Oh wow, another 5-STAR Review from BookLover CatLady Maxine! Amazon Reviewer amzn.to/Z5LPXB THE DAZZLING DARKNESS A phenomenal book! Crossing genres - well written, intriguing, unexpected! I started this book and did not put it down until I finished it a couple of hours later after midnight. It got me from the first word and did not let go. I absolutely loved everything about this book, for me the mix of genres in the book was brilliant. This is a book that should be more highly read than what it is. A bit of a hidden gem. So glad I got to read it and now share with you all. A secret lies buried beneath the haunting statuary in Old Willow Cemetery. In Concord, Massachusetts, the surrounding woods are alive with the spirits of transcendentalists Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott. Elias Hatch, the cemetery keeper, is the last of modern-day transcendentalists. Does he know the secret power buried in Old Willow Cemetery? Would he ever reveal it? Near the cemetery lives a family, one day whilst walking home from school with his sister, five year old Henry vanishes, goes missing, nowhere to be seen. A frantic search is undertaken, involving a massive police hunt led by Detective Balducci, sniffer dogs, community groups assisting with the search and eventually the FBI. This cemetery is guarded and tended by old Elias Hatch, who lives in a house on the grounds, he has visitors that nobody sees, he knows things that nobody knows. Of the abundant trees hovering in this graveyard, there is one long-lived silver birch whose branches extend above a row of small headstones where three babies are buried. Elias, never having had children, sits by the babies graves, deep in thought. At the back of the yard, he has a favorite trembling lilac tree. A nervous sort, the tree likes to hug the obelisk carved with two hands raised in benediction. And sometimes, that old wild-hearted pine at the corner swipes at the satin moon as if to snatch it down. Nature growing conscious, Elias might say. Do you sense the atmosphere, do you think that the trees might be a little alive? Something is in the air. You can feel it reading the book, you know something is coming, you get tingles and in my case all my spidey-senses were on high alert. The book is really clever, the first part of the book is a very well written crime book essentially, the police are fully engaged, a reward is offered for the return of young Henry, the pond is dredged in case he drowned. Its tense. The family are distressed, but what of Henrys sister? Shes made a new friend, a new friend, a girl who has secrets. She likes the way her friend braids her long hair. Her friend likes the trees, she talks of them. The imagery in this book and how atmospheric it is was fantastic, I was sucked in to it totally, could not turn the pages quick enough. Paula Cappa weaves in glimpses of the supernatural, ghostly happenings into this modern day crime scene so well, its like nothing I remember ever reading before. It gets better dear readers oh yes! I cannot share too much as I will totally spill the beans and spoil it for you. But this cemetery, old Elias and the local Catholic Vicar know things that nobody else knows, things of old, secrets contained, energies buried waiting to burst into life again. With brilliant writing the plot develops into something so special, as the hunt for Henry begins to cross lines, everybody is starting to realise that sometimes what you think is real has other facets to it, that just when you think you see all sides to things, a prism of secrets breaks through from the other side. What they find is spectacular, what they stumble upon is jaw-dropping good. I know I am sounding a big vague, its because the latter half of the book is all spoilers if I tell you whats happening. But the aspects of the metaphysical, science and the supernatural gets weaved into the plot. There is something so powerful its dangerous in the wrong hands. Old Elias is a thanatologist (I had to look it up, its a person who studies death and all things related essentially.) like his family before him. On the contrary. She died fully conscious of the death process. She was a thanatologist, just like my father, and me. Is death the end of us? Or is there more? I loved the way this book is written, the crime element, the drama of the missing boy, the ghostly atmosphere, the unusual characters, the supernatural, the paranormal, the religious, the hidden and the revealed. Its all here and its fantastic. I did NOT expect this book to go where it did, I did not expect it to be as good as it is. The characters are strong and well written, the plot is intricate and paced well, the atmosphere is thrilling, the ending was beautifully done too. Oh the ending! Oh my, I had a tear in my eye, but it was a happy/sad tear, one of those. I dont cry many of them when reading but I did reading this book. The entire journey that crosses realms and genres is essentially all about the hunt to find five year old Henry. The hope that he is alive and well and not buried and dead or kidnapped and held hostage. Nothing is given away as to where the cookie will crumble in relation to Henry. But those that love him, and the police that are invested in finding him will stop at nothing to find him. Let it take you to another place, one full of surprises, you wont predict what happens I guarantee it. There are some scenes in the second half of the book that have the most incredible imagery and information, I felt like I was absorbing new knowledge with my eyes wide open in delight and fear at the same time. A book that I highly recommend, a review that has been hard to write as I want to share SO much more but I will spoil it for you. I want to babble and talk with others about what happens. But you read it, tell me what you think.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 23:41:04 +0000
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