THE CHILDREN OF BLACK VALLEY

THE CHILDREN OF BLACK VALLEY
Author: Evan Kilgore
Copyright July 2008
Bleak House Books
Paperback $14.95
9781932557893s
340 pages

Daniel, a young teen-aged boy is in the shower and his dog is barking. He called for his dog. There was silence. Daniel crept down the stairs and saw a man standing over his obviously dead dog holding a hammer. The man turned toward Daniel and called him.
As the man moves towards Daniel, the doorbell rings. Daniel used this opportunity to run past the UPS man with a package and dove for the school bus. Although Daniel did not bring his school books and supplies with him, he attempted to get through a normal day at school without telling anyone. Where do you go from here? How do you tell anyone about your morning?

Thirteen years ago, Daniel’s brother, Riley disappeared. The stress caused his parents to separate and for Daniel to spend time at two different homes. Sam, Daniel’s father, handled the stress by becoming overly committed to his work in the medical research field and Ann; Daniel’s mother became an alcoholic. Although Daniel is curious, Riley is a complete mystery to him. Riley’s bedroom has been left as a shrine to him, unattended and altered since his disappearance.

Sam was called to the hospital by Ann. Daniel was comatose. No one knew why or what exactly was wrong with him. Sam’s employer offers his assistance to move Daniel and cure him. However, Daniel and all traces of him are gone. It appeared as if Sam’s company had kidnapped his son.

Why? How were they to find Daniel, much less save him? Is this related to Riley’s disappearance? This began the gut-wrenching search for whom, why, and the truth about the past which isn’t always what you want to know.

There is never a dull moment in THE CHILDREN OF BLACK VALLEY. The pace is fast and often frustrating as you actually felt the parents’ emotions as they discovered the truth. The strengths of this novel were the personal voices of each character. Also, the pacing is extremely fast as you do not want to ever put the back down and you actually exhale at the conclusion. This is truly a memorable novel.

Evan Kilgore is a name you will want to remember. His newest book, THE CHILDREN OF BLACK VALLEY is similar to Dean Koontz or Stephen King only better written. This is definitely a page-turner, thriller, action-adventure novel with a taste of science fiction thrown in to spice it up.