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Book Review: The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden


The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden
Skyscape Books, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1503946545
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, Audible

New Orleans, with its rich history and varied people, reeks of life, death, and mystery, intriguing both writers and readers. Anne Rice, Heather Graham, and  Poppy Z. Brite have captured the wonders and horrors well: the Big Easy is more than a colorful backdrop, it is a living, breathing character integral to their stories.

New Orleans native Alys Arden, with her debut novel, The Casquette Girls, succeeds at this as well: she knows her city, and her audience will experience much more than the glitz of Bourbon Street. While it’s being marketed as a YA title, this is a great story that will intrigue readers of all ages and from many genres. The horror burns sweeter than a midnight car bomb on St. Louis Street, the romance as bitter  and satisfying as the coffee at Café Du Monde. The mystery tugs the reader  in deeper than the voodoo shops lure tourists off the beaten paths.

Adele is a sixteen-year-old resident of New Orleans who returns from vacation after Hurricane Katrina has destroyed the city. Now home, she finds that New Orleans has become a dark and dangerous place, as bodies begin to turn up in the streets. Adele uncovers secrets in her attic, locked up for over three centuries, that unleash monstrous results into her life and town. The lives of her friends, schoolmates, and father are in peril,  and Adele soon realizes that there is much more going in the city, and with her friends, than she knew.  She encounters strangers who may be the key to survival, and finds herself torn between two boys, each with a dangerous past.

While the plot seems to follow along standard lines for YA paranormal romance, there is much more to the story, and it is worth your time to allow the story to unfold at a smooth but suspenseful pace. Discovering the Casquette Girls themselves, and their stories, alone is worth the journey.

Arden has produced an excellent debut novel, and with writing as polished as this, we can expect to see much more from her in the future. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on March 5, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Little Boy Blu by Cara Brookins

Little Boy Blu by Cara Brookins

The Wild Rose Press, Inc., 2014

ISBN: 978-1628306903

Available: Paperback, Kindle

 

Novels set in Appalachia will always hold a certain mystique: there’s a certain air about the location found only in a few places in America. In Little Boy Blu, readers will find themselves immersed in a dense atmosphere comprised of heavy forests, mountains, moonshine stills, and a culture that entices, amazes, and often frightens those outside of this geographic microcosm. This is what makes Cara Brookins’ tale so tantalizing.

Brookins is the author of the very successful Timeshifters series, and has now penned what just might become a staple in the genre. Based on true stories of the “blue” people of Kentucky, Little Boy Blu centers around a family living far away from the mainstream, deep within the woods, where time and civilization often fail to penetrate. Blu Tracey was born with an anomaly—he’s the only one in his family who does not sport the blue-tinged skin. This characteristic gives them a disturbing bond and also places a target on their souls.

Blu’s mother sold out her family for a reality show, but her pseudo-fame didn’t quite pan out the way she had planned. Her own story is chronicled alongside Blu’s during a journey where he discovers that someone is trying to kill him. But is the killer from the world outside their own, or from someplace much closer?

 Many threads weave together into a story as profound as the mountain song that echoes through the hills and flows down the rivers and streams which bisect Blu’s world. Little Boy Blu is Southern Gothic crossbred with a tight thriller. It sings with Brookins’ stylish writing, smoother than the ‘shine found in those hills, but just as potent. Her characters are the backbone of the story,   and will entice just before punching the reader in the heart with twists and turns that work on so many levels. Tough to categorize but very easy to love, I recommend giving this fine novel a shot. Recommended for age 15 and up.

Contains: N/A

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on August 22, 2015 by , Reply
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