Ken M. reviewed on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Written in 1980, McCammon's second novel is not one of the author's favorites. In fact, he felt that his first three shouldn't be reprinted due to the writing not being up to par with his work after that. Robert is his own toughest critic of his work. While this may not be his best story, it's still a really good read. That's McCammon for you. The bar is raised to the heavens. He's an amazing author and Bethany's Sin is chock full of what he does best - an interesting premise, full and vibrant three-dimensional characters, and a writing style that grabs a hold of you and sucks you in.
Evan, a writer and a Vietnam veteran who has seen his share of horrors, and his wife Kay, a math professor, and their young daughter Laurie move to the charming, well-kept small town of Bethany's Sin, Pennsylvania to start a new life. Evan's dreams have made a mess of their previous attempts in other cities. You see, he has a penchant for predicting danger through the recollection of his nightmares. His wife doesn't believe that he's having premonitions and that he's actually creating the problems by reading too much into his dreams. Soon after moving to Bethany's Sin, Evan begins having troublesome visions during the night again. Not wanting to cause problems so soon after moving into their dream neighborhood, he tries to stifle his visions. Kay takes a position at a local community college and bumps into the head of the history department, Dr. Drago. She learns that Drago is also the mayor of Bethany's Sin and a woman of mesmerizing qualities. In fact, Evan notices that the village is full of dominating women that are either single or married to a submissive husband. Oddly enough, there is a museum in town that is dedicated to the lost civilization of the Amazon women.
McCammon slowly unfolds his tale developing the characters and setting up the curious scenes in the first half of the novel and then kicks it into high gear during the second half. It's definitely worth picking up.
Evan, a writer and a Vietnam veteran who has seen his share of horrors, and his wife Kay, a math professor, and their young daughter Laurie move to the charming, well-kept small town of Bethany's Sin, Pennsylvania to start a new life. Evan's dreams have made a mess of their previous attempts in other cities. You see, he has a penchant for predicting danger through the recollection of his nightmares. His wife doesn't believe that he's having premonitions and that he's actually creating the problems by reading too much into his dreams. Soon after moving to Bethany's Sin, Evan begins having troublesome visions during the night again. Not wanting to cause problems so soon after moving into their dream neighborhood, he tries to stifle his visions. Kay takes a position at a local community college and bumps into the head of the history department, Dr. Drago. She learns that Drago is also the mayor of Bethany's Sin and a woman of mesmerizing qualities. In fact, Evan notices that the village is full of dominating women that are either single or married to a submissive husband. Oddly enough, there is a museum in town that is dedicated to the lost civilization of the Amazon women.
McCammon slowly unfolds his tale developing the characters and setting up the curious scenes in the first half of the novel and then kicks it into high gear during the second half. It's definitely worth picking up.
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