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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
This debut mystery by Canadian author Katie Tallo just might signal the start of a nice career. It has some smaller questionable inclusions, but it has an impressive progression of plot development that has a mighty twist at the end.
A 20-year old is summoned back to her birthplace when her great grandmother Rose dies. She ditches her deadbeat boyfriend whose one benefit is that he taught her how to use a gun. Rose, who ignored Augusta as a child and basically rebuffed her once she became an orphan, has now left her a huge house complete with an old dog that "Gus" has no use for. Don't worry..he grows on her.
Her parents are dead, both cops. Now Gus wants to find out what happened to her mother in particular. This takes her on a fast though rather unlikely progression of unveiling clues that others have apparently completely missed. A small critique is that more than one person magically opens up about the past to this brassy young girl even though these are long-kept, well hidden secrets that have legal ramifications.
The crime itself is well-conceived and unique on several levels. See what YOU think.
A 20-year old is summoned back to her birthplace when her great grandmother Rose dies. She ditches her deadbeat boyfriend whose one benefit is that he taught her how to use a gun. Rose, who ignored Augusta as a child and basically rebuffed her once she became an orphan, has now left her a huge house complete with an old dog that "Gus" has no use for. Don't worry..he grows on her.
Her parents are dead, both cops. Now Gus wants to find out what happened to her mother in particular. This takes her on a fast though rather unlikely progression of unveiling clues that others have apparently completely missed. A small critique is that more than one person magically opens up about the past to this brassy young girl even though these are long-kept, well hidden secrets that have legal ramifications.
The crime itself is well-conceived and unique on several levels. See what YOU think.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
dull as dishwater. what a waste of paper. insipid story, clunky storytelling, unimaginative characters (except the dog. the dog was good.) and so long winded. generally at this point i say; "it would have made a good short story." but in this case, i'm not sure that's true.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Nice to see a strong and capable young woman. The bad guy (guys) sort of announced himself, but it was still suspenseful enough to see Gus finding out.
“Dark August” is a clever play on words, describing a time, as well as the the main character August “Gus” Monet’s state of mind at the book’s outset.
Gus has been hanging out with a low level criminal for some years, and we soon find out she’s the child of a single mum who was a RCMP detective, before her mother died in a car accident when Gus was a child. Before that, Gus’ mother had become obsessed with some cases, including one of a girl around Gus’ age, to the extent that Gus was very jealous of what little time her mother gave her.
When Gus is notified that her great grandmother Rose has died and left her something, Gus returns to Rose’s crumbling and neglected home, reuniting with her mother’s now old dog Levi, whom Gus refuses to initially care about as she felt Levi was adopted to salve her mother’s guilt over all the time she was spending away from Gus.
When Gus finds her mother’s case files on some old investigations, she begins following up on the one about the missing girl, as the case took place in Elgin, located not that far away. Gus unearths information about the girl’s family, wealthy and prominent in the town, and finds several things tied to the case: resource extraction and the environmental disaster it caused in the town, business and police corruption, deaths, neglected children, and increasing numbers of accidents amongst the people Gus talks to. The whole thing wraps up with a violent confrontation when Gus solves the case.
The story has enough twists and turns to keep me happy, as well as a main character full of anger over her resentment and incomprehension over her mother’s actions long ago. Gus’ progression from who she is at the beginning of the book to who she becomes by undertaking her own investigation was believable. Though the culprits weren’t that hard to deduce, the book held my attention. And Levi was a standout.
Gus has been hanging out with a low level criminal for some years, and we soon find out she’s the child of a single mum who was a RCMP detective, before her mother died in a car accident when Gus was a child. Before that, Gus’ mother had become obsessed with some cases, including one of a girl around Gus’ age, to the extent that Gus was very jealous of what little time her mother gave her.
When Gus is notified that her great grandmother Rose has died and left her something, Gus returns to Rose’s crumbling and neglected home, reuniting with her mother’s now old dog Levi, whom Gus refuses to initially care about as she felt Levi was adopted to salve her mother’s guilt over all the time she was spending away from Gus.
When Gus finds her mother’s case files on some old investigations, she begins following up on the one about the missing girl, as the case took place in Elgin, located not that far away. Gus unearths information about the girl’s family, wealthy and prominent in the town, and finds several things tied to the case: resource extraction and the environmental disaster it caused in the town, business and police corruption, deaths, neglected children, and increasing numbers of accidents amongst the people Gus talks to. The whole thing wraps up with a violent confrontation when Gus solves the case.
The story has enough twists and turns to keep me happy, as well as a main character full of anger over her resentment and incomprehension over her mother’s actions long ago. Gus’ progression from who she is at the beginning of the book to who she becomes by undertaking her own investigation was believable. Though the culprits weren’t that hard to deduce, the book held my attention. And Levi was a standout.
This book was weird. Intriguing with a convoluted but easy to follow central mystery. I think the problem for me was the overly persecuted conspiracy theory. Way too many female characters robbed of their agency and under the boot of male characters. I mean, I get that it’s a reflection of life but sheesh, this book includes everything bad that could happen to a female character short of incest. Ewww.
This book had its gory moments—that last chapter, yugh! Not sure what the hell was going on with that. Surely there was a better way to end the book and conclude that particular character arc.
Also, Rory and Stu being bad guys was way too obvious. It’s a bit weird to have only bad guys in this book.
I didn’t dislike this book, I just felt like it was too dark for its own good.
This book had its gory moments—that last chapter, yugh! Not sure what the hell was going on with that. Surely there was a better way to end the book and conclude that particular character arc.
Also, Rory and Stu being bad guys was way too obvious. It’s a bit weird to have only bad guys in this book.
I didn’t dislike this book, I just felt like it was too dark for its own good.
This is a juicy mystery thriller that packs a punch, and it will be out in the world next week! Augusta, who goes by Gus, is just getting by. She doesn’t have much to focus on in life, and when her great-grandmother dies, her last living relative, she makes some moves to right her life. She travels home to accept her inheritance, a rundown old house and a dog named Levi.
While searching through her great-grandma’s things, she finds cold case files that belonged to her police detective mom who passed away in a car accident years ago. Gus finds some clues in her mother’s notes, and she decides to follow them.
Dark August is paced well with a compelling storyline and an endearing main character. The fluid writing makes it easy to read quickly, which is just how I like my thrillers. I think this may still be a slow burn for some, but when it takes off, it flies, and the ending is SO very good. It’s hard to believe this is a debut from Tallo, and I am waiting with grabby hands for her second!
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
While searching through her great-grandma’s things, she finds cold case files that belonged to her police detective mom who passed away in a car accident years ago. Gus finds some clues in her mother’s notes, and she decides to follow them.
Dark August is paced well with a compelling storyline and an endearing main character. The fluid writing makes it easy to read quickly, which is just how I like my thrillers. I think this may still be a slow burn for some, but when it takes off, it flies, and the ending is SO very good. It’s hard to believe this is a debut from Tallo, and I am waiting with grabby hands for her second!
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader