This story is not boring. I always felt some interest in the characters and whatever task they were about, be it Robert Louis Stevenson attending the opening of his play or environmental scientist Rafael Salazar tracking coyotes in a California desert. However, the two storylines of past and present always seem distinct, not interwoven much at all until the end, and by then it was too little too late. Both storylines were well written, but I felt like I was reading two different books. I also dislike when so much of a tale is connected by mistakes. People make mistakes and often stories hinge on that, but Stevenson makes mistake after mistake that which to worse and worse consequences, and yet still continues to fail to do what's right. It causes one to believe he was either weak or stupid. At the end, we are supposed to be left with a sense of dread, but the way it plays out there isn't much that has happened present-day to merit that. Overall, the story just doesn't deliver.
I was chosen by Netgalley to receive an advanced reader copy of "The Jekyll Revelation" by Robert Masello. Given that fact, it has not altered my opinion on the book at all. "The Jekyll Revelation" has a scheduled release date of November 8th 2016.
Who doesn't love a good Jekyll and Hyde story? Being a 90's kid, immediately I was reminiscent of the Pagemaster in all it's cartoon glory. I was not expecting this book to be cartoony in the least, but between the title, and my love for a good retelling is what lead me to request a copy.
"The Jekyll Revelation" starts like any typical historical fiction; in the past. It seems as though Robert Louis Stevenson, author of "Treasure Island" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", has unwillingly stumbled upon an incident he presumed he left back in London.
The reader switches perspectives between Stevenson, and Rafael Salazar; an environmental scientist in the state of California. Masello draws the reader in within the first chapter, and quickly leaves you wanting more as the perspectives change. At first it is unclear what role the past has on the present, but the mystery unravels itself with each turn of the page.
For the complete review, please visit:
https://quitterstrip.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/if-you-have-it-within-your-power-to-summon-the-devil/
Who doesn't love a good Jekyll and Hyde story? Being a 90's kid, immediately I was reminiscent of the Pagemaster in all it's cartoon glory. I was not expecting this book to be cartoony in the least, but between the title, and my love for a good retelling is what lead me to request a copy.
"The Jekyll Revelation" starts like any typical historical fiction; in the past. It seems as though Robert Louis Stevenson, author of "Treasure Island" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", has unwillingly stumbled upon an incident he presumed he left back in London.
The reader switches perspectives between Stevenson, and Rafael Salazar; an environmental scientist in the state of California. Masello draws the reader in within the first chapter, and quickly leaves you wanting more as the perspectives change. At first it is unclear what role the past has on the present, but the mystery unravels itself with each turn of the page.
For the complete review, please visit:
https://quitterstrip.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/if-you-have-it-within-your-power-to-summon-the-devil/
