Today’s team review is from Terry.
Terry blogs here https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Terry has been reading The Surfacing by Terrance Coffey.
4 out of 5 stars
What struck me all the way through this book is that it would make a terrific Netflix series of the Stranger Things kind; I notice that the author is also a screenwriter, so I wondered if he’d imagined it in this vein as it was being written.
I like books set in small-town America; this takes place in Lynch, Kentucky and Appalachia, Virginia. In each close community, it becomes increasingly apparent that some people are not who they claim to be. Others are possessed of superhuman powers, while mysterious chasms appear in the land, and curious sightings are recorded. People disappear, or change personality overnight.
The story is written from many third person points of view; again, this would have worked if visual, when the actors themselves provide the characterisation, but when they’re just names on a page it’s not so easy to keep track of them all. Some, like alcoholic mine worker Clay and his wife Tara, were fully three dimensional, so I could remember who they were, but I had trouble with others; I kept starting a new chapter and thinking, “Who’s this fella, again?” Aside from this, it was well-written and nicely paced, with the mystery of what exactly was going on unfurling slowly, not fully revealed until half-way through. I appreciated this, as a good plot (which The Surfacing undoubtedly has) is nothing without skilled pacing.
Nice piece of fantasy/paranormal type scifi, for those who love the genre.
Book description:
Body snatchers. Mind control. An invasion almost too clever to be caught. Read the most chilling sci fi suspense thriller in years…A seemingly normal six-year-old named Kaden is concealing a profound mystery. He possesses an uncanny wisdom beyond his tender age, navigating the world independently, and wielding an eerie influence over those around him, even his parents. Yet Kaden is not alone in his inexplicable nature. In the quiet town of Lynch, Kentucky, peculiar occurrences spiral out of control. Mysterious chasms materialize from thin air, individuals of all ages vanish without a trace, and the populace succumbs to an eerie force, enveloped by an otherworldly blue haze. Amidst the chaos stands Clay Krutcher, a disenchanted coal miner unwittingly holding the key to unravelling these anomalies. Little does he know, the fate of humanity rests squarely on his shoulders. Can Clay defy his own destiny, confront the inhuman force lurking beneath the surface, and save our world from impending annihilation? The countdown to The Surfacing has begun, and time is running out.
Rosie Amber 
Intriguing. Thanks, Terry and Rosie!
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Thanks for the review. I do not like books where I have to keep a written list of characters!
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