Soze Says

I've reached the point where I've run out of superlatives to describe the way in which Greg F. Gifune writes. If you've read him, you know what I mean. If you haven't, you're most definitely missing out.

That said, I've also noticed some pervasive recurring themes through his works, and they no longer have quite the same affect on me as they did when I first read his excellent The Bleeding Season. From tortured main protagonists to threats that Gifune hints could be supernatural in nature but may also just be the result of damaged and demented minds, Orphans of Wonderland has numerous Gifune-tropes.

Still, the story of a once-successful journalist investigating the death of his friend and along the way remembering snippets of a trauma that sullied he and his friends' lives when they were young goes places that are fascinating. I'll avoid spoiling anything, but suffice to say Gifune establishes a world fertile enough that it could be returned to in any number of intriguing ways.

The ending left me a little cold, however, as I saw the final development in Orphans of Wonderland coming a ways off and was a little disappointed it did not manage to pull the rug out from under me as Gifine's past works have often managed.

With all that in mind, this is a very solid read from an excellent author who I would love to see stretch himself into new territory sometime soon.

3.5 Dissociated Memories (3 here; 4 on Amazon) for Orphans of Wonderland

The preceding was based on a review copy provided by Samhain Publishing through Netgalley.