Lost Hunters

Rating:
Summary: A Roller-Coaster Read
Review: Deanne Devine's first novel is at once unique, wildly creative and completely grounded. The characters are everyday people, quirky but real. Be warned, the situations in which they find themselves are as surreal as anything you've encountered in contemporary literature. This makes for a virtual State-Fair-Amusement-Park-Haunted-House ride. It's creaky, gritty, rickety, and all the more frightening because of it. You won't know what's going to happen next.

The tension is expertly managed by Ms. Devine's pragmatic and humorous writing style. After a spooky preamble which foreshadows the supernatural bent of things to come, the narrative flows easily and the dialogue is all too familiar and realistic. So much so that you are pulled along quite happily on the surface of life in a small town only to be astounded when you think back and realize what's really happening. You may find yourself thinking, "Oh, somebody moved the mannequin as a practical joke" only to gradually intuit the deeper, more sinister meaning. (The mannequin appears on the front cover of the book, hint-hint.) Plot developments are aptly prepared by Ms. Devine's use of flashbacks about and "historical" background on the characters and their lineages. There is nothing superfluous in the way she has structured this origami-like plot.

What the writer omits has the effect of making things all the more frightening. You might not be able to completely visualize the nebulous spirit plane which intersects with our own at roughly twenty year intervals. It's downright strange, but then again, you can't pin down the supernatural. At the end of the novel, the story on the earthly plane is skillfully resolved. But then there is a brief postlude in the spirit world which balances the preamble. Where are these spirit-people? What will happen to them? The novel ends in the same tantalizing fashion as it began.

The first thing I want to do is read this book again. Then, I hope there's a sequel because I want to know "What happens to that BABY???"

Perhaps the author is saying that we're all Lost Hunters and it may be too much to hope for all the answers.

Rating:
Summary: A highly recommended, riveting read
Review: Deanne Devine's Lost Hunters is a compelling novel of death, murder, an ancient curse and hidden secrets reaching back two hundred years. With tense action and memorable characters put in grim dilemmas, Lost Hunters is a book not easily put down once begun. A highly recommended, riveting read.

Rating:
Summary: Good read!
Review: Great book! For the first 20+ pages the reader is not sure what is happening or where it will lead. Stick with it! As with any good roller coaster ride, things get more lively after the top of the first hill. The book is consistently interesting and thrilling throughout. "Lost Hunters" is a good scary book while managing to be thoughtful at the same time - I would recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: Lost Hunters is a suspense/horror novel set in a small town. Leslie's mother was killed during the "Itch" some twenty years before. The Itch has returned to Salem just about every twenty years so it is just about due. Surrounding Leslie is her family, her friends and several people who are just faces on the street until she is threatened by the Itch. People are pulled and pushed by fate and an old curse, some believe and some don't but all are changed.

I knew I liked this book when Mz. Devine treats the reader to an overview of the Fruit Bowl (Leslie's suburb) through the eyes of each of the neighbors. It is fascinating to see the world through all those different eyes, and it means that the reader knows those people for later in the story. Several times Deanne uses this trick to great effect. Even the snooty neighbor is more than a stereotype because we have seen the world through her view point and know that she is more than just the snooty neighbor.

Lost Hunters was a treat to read. Mz. Devine handles her characters, plot and dialogue with a deft touch. Readers are treated to a novel that is a memorable story. This is Mz. Devine's first novel and I am looking forward to her future books. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Reviewed by: Alex McGinty Reviewed for: MSF&F Copyright @2001 Alex McGinty...

Rating:
Summary: Legends and old wife's tales aren't really true, are they??
Review: Strange things were happening in Miltonville. Unbelievable things. The Itch was just a legend, wasn’t it? A legend passed down from generation to generation just like an old wife’s tale. Everyone knows that legends and old wife’s tales aren’t really true. Are they?

Ed Philips wasn’t so sure. He had a suitcase full of old documents that his father had passed on to him. He was afraid to show the documents to anyone. They would say he was just a crazy old drunken coot.

Leslie Vickers wasn’t so sure. Her mother had died in the last Itch twenty years earlier. That’s what everyone said anyway but Leslie knew that her mother had just been in the wrong place at the right time. She had been shot. Nothing to do with The Itch at all. The Itch was just a legend. Wasn’t it?

John Barker stirred. It was almost time. It had been almost twenty years since the last Itch. He smelled the Vanderkellen. The scent was getting stronger. The stench was almost unbearable as he struggled to escape from his shadowy world.

Deanne Devine has created a masterful thriller with Lost Hunters. Hang on for the ride as you get lost in the world she has created. This is one that you don’t want to read late at night unless you have the doors locked and the lights turned up bright. [...]