Review – Mockingbird

Title: Mockingbird

Author: Chuck Wendig

Publisher: Angry Robot

Publish Date: August 23, 2012

ISBN-13: 978-0857662323

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Miriam is trying. Really, she is.

But this whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis–who’s on the road half the time in his truck–is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.

It just isn’t going well. Still, she’s keeping her psychic ability–to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them–in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she’s keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.

Then comes one bad day that turns it all on her ear.

Review:

In this second book of the series Miriam hasn’t changed much. She still gets in trouble with her wise ass comments and she still has a hard time settling down. Despite trying to hold down a job for Louis she ends up losing it in brilliant fashion.

Eventually she agrees to use her gift on a schoolteacher. Once there she encounters a young girl that she brushes up against. That one touch gives Miriam a glimpse of her horrible death by a serial kilter.

As Miriam fights to save the girl more of her raw character shows through. She’s almost visceral in nature. She’s beyond blunt and painfully honest with everyone as she fights to get what she wants and even when she doesn’t. Occasionally she will show that she does possess a soft side. While those times are rare it does offer a glimpse into what makes her tick.

The writing is engaging and the plot is fast paced. There are plenty of action scenes to keep a near continuous thrill ride going. I had a difficult time with the surprise end. It was disappointing and something of a let down even if the action did keep up. I’m still glad I read it for the sake of spending more time with Miriam.

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