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Going to California
Going to California is the second book in a series, immediately picking up where The Rain Song where the Remington family finds themselves separated, each with their own challenges before them. Will they be able to reunite before the evil stalking them succeeds?
David and Micah continue their journey to find the mysterious Karen while attempting to stay hidden from the very danger that ruthlessly hunts the youngest brother. They are unaware of a new danger that looms closer, as they search for safe haven in hopes of one day returning home to the rest of their family. Tirelessly, they must outrun hitmen, demons, and overzealous hunters of the supernatural, all while their mom lays helpless and hurt in the hospital, and their dad tries to move heaven and earth to find them.
Looking for his sons, Nick must rely on his new friends for not only help, but new knowledge into David's past and Micah's knowledge that could alter his perception about everything... forever.
Finally believing that their family is about to be united once again, Nick and Angela are horrified that betrayal from their own circle threatens everything they hold dear. Can their love for one defeat the danger to them all?
David and Micah continue their journey to find the mysterious Karen while attempting to stay hidden from the very danger that ruthlessly hunts the youngest brother. They are unaware of a new danger that looms closer, as they search for safe haven in hopes of one day returning home to the rest of their family. Tirelessly, they must outrun hitmen, demons, and overzealous hunters of the supernatural, all while their mom lays helpless and hurt in the hospital, and their dad tries to move heaven and earth to find them.
Looking for his sons, Nick must rely on his new friends for not only help, but new knowledge into David's past and Micah's knowledge that could alter his perception about everything... forever.
Finally believing that their family is about to be united once again, Nick and Angela are horrified that betrayal from their own circle threatens everything they hold dear. Can their love for one defeat the danger to them all?
362 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2011
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 6, 2011
I won this book through a Goodreads give-away.
The book jacket says that this book picks up right where the first book, The Rain Song, ended. Well, this author wasn't kidding. If you haven't read the first book, my suggestion is to put this book down, go get the first book, read it, and only *then* should you pick up this book. Otherwise, like me, you will feel like you picked up a book and just started reading in the middle.
Going to California is about a family, the Remingtons, who are trying to protect their 8 year-old son, Micah (or Mickey). Micah and his older brother, David, are separated from their parents, and are on the run from demons, hunters, and hit men...all with their own agenda in capturing Micah and using him for their own purposes...or to just plain out-right kill him. Nick and Angela, along with a cast of friends, are trying to find and protect the boys and bring them home. But not only are they dealing with adversaries coming at them from every direction, they have to deal with a traitor within their own group.
This is fact-paced, action-packed novel that hardly stops to take a breather. The various points of view approaching each scene is interesting and intriguing. You would think that, with the various points of view, that there would be no way the author could slip in a traitorous member because you kind of know what everyone is thinking, but Janice does this with ease and I found myself wondering throughout the whole book who the traitor was going to be. The ending pulled at my heartstrings. Each character is developed in 3-D, though sometimes I felt the actions/dialogue of Angela Remington, the mom, a little over-dramatic and not quite realistic. I liked every character in the ensemble cast.
Now, let's get to the nasty.
There is no explanation of things, people, places or events that took place in book one, so you are left with a cast of about 10 characters, some with aliases, going in different directions with different thoughts and agendas and feelings and none of it makes sense. I think about 1/3 of the way into the book there is some backstory revealed, but that's far too late. I didn't even know how old David was until about that time (13, by the way). The first third of the book I didn't know if he was an immature 18 or a very mature 10.
There are terms used with no explanation. For example, David is a Guardian. Now, that could be an angel, a demon guardian, or a human with a fancy title. Couldn't tell you.
There are also Seers and Warriors, and The Other Realm. What are these? Haven't a clue.
Micah is a demon, but I can't tell you what kind of demon (or if there are various kinds of demons or if they are all the same). He has some powers...we see him use some kind of protection shield, and he thinks he can hurt people by blowing them up, but don't know if that's true or not since he never does blow anything up. And though he's a demon, he's being protected by hunters, David the Guardian, and a priest. Why is he being protected? Haven't a clue. I don't know if he's a good demon, or if it's because he's only 8 years old, or because he's innocent until proven guilty.
Also, while the writing *style* is great...the writing in and of itself is not. The book could use a good editor to help clean up the punctuation so that there aren't a lot of run in sentences, or sentences that don't quite make sense. Too often the action was stalled when I had to stop to re-read sentences to try to figure out what was meant.
So, now you know why you have to read the first book first. My review may have been better had I known what was going on half the time, because it definitely has potential.
The book jacket says that this book picks up right where the first book, The Rain Song, ended. Well, this author wasn't kidding. If you haven't read the first book, my suggestion is to put this book down, go get the first book, read it, and only *then* should you pick up this book. Otherwise, like me, you will feel like you picked up a book and just started reading in the middle.
Going to California is about a family, the Remingtons, who are trying to protect their 8 year-old son, Micah (or Mickey). Micah and his older brother, David, are separated from their parents, and are on the run from demons, hunters, and hit men...all with their own agenda in capturing Micah and using him for their own purposes...or to just plain out-right kill him. Nick and Angela, along with a cast of friends, are trying to find and protect the boys and bring them home. But not only are they dealing with adversaries coming at them from every direction, they have to deal with a traitor within their own group.
This is fact-paced, action-packed novel that hardly stops to take a breather. The various points of view approaching each scene is interesting and intriguing. You would think that, with the various points of view, that there would be no way the author could slip in a traitorous member because you kind of know what everyone is thinking, but Janice does this with ease and I found myself wondering throughout the whole book who the traitor was going to be. The ending pulled at my heartstrings. Each character is developed in 3-D, though sometimes I felt the actions/dialogue of Angela Remington, the mom, a little over-dramatic and not quite realistic. I liked every character in the ensemble cast.
Now, let's get to the nasty.
There is no explanation of things, people, places or events that took place in book one, so you are left with a cast of about 10 characters, some with aliases, going in different directions with different thoughts and agendas and feelings and none of it makes sense. I think about 1/3 of the way into the book there is some backstory revealed, but that's far too late. I didn't even know how old David was until about that time (13, by the way). The first third of the book I didn't know if he was an immature 18 or a very mature 10.
There are terms used with no explanation. For example, David is a Guardian. Now, that could be an angel, a demon guardian, or a human with a fancy title. Couldn't tell you.
There are also Seers and Warriors, and The Other Realm. What are these? Haven't a clue.
Micah is a demon, but I can't tell you what kind of demon (or if there are various kinds of demons or if they are all the same). He has some powers...we see him use some kind of protection shield, and he thinks he can hurt people by blowing them up, but don't know if that's true or not since he never does blow anything up. And though he's a demon, he's being protected by hunters, David the Guardian, and a priest. Why is he being protected? Haven't a clue. I don't know if he's a good demon, or if it's because he's only 8 years old, or because he's innocent until proven guilty.
Also, while the writing *style* is great...the writing in and of itself is not. The book could use a good editor to help clean up the punctuation so that there aren't a lot of run in sentences, or sentences that don't quite make sense. Too often the action was stalled when I had to stop to re-read sentences to try to figure out what was meant.
So, now you know why you have to read the first book first. My review may have been better had I known what was going on half the time, because it definitely has potential.
February 19, 2012
I received this book for free through first reads giveaway.
I must start off by saying that I did not read the first book in the series, which may have let me appreciate the book more if I had.
This just wasn't my type of book. I found myself lost in the beginning only due to not reading the first book, so it was only fault of my own. As I began to understand the story more, I just couldn't find myself getting into it.
This book is told from many different view-points, so I found myself struggling to remember which character was narrating at the time.
I was able to finish the book with the promise of more to come at the end, but I personally don't think I will continue on with this family's quest to save a little boy.
I must start off by saying that I did not read the first book in the series, which may have let me appreciate the book more if I had.
This just wasn't my type of book. I found myself lost in the beginning only due to not reading the first book, so it was only fault of my own. As I began to understand the story more, I just couldn't find myself getting into it.
This book is told from many different view-points, so I found myself struggling to remember which character was narrating at the time.
I was able to finish the book with the promise of more to come at the end, but I personally don't think I will continue on with this family's quest to save a little boy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews