4 out of 5 stars
On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
In a Nutshell: Body snatchers, mind control, a supernatural race, in normal situations in small-town America
What struck me all the way through this book is that it would make a terrific Netflix series of the Stranger Things kind; I notice that the author is also a screenwriter, so I wondered if he'd imagined it in this vein as it was being written.
I like books set in small-town America; this takes place in Lynch, Kentucky and Appalachia, Virginia. In each close community, it becomes increasingly apparent that some people are not who they claim to be. Others are possessed of superhuman powers, while mysterious chasms appear in the land, and curious sightings are recorded. People disappear, or change personality overnight.
The story is written from many third person points of view; again, this would have worked if visual, when the actors themselves provide the characterisation, but when they're just names on a page it's not so easy to keep track of them all. Some, like alcoholic mine worker Clay and his wife Tara, were fully three dimensional, so I could remember who they were, but I had trouble with others; I kept starting a new chapter and thinking, "Who's this fella, again?" Aside from this, it was well-written and nicely paced, with the mystery of what exactly was going on unfurling slowly, not fully revealed until half-way through. I appreciated this, as a good plot (which The Surfacing undoubtedly has) is nothing without skilled pacing.
Nice piece of fantasy/paranormal type scifi, for those who love the genre.
Thank you Terry.
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