My final review of 2019 was on the
soon to be released book, Purgatory
Bay. While it is not really an FFB review worthy title because of the
recent publication date, I thought I would remind you today of my review from a
little bit over a year ago of the first book in the series, Bleak
Harbor. You should also read his Starvation
Lake Series. For more reading suggestions, make sure you check out the full
list over at Todd Mason’s Sweet
Freedom Blog.
It
has been several years since his excellent series billed as The
Starvation Lake Trilogy, but finally author Bryan Gruley is back with a
new book. Bleak Harbor more than lives up to the hype surrounding it.
Daniel
Peters, who only goes by Danny, is about to be sixteen. Son of Carey and
Andrew, he isn’t that fond of Bleak Harbor. It is a Thursday as the book
opens and Danny is spending his time, as he often does, out on the dock
watching the dragonflies.
Dragonflies
are a major part of his life as an autistic young teen. They are also the
reason for the upcoming annual “Southwestern Michigan Dragonfly Festival” that starts
tomorrow which also happens to be his birthday. This will be 28th such festival
in a city known more for the legacy of the Bleak family. Daniel Peters is a part
of the Bleak family and that legacy even if his incredibly wealthy grandmother,
Serenity, refuses to acknowledge his presence or existence. She has the town
and her family firmly under her control and their failure to cooperate has
economic consequences for anyone and everyone.
That
includes Danny’s parents as his mother is Carey Bleak Peters, daughter of
Serenity. She has many regrets and they include moving to Bleak Harbor. She did
it to help her husband start his already failing medical marijuana business as
well as get help for Danny from her family. As that has all failed, she has
made a last ditch gamble. Now that she has proof of several different things, she
can take down her boss and his company. She has told him she won’t pull that
trigger---if her wealthy and powerful boss pays her ten million dollars for her
silence. Not only can he afford it, she really wants to take Danny away with
her so that they can start a new life. Daddy, who is working his own agenda,
won’t be part of that new life.
Before
she can make good on their escape, Danny goes missing and has obviously been
kidnapped.
As
the hours pass, things escalate out of control in this thriller. Author Bryan Gruley follows the standard
thriller formula these days of keeping the chapters short and the point of view
constantly changing as he ratchets up the tension. He also does a superb job of
misdirection that surprised this reader. Bleak Harbor is engrossing and
intense read from start to finish and very much worth your time. Sadly,
the second book in the series, Purgatory Bay, is not currently scheduled to come out until January 2020.)
Bleak Harbor: A Novel
Bryan Gruley
Thomas & Mercer (Amazon Publishing)
December 1, 2018
ISBN#: 978-1503904682
Hardback (also available in digital and audio book formats)
$24.95
378 Pages
ARC
supplied by Sarah Burningham of Little Bird Publicity.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2018, 2020
Posts
2 comments:
Great review, Kevin.
Stout heart, my friend. Stay safe, stay healthy.
Thank you, on both counts.
I am trying. I am under 60, but at high risk for this damn thing. At least it has stopped everyone who is local from trying to get me to go somewhere thinking it will help with the deep sea of grief. It may be the 20th of March 2020, but it still feels like her passing just happened.
Anyway, hope you are well and staying healthy as well, Alex.
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