PositiveVol. 1 BrooklynCynan Jones’s books tend to rest on the intersection of the interior struggles of his characters and the exterior challenges the elements present ... short as it [Cove] may be, it provides a bit of rigor as it slips between linearity and non-linearity; moreover, it’s written in fragmented sections that often read a bit more like prose poetry than do Jones’s other books. As we’ve come to expect from Jones, the story begins in a mystery, a narrative fugue state, where Jones keeps the characters and the reader just inches away from the pieces they need to find purchase in a world that is constantly presenting them with foul and slippery moments of chance. If only the characters could locate themselves in the narrative, they could quite easily step away, find solutions, but this is not the luxury life affords them, and thus we must ride along with them as they assemble their reality. It sounds simple, indeed, but Jones always manages to keep the mystery fresh. After all, any lesson worth learning, is worth learning the hard way, and in Jones’s universe, this seems to be the only way ... The thing I enjoyed most about this book was Jones’ ability to carry sound through his lines. Because of the somewhat fragmented structure of the prose, this sonic thread really helps move the book along ... the word choice adds texture and music.
Jac Jemc
RaveVol. 1 BrooklynIt is in the juxtaposition of the two main characters’ points of view that Jemc finds new ground. Where as the traditional narrative requires one of the characters to play the 'straight man,' so that the spouse’s perspective is called into question consistently, Jemc has her married couple, James and Connie, begin to become more and more erratic as the novel progresses ... Jemc successfully juxtaposes the ghosts of the supernatural world with the ghosts of the natural world, and as a result, the reader must engage with the book to search for clues that might validate the claims of the narrators ... What separates a good supernatural story from schlock are the ways in which the author subtly approaches the subject. It is here where Jemc’s writing really shines. She holds back enough to keep the reader engaged in the construction of their own fears ... Simply put, we need more books like this, books that allow us fear without forcing themselves on us with a two dimensional ta-da.
