I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.
REVENANT by Gina and Anne Marie DiCarlo
- Published by: Black Rose Writing
- Publication date: January 20, 2022
- Pages: 330
- Genres: Thriller, Supernatural Thriller (classified by publisher); (and from me:) Horror, Speculative Fiction, Fantasy (and Not Thriller if you include the first half of the book)
- POV: third person, past tense; omniscient (sometimes unlimited omniscient)
- Narrator: True and usually authentic, often very close
- Opening setting: Copaci, România (?) Carpathian Mountains (within 5 – 20 years of present day)
- Other significant locations: Budapest; Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Romania in 1420s
- Number of named, identified or described characters: 60+
Publisher’s Summary:
Renee, her sister Lou, and their team of photojournalists from Itinera are excited about their three-week assignment to delve into Romanian history and capture its beauty on film.
A tip about a yet undocumented castle promises to be a tantalizing addition to their project, but instead leads them to the forefront of a collision between the modern and ancient worlds. Now they must face powerful magic, a twisted love that survived death, and evil so strong that it persisted through time to renew itself again and again until it found the perfect host…
Murder, bloodlust, and supernatural power beyond imagining leads them on a journey to the wildest, remotest regions of Romania, to a people locked in time, where Renee and her team find themselves in the midst of an ancient struggle and in a desperate race to save one of their own.
My Review:
Under my star rating system, I suggest three stars for this one: I would recommend it for you if you read in this genre since my reading joy was good, the characters, plot and themes felt sound and solid to me, and the writing and craft struck me as solid.
You should read this book if you don’t mind (or are seeking) violent slasher killings of all-age victims and near-rape delivered in a medieval, almost Dungeons-n-Dragons setting.
This book opens with a horrific scene involving a lot of violent and awful death. In Chapter 1, we’re immediately in Budapest traveling with Renee and Lou, two sisters and photojournalists working for a Philadelphia travel magazine called Itinera. I warmed to the two sisters immediately, and I enjoyed getting to know them as they prepare to photograph Banffy castle, known as the ‘Versailles of Transylvania’ which was built in the 1400s and 1500s.
By the time the travel journalists start their castle coverage, we’re aware of historical and current horrific events evoking supernatural terror.
Some of the language seems off in comparison to the ages of the main characters, who use terms like “fanny pack” and “buxom” and many other dated phrases, but this crew of five ages from their mid-twenties to early thirties. The time setting is unclear, but I’m guessing it is set around 2010, maybe early 2000s up to 2014 or so… We’re told it is “present day”, but it lacks smart phones yet has one “cell phone” that beeps with voicemail and one Blackberry! The other odd language bit was that the vocabularies of all characters were roughly equal, and all quite sophisticated–well above the average–including the Roma “gypsies”, which is also a word now of dubious use, potentially appropriate within the context of this book. This high level vernacular is intriguing and beguiling to read.
Many chapters show multiple POVs with an unlimited omniscient view, but some might consider it head-hopping as any or all characters may add thoughts and feelings to any scene. POV sometimes transfers from character to character as the scene ebbs and flows. The omniscient view can span language and even species–and even notice things characters cannot see or failed to notice.
Before the story began, at least four of the central characters had lost loved ones very close to them, too young, in accidents. This book plumbs important questions: Who is responsible when accidents happen? Is it possible to process grief and get beyond it? How can you get past the loss of loved ones very close to you? The character arcs in this book display examples of continued loss and recover. Both give us interesting struggles to observe as this motley crew traverses their journey.
Without spoilers, there are a lot of characters lusting after each other, which struck me as normal for their ages, but a few times, some of the men (even those who we’re supposed to like) did some pretty questionable things, at least from my perspective.
Forty percent of the way into this tale, I had not yet understood why this is labelled a ‘thriller’. The bodies have piled up, but nothing threatens the main characters, nor do they seem at risk. Even the main character who believes in the supernatural barely registers concern about their circumstances when death arrives in their presence, despite being warned upfront. The authors took on a very difficult challenge: many people die in this novel, but most deaths came in the same chapter when the character was introduced, so it was difficult for me to connect to them or care for them. As the corpses piled up, I came to expect death as instantly as I met each new character, which caused me to distance myself from the reading. Maybe it will strike you differently.
Intellectually, I loved one of the concepts the writers experimented with: what is the scope of understanding and control between a host person and a demon who possesses them? Fascinating idea–not original, but very well designed and played out in this work.
Many key conflicts are hidden from view insofar as they are not things I read but would later hear replayed by characters. This is an interesting writing technique that allowed me to view the conflicts filtered through the hearts and minds of the characters relating the conflicts to me, but in several cases I wished I had experienced the conflicts directly.
For my taste, the first half of the book could have been significantly reduced or edited down. There was some interesting history of Romania, details about castles, and backstory, but most of it for me failed to move the plot forward. The second half of the book read like a thriller, and was a burning page-turner at times. Tip of the hat to the writer who literally puts a ticking clock late in their thriller–and calls attention to it!
One more compliment: Who doesn’t love a good artifact that travels across history in a novel? I do, and there’s a beauty in here that holds meaning throughout the story. Very nice.
Characters often repeated ideas or phrases two or three times, or an event would happen twice or three times… or the characters would do something and then immediately talk about it as if I hadn’t just experienced it with them. Much of this repetition could have been cut down.
There are no surprises in this plot as the outcomes are planned, well-laid out and predictable.
But you should read about these revenants and decide what you think.