Robert M Roberts

2.5 stars

I read this novel with my Shelfari horror group. I don't think anyone enjoyed it very much.

The story itself had promise. An artifact is discovered on a beach and quietly tucked away for further inspection. Of course, the artifact is dangerous and seems to bring bad luck to anyone that has possession of it. Sounds good, but a little familiar, right?

The telling of the story is where this book failed in my opinion. That's exactly it-the author tells, he doesn't show. And he tells us a lot. Over and over again. At one point in the story the author relates to us AGAIN, that a certain character is totally unaware of the experiences of another character. Enough already! Trust your reader to have some brains and to have realized that fact the first or second time you mentioned it.

It almost felt like someone was sitting there narrating the whole story. No feelings for the characters came across and no urgency regarding the plot was felt. Then the end came along, WHABAM out of nowhere. It felt rushed and to me, it also felt like I was being preached to, which I did not enjoy. (It wasn't in a religious way, but it did feel a bit like a sermon.)

I stuck with this until the end because I had hoped that somehow the story would redeem itself, but I'm sad to say that it never did. Even though I liked the idea of the story, the author didn't deliver it in such a way as to make me care for the characters, or what happened to them. I'm sorry that I can't recommend this novel.… (meer)