Enjoyably Odd
Niceville is one of the oddest books I have ever read--and I loved it! There are two concurrent plotlines. One reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." The other reminds me of a Dean Koontz novel. Both are set in Niceville with overlapping characters, and the plots dip into one another throughout the book. There is an awful lot going on in this book, but I didn't have too much trouble keeping track. I did feel, however, that one of the plots was not satisfactorily resolved. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this book.
Rated of 5
by Pepper E. (Lawrenceville, NJ)
Suspenseful!
Creative, richly imagined characters will keep you turning the pages of this book. Set in the small secret-rich southern town of Niceville, some residents may not have truly died after all, and old family feuds still rage. I prefer my plots without the fantasy, but I thought the characters were the saving grace. Stroud reminded me of Carl Hiaasen, only darker and grittier. The bad guys were perfectly despicable! I'd like to see them again.
Rated of 5
by Aleksandra E. (Alpharetta, GA)
Holds your attention...most of the time.
In all honestly, I would like to give the book 3.5 stars. It's definitely a unique supernatural suspense thriller that had me sometimes riveted and sometimes bored. It was a challenge to keep the characters straight as there were SO MANY of them! It also took quite a while to see how everyone was connected, which was sometimes frustrating. But the characters were very interesting, quirky, well developed and so unusual! Finally, I must mention that I finished the book with quite a few questions left unanswered. That is always a problem for me, I need everything resolved to truly rate any book as a "must read". But it definitely was entertaining.
Rated of 5
by Steve B. (Spring, TX)
Niceville Is Not A Nice Place
Niceville is a novel that has many characters, plots and subplots. It deals with the real world and the shadow world. There are a lot of unsavory characters and a few likeable characters. All of this adds up to a novel that has something for everyone but not a whole lot for me. There are so many characters that I had a hard time following them.
The story is sometimes gripping and suspenseful but there were times when I was on the verge of giving up on the task of finishing it.
Rated of 5
by Harriette K. (Northbrook, IL)
Niceville
A seemingly pleasant southern town is rocked by the mysterious disappearance of a child, his recovery and then a bank robbery and the murder of four policemen who are chasing the robbers. What starts out as a "cop" drama turns into a Southern Gothic tale, with mysterious disappearances and unearthly occurrences. I found much of it extremely confusing, as if the author wasn't sure which way he wanted his narrative to go. Only my obligation to review this book kept me going to the end. I felt something that I couldn't quite put my finger on missing in the narrative. I might recommend the book to a Stephen King fan, but found it less than I had expected.
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Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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of 5
by Mary G. (Purcellville, VA)
of 5
by Aleksandra E. (Alpharetta, GA)
