P.C. ZICK

From a Writer's Mind

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BOOK REVIEW FRIDAY – CHASING DOWN THE NIGHT

CDN (book antiqua) Front Cover 6x9 JPEG Final ProofChasing Down the Night  – Crater Lake Series, Book 3 by Francis Guenette

I’m not usually a reader of novels in a series. That changed when I fell in love with Francis Guenette’s Crater Lake setting and characters. Beginning with the first book in the series, Disappearing in Plain Sight, I settled in with Izzy and Liam, Beulah and Bethany, and all the others, becoming a part of their oddly matched family as much as the stragglers who visit them throughout the three novels.

The injured souls who come to the lake and the camp on Northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, arrive with low expectations, but desperate for some type of healing. In Chasing Down the Night, characters from the first two novels, such as Dylan and Lisa, still need to find some kind of resolution from their past, but the reader is also introduced to three new residents at the camp with their own challenges to overcome. The intertwining of their lives, along with the newly hired cook from Toronto, play an important role in the unfolding of the ensuing dramas.

There’s a soap opera quality to the story line, which is carried artfully to the third novel. In the deft hands of the author, the story never degenerates into scandal or salaciousness intended to sell books. Instead, I find the intense dramas that converge on this outrageously beautiful place to be a road map for how we might all handle the mountains and valleys of our own lives.

From Izzy’s quiet determination to ignore her own grief and traumas to Lisa’s using her body to achieve her goals, lessons on coping, acceptance, and love emerge.

Ms. Guenette isn’t content to simply write a novel of people’s inability to express themselves or to cope with life’s challenges. She addresses issues of race–in this case, of tribal loyalties and prejudices–and the psychic abilities of dear sweet Robbie, who sees what no one else can. Then there’s the other injured soul out in the wild, but I’ll let other readers discover how that fits with the rest of the story in a perfect symmetry with all the wounded lives who come to the lake to heal.

I miss these characters and hated for Chasing Down the Night to end. I want more, and I want more than anything to visit Crater Lake and be embraced in the warm arms of the people who call it home.

Purchase Links for Chasing Down the Night

Amazon U.S.

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

Interviews with Francis Guenette on Author Wednesday

May 25, 2015

May 21, 2014

November 6, 2013

Book Reviews of Crater Lake series

Disappearing in Plain Sight

The Light Never Fades

 

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25 responses to “BOOK REVIEW FRIDAY – CHASING DOWN THE NIGHT”

  2. I’m not very keen on series, especially if the books can’t be read as stand alones but this sounds good. And I was just reading about a similar communal living place in England. The man behind it has written a book about it so your review comes at a time when my interest was already raised.

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  8. Reblogged this on through the luminary lens and commented:
    Here’s a short post from author and journalist P.C. Zick, that hi-lights my wife Francis’ third novel of the the Crater Lake Series. Patricia has done a wonderful review including links of her past reviews and interviews with Fran . Together, they give a detailed overview of the Crater Lake Series. Thank you Patricia and good luck with your recent move and downsizing. Keep up your good work on climate change awareness, gardening and ecology . Also, it’s Fran’s birthday today. The best gift a person could possibly give to her would be to delve into her anyone of her 3 novels. Go for it. You won’t be disappointed! Happy birthday, Francis.

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