Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism
Reviewed by Brittney
Just the Facts: by David Nickle. 259 p. Published April 2011 by ChiZine Publishers. Advanced review copy provided in electronic format courtesy of the publisher, through NetGalley.
Verdict: ★★★☆☆
Who Cares? Adult Historical Science Fiction (What the heck? Yeah, I’ll explain below)
Short Bio: (from ChiZine Publishers) The year is 1911.
In Cold Spring Harbour, New York, the newly formed Eugenics Records Office is sending its agents to catalogue the infirm, the insane, and the criminal—with an eye to a cull, for the betterment of all.
Near Cracked Wheel, Montana, a terrible illness leaves Jason Thistledown an orphan, stranded in his dead mother’s cabin until the spring thaw shows him the true meaning of devastation—and the barest thread of hope.
At the edge of the utopian mill town of Eliada, Idaho, Doctor Andrew Waggoner faces a Klansman’s noose and glimpses wonder in the twisting face of the patient known only as Mister Juke.
And deep in a mountain lake overlooking that town, something stirs, and thinks, in its way:
Things are looking up.
Eutopia follows Jason and Andrew as together and alone, they delve into the secrets of Eliada—industrialist Garrison Harper’s attempt to incubate a perfect community on the edge of the dark woods and mountains of northern Idaho. What they find reveals the true, terrible cost of perfection—the cruelty of the surgeon’s knife—the folly of the cull—and a monstrous pact with beings that use perfection as a weapon, and faith as a trap.
Eyewitness Account: So, ChiZine is a new publisher for me and I’ve just read two of their galleys this weekend (look for a Napier’s Bones review soon). They are admittedly a publisher of “weird, subtle, surreal, disturbing dark fiction and fantasy” and Eutopia certainly fits that bill. I don’t know if it was the cover, the title, or the blurb, but I had expected this book to be a futuristic dystopian novel – and was instead plopped down in a historical novel with some bizarre sci-fi/fantasy twists.
The plot jumps between two main protagonists – Jason Thistledown, the sole survivor of a plague in his small Montana town, and Andrew Waggoner, a black doctor invited to work in a logging town in Idaho. Both are confronted with the plans of others to make a “perfect” society - through Eugenics (“culling” out the weak in society, which means killing or sterilizing them) and through the creation of a “Garden of Eden” in the isolation of Idaho. The two men soon find that they are entangled in more than just the cruel working of man when encounter Mister Juke, who doesn’t seem to be quite human and proves that he can manipulate the minds and wills of the local hillbillies.
Perhaps it was the dichotomy between my preconceptions and the reality of the novel that made me confused for the first half of the book, but it took me a while to really get into the plot. However, the wait was worth it – the second half of the book really picks up some plot momentum and has a fairly smashing conclusion. The novel deals with a wide range of topics, from racism and the Eugenics movements to faith and the quest for perfection. Nickle’s main characters – Jason Thistledown, Aunt Germaine, Andrew Waggoner, and Mister Juke - were the best part of the novel, as each one is very distinctly and uniquely drawn (no mixing up characters in this novel!). Nickle gets two thumbs up for originality, as I’m fairly certain there isn’t another story like this – you might find yourself turning the pages of Eutopia just so you can see how he pulls all these diverse plot threads together.
I would like to caveat this book by saying its gets an N-17 rating from me; there are some graphic scenes that, while not necessarily containing violence, are slightly disturbing. This is certainly a book to try if you like the Twilight Zone or somewhat twisted/strange stories.
Notable Quotes:
“Did any of them ever mark the day, he wondered, when they fell from reason into madness?
And then he wondered: Did I?”
Other Books Read by This Author: None.
What are other people saying? I <3 Reading, Feeding My Book Addiction, Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
Rating:
★★★☆☆ Plot Development
★★★★☆ Characterization
★★★☆☆ Writing Style
★★★★☆ Original Idea
★★★☆☆ Page Turner
Overall ★★★☆☆
Diagnosis Death
Reviewed by Brittney
Just the Facts: by Richard L. Mabry, M.D. 288 p. Published April 2011 by Abingdon Press. Advanced copy provided in electronic format courtesy of the publisher, through NetGalley.
Verdict: ★★★☆☆
Who Cares? Adult Medical Mystery / Inspirational
Short Bio: After the death of her husband, Dr. Elena Gardener finds herself struggling to find a job that will pay for her late husbands medical and funeral expenses – as well as escape the rumors that she euthanized him and another comatose stroke victim. She gets a seemingly golden opportunity to move away from the rumors in Dallas to a small family practice in Dainger, TX. However, picking up the pieces of her life in a small town isn’t as easy as it seems – as Elena discovers when she finds herself dealing with a tight-fisted hospital administrator who wants to strip her of ICU privileges, fending off the local womanizer, and tracking down the person who is stalking her with creepy phone calls. When yet another comatose patient dies and circumstantial evidence points to Elena, the doctor decides the only way to clear her name is to catch the perpetrator herself.
Eyewitness Account: This was a great book to sneakily read on my Kindle during an EXTREMELY BORING training class – a fast-moving plot, easily identifiable characters, and enough mystery to keep you turning pages. Even though it is the 3rd book in a medical mystery series, it works well as a stand-alone. I’d still categorize it as “mental cotton candy” though – a fun story to read, but not terribly thought-provoking or deep. Even though it is primarily a medical mystery, it includes the fairly typical romance and other overly coincidental circumstances (Elena’s love interest just “happens” to get a job in the same small town, Elena just “happens” to work at the same hospital as her dead husband’s long-lost sister, etc.). Given that blurbs often highlight this book being about the question of “mercy killings”, the book might disappoint you if you expect it to really delve into the meat of the question – rather, the narrative assumes that mercy killings are, in fact, wrong (unless you are the person authorized to pull the plug on a comatose patient’s life support) and the plot centers around discovering who did the killings.
Other Books Read by This Author: None, this is the first book I’ve read by Mabry.
What are other people saying? The Friendly Book Nook, Just One More Paragraph, Lis Carey’s Library
Rating:
★★★★☆ Plot Development
★★★☆☆ Characterization
★★★☆☆ Writing Style
★★★☆☆ Original Idea
★★★★☆ Page Turner
Overall ★★★☆☆
Before I Go to Sleep
Reviewed by Brittney
Just the Facts: by S. J. Watson. 356 p. To be published June 1, 2011 by HarperCollins. Advanced copy provided electronically, courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley.
Verdict: ★★★★★
Who Cares? Adult Suspense/Thriller
Not-so-Short Bio: (from Marketing copy) Every morning, Christine awakens beside a stranger in an unfamiliar bed. She sees a middle-aged face in the bathroom mirror that she does not recognize. And every morning, the man patiently explains that he is Ben, her husband, that she is forty-seven-years-old, and that an accident long ago damaged her ability to remember.
In place of memories Christine has a handful of pictures, a whiteboard in the kitchen, and a journal, hidden in a closet. She knows about the journal because Dr. Ed Nash, a neurologist who claims to be treating her without Ben’s knowledge, reminds her about it each day. Inside its pages, the damaged woman has begun meticulously recording her daily events—sessions with Dr. Nash, snippets of information that Ben shares, flashes of her former self that briefly, miraculously appear.
But as the pages accumulate, inconsistencies begin to emerge, raising disturbing questions that Christine is determined to find answers to. And the more she pieces together the shards of her broken life, the closer she gets to the truth . . . and the more terrifying and deadly it is.
Eyewitness Account: Reading this book was a little like watching Memento – I felt like I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time! From page one, I couldn’t put Before I Go to Sleep down. Not only does the book have a complex, fascinating plot, but the author succeeded in making me completely identify with the main character. I distrusted characters, nearly clawed my eyes in fear and panic when things didn’t seem to add up, and felt deep despair when Christine realized that she’d lost precious pieces of her life.
Although this book is clearly a Suspense/Thrill ride (and well done, for that!), I liked how it allowed Christine to explore ideas of identity, self, and fulfilment – would anyone want to live a life in which your memories reset every morning? Is such a life worth living? What kind of price does your family pay for that? What memories are worth re-learning and which are better left forgotten?
Dang good job, Watson! Thou must publish more books! (And congratulations to him on already landing a movie deal for this one).
Notable Quotes: I simply loved this exchange between Christine and her doctor -
“Keep your journal, Christine,” he said. “You still have it?”
I shook my head. “He burned it. That’s what caused the fire.”
Dr. Nash looked disappointed. “That’s a shame,” he said. “But it doesn’t really matter. Christine, you’ll be fine. You can begin another. The people who love you have come back to you.”
“But I want to have come back to them, too,” I said. “I want to have come back to them.”
Other Books Read by This Author: None – I believe this is a debut from S. J. Watson
What are other people saying? Wading Through Treacle, Pop Tart
Rating:
★★★★★ Plot Development
★★★★☆ Characterization
★★★★☆ Writing Style
★★★★★ Original Idea
★★★★★ Page Turner
Overall ★★★★★
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