I
love to read all the blog posts by BWL authors, but I get a special jolt of
“yippee!” when I open my email to find a post by Stuart R. West. Stuart’s sense of humor is just so appealing
to me. When I discovered he writes paranormal novels, one of my favorite
genres, I had to give Peculiar County
a try. I am so glad I did because I have not had such pure fun reading a novel
in quite some time.
In
Peculiar County, fifteen year old
Dibby Caldwell, the daughter of the town’s mortician, is haunted by the ghost
of a boy who won’t leave her alone until she discovers and reveals the true
cause of his death. Dibby gets some help from James, the outcast, new boy in town. From
everyone else, her father included, she finds nothing but hindrance, including some of the supernatural variety.
Every
character in this book is unique – peculiar in their own way. Not necessarily
in a bad way, though whether or not some are malicious is intentionally
questionable. Yet no character is so over-the-top as to be unbelievable. That
is, at least as long as the character lives in Peculiar County.
A
lot of strange things go on in Peculiar County, but Dibby, a native to the
county, takes them in stride. Her new friend, James, has a little trouble
adapting so Dibby helps him understand that his new home isn’t quite the same
as anywhere else.
What
I found so delightful about this book was the author’s voice. West mixes eerie
paranormal with a smattering of off-beat humor to perfection. I don’t remember the last time a silly grin
was plastered across my face for the endurance of an entire novel, but I’m
pretty sure it was with this one. It’s not the reaction one usually has to a
creepy, paranormal story. I must be a bit peculiar.
I've enjoyed Stuart's books, too. There's always something interesting going on. Hope your writing is going well
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