Search - The Canary List: A Novel

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” –Ephesians 6:12

The Canary List by Sigmund Brouwer is about a twelve year old girl, Jaimie Piper who is extra sensitive to Evil. She is an orphan who has been shuffled from foster home to foster home her entire life. Her greatest need? To be safe and loved.

Enter Crockett Grey, Jaimie’s school teacher and the only person whom Jaimie feels that she can trust. Crockett only wants to mourn his daughter’s death and the loss of his marriage. He wants with all his heart to be a good Daddy to his only son. Caring teacher and father that he is, he just can’t send Jaimie away when she shows up at his door late one night asking for help.

With Evil stalking Jaimie and Crockett getting in his way, it becomes a battle of wits as to who will survive. Does Evil really exist or is it simply a figment of Jaimie’s imagination? Who is behind the terror that haunts Jaimie day night? Crockett will stop at nothing to find out, especially when this very Evil shows up on his doorstep.

Vatican Conspiracy or one big hoax? You decide.

My Rating: 3 Stars

The writing was excellent. Brouwer does an excellent job drawing the reader immediately into the story.

The storyline itself was interesting and engaging. Puzzling at most times, I must admit, but a very gripping read. Not one to read in a dark house at time, all alone…

So, why did I not rate it higher than 3 stars? Here’s my reason: Brouwer never fully explains why Jaimie is stalked by Evil yet protected at the same time. I found myself wishing that he would take the story one step further and talk about how the blood of Jesus is a person’s only protection against the powers of Satan and his demons. Does he not write this because he doesn’t believe it himself? The Catholic influence was heavy, but still…

Sadly, it lacked the punch I was hoping for, expecting.

However this is my opinion, you should try it out for yourself.

I don't know how realistic this story of deception, conspiracy and darkness is, but it was definitely interesting. Beginning the book, I didn't think I would like it, based on the fact that demon stuff scares me. However, I pretty much always finish what I start, it wasn't nearly as frightening as I anticipated, and I enjoyed the story.

Storyline aside, I still ended up not liking the book, thanks to the poor editing. I'm hoping the typos, sentence fragments, subject/verb disagreements, incorrect pronouns, and poorly formed paragraphs were due to the fact that this book has not been released yet and hasn't been thoroughly edited or something. I constantly fought the urge to find a red pen or highlighter and fix the whole thing. However, the story was redeeming enough that I didn't put it down long enough to do so.

Crockett Grey is a teacher of troubled children. He has gone through a terrible tragedy and all he wants to do is start his summer vacation by forgetting his problems. Little does he know that one of his student’s, Jaimie Piper, is on her way to his house with a whole new, terrifying set of problems of her own. Now Crockett is in a race for his life, trying to solve Jaimie’s nightmare in order to end his own, even if that means taking on the largest religious organization on the planet!

The Canary List is a standard “good vs. evil” suspense story. Big, bad evil! But do consider yourself warned: Anyone sensitive to controversial criticism regarding the Catholic Church may not care for this book. At times it can be incredibly disturbing, due to the intense subject matter, namely child abuse, some of which has been well documented in real life.

This is the first book I’ve ever read by Mr. Brouwer and I, personally, found it to be quite intriguing. It is very reminiscent of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. And while The Canary List is a work of fiction, it is written in a manner that seems to imply that it may be based on factual occurrences. Makes a person wonder… ;-)

(Received complimentary copy for review purposes only.)