ISBN: 1-55690-057-0 Order from: Recorded Books
A tense and atmospheric plot partly compensates for a somewhat helpless heroine and a predictable crime.
Reviewed by David on January 10, 2002
Genre: Mystery (Romance, Occult)
Synopsis: This is an unabridged recording of Be Buried in the Rain.
Julie Newcomb, a first-year medical student, is a scion of a once-rich Virginnia family. Now, with the family home in disrepair, and the matriarch very ill, Julie has to return to the crumbling house and her unhappy childhood memories to take care of her grandmother.
Disturbing events are taking place around the old house, filling Julie's summer with fear and occasional excitement. Julie's former boyfriend, now an anthropologist, is trying to find the remnants of an early, legendary colony. An old skeleton shows up on the road, possibly a prank by local kids. And the locals, including Julie's hated and once feared grandmother are behaving strangely.
Full Review: The book is written with an ear for atmosphere and suspense. While not quite a gothic, the almost palpable tone of foreboding is evoked as much by external events as by the heroine's unhappy memories.
The book has a couple of flaws. The first is the heroine: while intelligent and mostly sympathetic, her frequent moments of distress or weakness recall old-fashioned romance damsels and lose some of the reader's sympathy. The second is the relative weakness of the mystery: the conslusion is foreshadowed early and becomes fairly obvious long before its discovery by the protagonists.
This is an enjoyable but somewhat frustrating book, mostly due to its sympathetic but frequently helpless heroine.
Overall: 5.5; Plot: 4; Characters: 5.5; Style: 5; World-building: 5; Originality: 5;
Copyright date 1992, Recorded Books, 1985, Audio cassette, 7 cassettes
ISBN: 1-55690-057-0 Order from: Recorded Books