Silverskin
By Caitee Cooper
Laughing Elk Press, September 2023
Genre: Fiction/Thriller/Supernatural Fantasy/ Romance
Pages: 336
Via: Author request
Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“They only have as much power as you give them.”
“Aaaaaaargh!”
Kimber: There goes Her Momness again, articulate as ever. We just finished this thriller-ish book. And have conflicting opinions. I’ll let Mom fill ya in:
The Plot
Four years after losing half her family in a terrible auto accident, Ellie Forth and her remaining family members head to Alaska to visit friends Henry and Helen and launch The Big Moose Hunt. Out in the hinterlands on the back of beyond, Ellie and her dad get separated from the rest of the group. It’s foggy. Creepy. And then there’s that ear-splitting howl. It sounds like something…. out of a nightmare.
Indeed, Ellie’s nightmare has just begun when she watches a ghoulish female figure known as The Dark Lady lure her father to his death. When Ellie tries to intervene to save Dad, the Lady turns on her and comes within a hair-breadth of terrorizing Ellie to death. She’s rescued by a mystical creature called the Nantinaq.
Oliver Cole’s life, on the other hand, is very simple: go to work, catch fish, come home, and stash every penny earned into his bank account so he can afford to pay for college. But his life is turned upside down when Ellie and her brother – two nearly-forgotten acquaintances from his childhood – burst back into his life.
Recovering later at Henry and Helen’s home after being released from the hospital, Ellie tries to tell the authorities, et.al. about her horrific encounter with the supernatural deep on the Kenai Peninsula. And what really happened to her father. Pretty much everyone thinks she’s either hallucinating due to a nasty head wound or she’s nuttier than a fruitcake. Even her bro, Sam.
But when Ellie confides in Oliver, she finds an unexpected ally. Oliver is Henry and Helen’s nephew. He’s got some demons of his own from his shady past. The two start out as friends. But the plot thickens when Ellie returns home to Colorado. Romance is in the air. So is evil. Big time.
Ellie and Oliver later learn that she and her dad “accidentally” let evil out of its prison when they stumbled on a secluded cave on their Alaskan moose hunt. It’s spreading across the Kenai Peninsula and into Alaska’s heartland. And beyond. Can Ellie and Ollie figure out how to counter and eliminate the evil before it’s too late?
Conflicted
We had high hopes for this book. It seemed flush with promise. It’s a little This Present Darkness. A little The Shack. A bit The Screwtape Letters. And The Twilight Zone. We were whipping through one page after another at warp speed. At first. Cuz it features top-notch writing. Robust, three-dimensional characters. A taut, tense storyline packed with more action than a bucking bronco in the National Finals Rodeo. But it stumbles badly in the Wrap-Up Department. Here’s the short version:
MIA
Alaska is beautiful. We would’ve liked to have seen more of it. As in, less telling, more showing.
This book started to feel over-long after about 250 pages or so. Like, Are we there yet?
High octane action and expert world-building aside, what this book really needs is an Aslan at the Stone Table moment. A King Theoden kicking the crap out of Grima Wormtongue scene. (There’s another “Worm” in this story. You’ll recognize the name if you know your C.S. Lewis. And we do.) It needs a Hank Busche-ish character. Badly. We had high hopes in this department for Papa Ferguson, Grandpa Forth, or even Captain Bill. Nobody panned out. Like, MIA. Bummer. (We also have some bones to pick with the book’s angelology. Incidentally, the title makes sense later. Way later.)
Wondering…
Meanwhile, we kept wondering why Ellie and Ollie can Google the stuffing out of everything under the sun related to evil but can’t manage to locate a single copy of the one Book with answers. And ammo.
Kimber: What? They couldn’t find a single Miss Clara in over 300 pages? Are you kidding me?
Without the above, Silverskin is pretty much just another creepy “ghost story.” Talk about a missed opportunity. This is also a major flaw. Ditto the weak, wishy-washy ending and the lack of resolution to pretty much everything. We also found this book surprisingly bereft of hope. Problem-o.
In a Nutshell
This is a well-written supernatural fantasy with lots of suspense. It will definitely find an audience. But it’s not us.
Yeppers, we would’ve scored Silverskin higher but the wrap-up and the above make it is as disappointing as the time Mom brought home arugula instead of bacon. (Don’t ask.)
Let’s hope for a stronger sequel. Wait. Is that Miss Clara…?
Pages & Paws 