JL SMITHER
  • Home
  • About JL
  • Blog
  • Writing
    • Short stories and poems
    • Novel (in-progress)
    • Nonfiction
  • Comic
    • Monster at the Institute
    • The Hunter

Blog.

Review of The Fate of Mercy Alban

6/30/2015

 
Picture
Picture
Webb, Wendy, and Kirsten Potter. 2013. The fate of Mercy Alban. [Ashland, Or.]: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/
827269390
Despite some plotting and characterization challenges, The Fate of Mercy Alban is an engaging and entertaining read. The ideas that push the plot forward are unique and keep the reader guessing, mostly.

Throughout reading this, though, I thought that the author struggled with how much credit to give her audience. At times, the characters come up with explanations for what's happening that are so unreasonable, it feels contrived. And yet, even when I thought "Obviously, it's not A, it's B," it usually ended up being C. So why do the characters stick stubbornly to A?

They also at times seem to completely forget where they are and what's happening,which causes them to make other questionable decisions. For example, <spoiler> they finally find the manuscript that is expected to reveal the truth to everything that's happening. But then, they read it slowly, out loud, and have long re-cap conversations in between the chapters. And they leave it unread for most of the book. I understand that it would have totally disrupted the plot to have the characters so easily figure it all out, but what you would do? "Hey, this book should give all the answers we've been seeking! How about we skim through it, especially skipping to the end, to figure this out without endangering ourselves more?" "Nah, let's savor it, read it really slowly, and let things play out as they will." Really?

Also, why does the Protestant preacher go to bed with the woman he just met, who's not sure she's emotionally ready for a relationship, who has returned home after a 20+ year absence, whose mother has just died, and who is going through one of the most difficult, stressful, and frightening times of her life? Did the author think that we wouldn't believe a romantic relationship between two adults if they didn't have sex within the first two weeks of meeting each other? Why make him a preacher, then?</spoiler>

Even despite these complaints, though, there are some genuinely creepy moments throughout The Fate of Mercy Alban. And the plot is twisty enough that I was surprised even when I thought the characters were going out of their way to avoid the obvious conclusion. I see that this was the author's debut novel, and it reads like one. But if you like mysteries and creepy old houses, you'll find a lot to like here.

Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    Authors
    Classics
    Comic
    Fiction
    Five Stars
    Four Stars
    Non Fiction
    Novel
    Original Work
    Review
    Short Stories
    Thoughts
    Three Stars
    Two Stars

    Read my reviews on

    Picture

    Archives

    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    October 2013
    February 2013

Creative Commons License
The writing made available on this site by JL Smither is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

  • Home
  • About JL
  • Blog
  • Writing
    • Short stories and poems
    • Novel (in-progress)
    • Nonfiction
  • Comic
    • Monster at the Institute
    • The Hunter