Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by holdenwunders_
Midnight in Soap Lake by Matthew Sullivan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Matthew Sullivan is so underrated and I have no idea why and every time I read something by him, I leave baffled by his lack of following! This man should be known as one of the best thriller writers around, what gives??
Sullivan is constantly pushing boundaries in the genre by expertly weaving genres together to make an amalgamation of something new while also retaining what makes the thriller genre so good. He leads you into a curiousity as a reader which makes the entire experience so enjoyable and participatory. Is it supernatural? Is it just bad people? Who are the main players? What’s the outcome? What’s the secret that everyone else seems to know? These are all questions you will have reading any of his books but especially Midnight in Soap Lake.
I love that Sullivan spent time living in this town and it sparked the creative juices to create a whole story based on it and created a mythological, cult-esc urban legend that many small towns seem to collect. I was intrigued by the characters and their motives and also so curious about the actual scientific properties of the lake that brought our characters to the town. I loved that this was also imperative to the overall storytelling instead of a simple backdrop.
Every single aspect of this story was met with so much care and detail that everything mattered. No bit of dialogue, setting, or character was thrown away or there for the sake of being there. With a well rounded cast, mystery lurking around every corner, and an overarching villainous boogeyman lingering over you while reading, it begs the question, does TreeTop kill or do we need to band together to kill TreeTop??
Sullivan is constantly pushing boundaries in the genre by expertly weaving genres together to make an amalgamation of something new while also retaining what makes the thriller genre so good. He leads you into a curiousity as a reader which makes the entire experience so enjoyable and participatory. Is it supernatural? Is it just bad people? Who are the main players? What’s the outcome? What’s the secret that everyone else seems to know? These are all questions you will have reading any of his books but especially Midnight in Soap Lake.
I love that Sullivan spent time living in this town and it sparked the creative juices to create a whole story based on it and created a mythological, cult-esc urban legend that many small towns seem to collect. I was intrigued by the characters and their motives and also so curious about the actual scientific properties of the lake that brought our characters to the town. I loved that this was also imperative to the overall storytelling instead of a simple backdrop.
Every single aspect of this story was met with so much care and detail that everything mattered. No bit of dialogue, setting, or character was thrown away or there for the sake of being there. With a well rounded cast, mystery lurking around every corner, and an overarching villainous boogeyman lingering over you while reading, it begs the question, does TreeTop kill or do we need to band together to kill TreeTop??