-style "trick" that serves no discernible purpose other than to let them put "Mystery" in the blurbs.

Other than that, it really is an extraordinarily well crafted, if deeply disturbing, book about generational trauma, social norms that encourage the degradation of girls, and lots and lots of murders.

Well, that was weird. Short enough to leave me wanting more, I guess.

Including transgressions against language.

I get why peiple caught onto the time story. It was weird and shocking, but damn. There riding was so clunky and prone to flourishes that were simply wrong.

This is an asylum story for today, a parable of systemic misery, defeat and victory in the face of unsteerable momentum.