Happy Monday, Squiders! Today I’ve got Icarus by David K. Hulegaard for your potential enjoyment. It’s scifi noir. David will be giving away a $25 gift card during his review tour, entry for which you can find at the bottom of the post.
It’s the winter of 1947 in Ashley Falls, West Virginia, and a teenage girl has gone missing. Local private detective Miller Brinkman takes the case, quickly uncovering a string of bizarre clues. A hidden diary, cryptic riddles, and buried secrets all pique Miller’s interest, but one key detail gives him pause: the girl’s parents haven’t reported her disappearance to the authorities.
As the case deepens, Miller’s investigation begins to poke holes in the idyllic picture of his beloved hometown. No longer certain whether anyone in his community can be trusted, Miller dives headfirst into a desperate search for the truth that extends far beyond the borders of Ashley Falls. He soon discovers that his missing persons case is not an isolated incident, but part of an otherworldly mystery—one that, if confronted, may threaten the very future of humanity.
Excerpt:
Jessie stalled in the doorway, studying the parking lot. She turned her head left to right several times, conducting a sweep of the area.
I plopped a coin on the table and joined her. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s probably nothing.” Jessie adjusted the book bag on her shoulder. “I think my mind’s playing tricks on me. Earlier I thought I saw… Oh, never mind.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe I was being followed on the way here from school.”
“Followed? Did you see someone?”
“Well, I didn’t get a good look or nothing, but I could’ve sworn I saw a man in a black suit behind me. Sort of keeping a distance, you know?” Jessie said. “But when I got here, he was gone.” She covered her eyes. “Gee, it sounds like I’ve read Jane’s journal one too many times, huh?”
I chuckled, though it was more from nerves than humor. “Tell you what, Jessie: how about I walk you home? I’m headed that direction anyway.”
“Oh, that’d be swell. Are you sure it’s no trouble?”
I reached into my coat pocket and felt the familiar shape of my Colt revolver at my side. “Nope. No trouble at all.”
My Review:
I get so waffle-y about these reviews. Anyway, in the end, I think I’d give this one a 3.5/5. I was going to say flat 3, but then I felt bad about being harsh, so there you are.
There’s a lot of great things about this book. Miller’s point of view is interesting and he has an excellent amount of sass. The conspiracy at the heart of the story has a lot of cool elements to it. There’s Puckett. (<3 Puckett.) The just-post-WWII era works well for the story and the noir element in it. (That being said, do people do modern day noir? Cuz I wouldn’t mind reading some of that as well. Let me know if you know of any good ones.) The pacing is good, though there are occasional reader asides that don’t always pan out (for example, Miller notes that a reminder that he’s being followed is good, or he’d be dead before Baltimore, but then nothing happens between DC and Baltimore to warrant the note, and I kept expecting something to). The secondary and side characters are well-developed and read like real people.
I really only had two problems with the book. The issue is that they really rubbed me the wrong way.
The first is the prologue. It’s told from the POV of the girl Miller spends the rest of the book trying to find, and the voice is, well, it’s one of the most stereotypical teenage girl voices I’ve ever read. I could barely get through it, and was relieved when we switched into Miller’s point of view and I realized I would never have to read that point of view again. What’s weird, though, is this character is treated with much better handling throughout the rest of the book, and the prologue really doesn’t add anything to the story that doesn’t come out better elsewhere. I just don’t know why it’s there, and it almost stopped me from reading on.
The other is that there is a textbook example of fridging. I won’t tell you who, but I will tell you that I really liked the character, and that it was obvious from the moment she walked onto the page that she was going to be fridged. So I spent a good part of the book going “You’d better not fridge her or I will be so mad,” and then when she was, of course, fridged, I was mad, as expected. I am still mad, because it didn’t really seem to do that much in the great scheme of the plot. Argh! Why!
(For those unfamiliar with the term, “fridging” is where a character is killed off solely to provide motivation for the main character. It can be–and often is–a “cheap” way to create angst. TVTropes has an entire page on the trope.)
So, other than that, I liked the book. If you think you’d like a post-WWII noir with some supernatural elements, you might like it too.
Author Bio:
David K. Hulegaard is an American author and paranormal investigator. His Noble trilogy has garnered comparisons to the works of Philip K. Dick and Stephen King. In 2016, he collaborated with best-selling author Tony Healey on the novel Planet of Ice.
David previously worked at BioWare, a premiere video game development studio known for creating the popular Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises. He now lives in the Victorian seaport town of Port Townsend, Washington with his wife Jennie, and their banana-obsessed Welsh Terrier Tobi. In his spare time, he enjoys video games, professional wrestling, and photography.
Links:
( The Official Website of David K. Hulegaard | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon )
David Hulegaard will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
