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A review by doomkittiekhan
Shadow Vista by Mark Steensland, Charles Colyott
2.0
So, despite being less than 100 pages, it took me nearly a month to finish 'Shadow Vista'. Why? Who knows. Probably because buddy reads and themed readalongs dominated my reading schedule this last month and punted individual titles further down my list. However, it could also be because this story was just ...meh.
'Shadow Vista' is a fun, end-of-summer slasher that takes place in the titular unfinished suburban neighborhood. The story is told primarily from the perspective of Zachary Frenkel who works as a part-time security officer monitoring the subdivision for a private company hired by the development's investors. 'Shadow Vista' is a compact story that has good pacing and lots of atmosphere. Colyott and Steensland know how to write a murder scene and they don't rush through the action which I really appreciated.
The book begins strongly, but as the characters begin to be fleshed out and the killer is revealed, the story felt too canned and tropey. I found Zachary to be an annoying narrator, Sam was a walking stereotype of the manic-pixie-dream-girl, Rebecca was the problematic bombshell, and Kyle was the douchey bro. It was just...typical. I could have forgiven the characters that fell flat if the arc of the killer had been more engaging. creative, and believable. Maybe explore something with the development company/investors about why they won't finish Shadow Vista? That could have been really interesting! I guess what I'm getting at is that I would have loved a full-on campy, novel length, version of 'Shadow Vista to enjoy.
'Shadow Vista' is the first publishing venture by the inimitable Night Worms crew and the level of writing quality for this imprint is promising. I'm really excited about what other indie authors Sadie and Ashley bring to our attention through their publishing efforts. Unfortunately, 'Shadow Vista' left me equally wanting more and relieved when it was finally over.
'Shadow Vista' is a fun, end-of-summer slasher that takes place in the titular unfinished suburban neighborhood. The story is told primarily from the perspective of Zachary Frenkel who works as a part-time security officer monitoring the subdivision for a private company hired by the development's investors. 'Shadow Vista' is a compact story that has good pacing and lots of atmosphere. Colyott and Steensland know how to write a murder scene and they don't rush through the action which I really appreciated.
The book begins strongly, but as the characters begin to be fleshed out and the killer is revealed, the story felt too canned and tropey. I found Zachary to be an annoying narrator, Sam was a walking stereotype of the manic-pixie-dream-girl, Rebecca was the problematic bombshell, and Kyle was the douchey bro. It was just...typical. I could have forgiven the characters that fell flat if the arc of the killer had been more engaging. creative, and believable. Maybe explore something with the development company/investors about why they won't finish Shadow Vista? That could have been really interesting! I guess what I'm getting at is that I would have loved a full-on campy, novel length, version of 'Shadow Vista to enjoy.
'Shadow Vista' is the first publishing venture by the inimitable Night Worms crew and the level of writing quality for this imprint is promising. I'm really excited about what other indie authors Sadie and Ashley bring to our attention through their publishing efforts. Unfortunately, 'Shadow Vista' left me equally wanting more and relieved when it was finally over.