An Interesting Gothic Tale for Young Adults

Review by Ronica Wahi

The Adamson Family

By Lee Allen Howard

Edition reviewed: October 25, 2017, Three First Names, Kindle Edition.

Pages: 144.

ASIN: B076V1MYV9

The Adamson Family is a piece of young adult fiction, but it can certainly be enjoyed by adults too. As the genre is Gothic, there are secrets from the past, a haunted house, emotional distress, suicide, and turmoil in the life of the young protagonist, Rendo Flex.

Ren wants to be smarter and able at exercising greater control over his life. When his mother, who has been undergoing treatment since years for her instability, wants to visit to meet him and his sister - Calista - whom he fears will walk down the same path as their mother, he wishes for an escape. As he plans this, he finds the means for an adventure instead. For he discovers that the stories about the old, dilapidated house near where he lives are probably not untrue.

There is certainly thrill in the story. But there are also elements of pain and sadness concerning the history of the Adamson family; there is the issue of how a disturbed individual can wreak havoc on self and family. Alongside are presented various challenges, motivations, aspirations of young adults with distinct personality traits; the traits and shades of the major characters do stand out as these characters are etched out well.

Lee Allen Howard has decades of experience with words for he has been working as a technical writer and an editor since 1985. Where his fiction writing is concerned, he has a fascination for dark tales; he has written horror, psychological thrillers, and crime fiction. This experience has ensured The Adamson Family’s turning out an engaging read. The scenes wherein Ren is inside the haunted house are particularly well-crafted, for they manage to evoke the intended feelings of anxiety and fear. It would have made the read even more enjoyable had the horror aspects been given more space.

It’s quite likely that much before the reveal, the reader will guess what’s going on. But this doesn’t really take from the interest factor as the narrative progresses in an intriguing style and keeps the reader eager to know how things are going to unravel.

Howard presents life in 1918-19 and in 1977 in small-town Berne, Indiana and suitably presents a slower pace of life, yet the narrative reads quickly and smoothly. Overall, The Adamson Family is a good read, fit engagement for a leisurely hour.

 

Check out The Adamson Family (Kindle edition) on Amazon India:

https://amzn.to/3GB45mp

 


DISCLAIMER: Ronica Wahi is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of the Amazon links provided by Ronica here, she may receive a small commission, without any extra cost to you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fifteen Stars Under the Sky!

Image
Review by Ronica Wahi We are the Champions By Rashmi Bansal and Devendra Tak First published: February 14, 2020, Bushfire. Pages: 206.  ISBN: 9788193182130 “It takes a child to raise a village.” This statement on the back cover is enough for the reader to know that encountered will be extraordinary tales. Yes, extraordinary indeed, for isn’t a child someone who needs to be raised? What the reader knows from the cover is proved as he/she moves through the pages of this interesting and inspiring chronicle of the achievements of fifteen children from across India whom the authors Rashmi Bansal and Devendra Tak rightly hail as the Champions of Change .  The book is inspiring because it shows how determination and the will to accomplish something can be truly rewarding. Raising a voice against established practices is hard enough and these children have not only raised their voices but also fought to bring real change, change that is not...
Read more

A Powerful Rendering of the King Midas Story

Image
  Review by Ronica Wahi The Curse of King Midas By Colleen M. Story First published: May 13, 2024, Midchannel Press. Pages: 426. ISBN: 9780999099179 Spectacular is the story that Colleen M. Story has told! Vibrant, colourful, and arresting the tapestry she has woven! The Curse of King Midas isn’t history or myth, but a mythological fantasy , and must be treated as such. It borrows from history, and myths and legends, and uses what it borrows beautifully. But what it essentially serves is an innovative, flavourful, and delectable preparation that has power struggles, politics, thirst for revenge, love, and magic as important ingredients. The Prologue is gripping, and immediately draws the reader into the story and gets him /her invested in the fates of Karem – the future King Midas – and his little sister Elanur. The haunting scenes of the Prologue proudly showcase the writer’s gift of storytelling and of generating immense interest. The book presents more dimens...
Read more

Novice to Strider: A Good Guide for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Image
Review by Ronica Wahi Technology to Business: The Invisible Gap By Harish C Rijhwani Edition Reviewed: May, 2020, Independently Published, Kindle.   Pages: 132.  ISBN: 9781234567890 The cover by Mansi Shah is arresting and quite revealing. It makes an impactful visual impression, driving home the idea that the path linking the world of technology and the world of business has a gap substantial enough to make one fall straight down if one fails to be aware of it. This failure is quite possible because this gap, as the cover indicates and the title – Technology to Business: The Invisible Gap - asserts, is invisible. The job Harish C Rijhwani has taken up is to attempt to make it visible – this is the intent and the achievement of this book. For a person who lacks a degree or any formal training in technology and/or business, there is not infrequently a certain hesitation in picking up a book that delves into these domains and then ...
Read more