Book Review: My Soul To Keep
My Soul to Keep (Dylan Foster Series #3)
Melanie Wells
Publisher Summary: As nasty as I knew Peter Terry to be, I never expected him to start kidnapping kids. Much less a sweet, funny little boy with nothing to protect him but a few knock-kneed women, two rabbits, and a staple gun…
It’s psychology professor Dylan Foster’s favorite day of the academic year–graduation day. A day of pomp, circumstance, and celebration. And after all the mortar boards are thrown, Dylan and some of her best friends will gather around a strawberry cake to celebrate Christine Zocci’s sixth birthday. But the joyful summer afternoon goes south when a little boy is snatched from a neighborhood park, setting off a chain of events that seem to lead exactly nowhere.
Police are baffled, but Christine’s eerie connection with the kidnapped child sends Dylan on a chilling investigation of her own. Is the pasty, elusive stranger Peter Terry to blame? Exploding light bulbs, the deadly buzz of a Texas rattlesnake, and the vivid, disturbing dreams of a little girl are just pieces in a long trail of tantalizing clues leading Dylan in her dogged search for the truth.
HTB Review:
(Only two months late on this review. Sigh. See here for an explanation.)
So…I did like the book, despite not being a big fan of thrillers. It’s not one that I would re-read, or go buy for all my friends, but it was a good evening-in-the-tub read.
Good Points
- Ms. Wells is a funny writer. Some of her descriptions are a real hoot and a holler.(yet again)
- The author did a good job of filling in important background information without pulling an “As You Know, Bob.”
- The action is a steady clip (up until the last few chapters when it suddenly hit breakneck speed and whammed in the ending out of nowhere).
- The characters are sympathetic, and (for the most part) nicely round. I did like Dylan.
Not-So-Good Points
- As usual, I did not realize this was book 3 in a series. Which meant I probably missed quite a bit. It also meant that I didn’t know this was a supernatural thriller, which I tend to avoid even more than regular thrillers.
- Okay, if Dylan is supposed to be a Christian, she’s got quite a bit of growing to do, ‘cuz she certainly doesn’t think or act or speak like one.
- And again, the ankh as a protective symbol just doesn’t work if this is supposed to be Christian-based.
- The wrap-up comes far too quick, and almost out of nowhere.
- As a mom, I really, really don’t like stories about child-snatching. Especially not ones with supernatural villains.
Grades (until I can come up with a better rating system)
- Characters: B
- Plot: C
- Flow of Story: C
- Writing Style: A
- Enjoyable: C+
Overall: C+