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Niceville #2
I confini del nulla
Il sole inonda di luce dorata le strade e le case coloniali, filtrando tra le querce e i salici per andare a rifrangersi sulle acque turbolente del fiume Tulip. Niceville sarebbe una cittadina idilliaca... Se non fosse per le ombre, i sussurri, le sparizioni. E tutte quelle morti misteriose.
Il detective della omicidi Nick Kavanaugh è un forestiero, che vive e lavora in quel piccolo centro nel profondo Sud degli Stati Uniti per amore della moglie, Kate Walker, discendente di una delle più antiche famiglie della zona. Da tempo Nick è alle prese con eventi non solo criminosi, ma anche inspiegabili. Da un lato ci sono le conseguenze imprevedibili e sanguinose di una rapina in banca finita nel sangue, con una lunga scia di ricatti, vendette e complicità. E dall’altro, c’è Rainey Teague. Che è solo un ragazzo... o forse no. Forse è abitato da un’energia oscura e implacabile. La stessa che permea ogni angolo di Niceville.
Perché a Niceville nulla resta morto e sepolto a lungo. A Niceville ogni famiglia custodisce un segreto che mormora dai confini del nulla, affilando gli artigli nel buio. A Niceville nessuno può sfuggire al vuoto.
Il detective della omicidi Nick Kavanaugh è un forestiero, che vive e lavora in quel piccolo centro nel profondo Sud degli Stati Uniti per amore della moglie, Kate Walker, discendente di una delle più antiche famiglie della zona. Da tempo Nick è alle prese con eventi non solo criminosi, ma anche inspiegabili. Da un lato ci sono le conseguenze imprevedibili e sanguinose di una rapina in banca finita nel sangue, con una lunga scia di ricatti, vendette e complicità. E dall’altro, c’è Rainey Teague. Che è solo un ragazzo... o forse no. Forse è abitato da un’energia oscura e implacabile. La stessa che permea ogni angolo di Niceville.
Perché a Niceville nulla resta morto e sepolto a lungo. A Niceville ogni famiglia custodisce un segreto che mormora dai confini del nulla, affilando gli artigli nel buio. A Niceville nessuno può sfuggire al vuoto.
472 pages, Hardcover
First published July 16, 2013
66 people are currently reading
1751 people want to read
About the author
Carsten Stroud
38 books173 followersCarsten Stroud is the author of the New York Times bestseller Close Pursuit, and the award-winning Sniper's Moon, both set in the New York City Police Department. He lives and writes in Thunder Beach, Ontario, Canada.
Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award Best First Novel (1991): Sniper's Moon
* Arthur Ellis Award Best Novel (1993): Lizardskin
Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award Best First Novel (1991): Sniper's Moon
* Arthur Ellis Award Best Novel (1993): Lizardskin
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
October 27, 2019
so all you motherlumpers who didn't listen to me when i squeeed all over Niceville when i reviewed it last year are going to be SO EMBARRASSED! because the sequel is coming out, and it is a legitimate squee-quel, better than the first!!
it is such a "me" book that i am too blinded to even know who else i should recommend it to. and by "it," i mean niceville, because if you attempt to read this one before you read that one i will slap my keyboard and pretend it is you.
i mean, it's your life to live and you make your own choices, of course. just don't make dumb choices. the book does a good job of dropping details from the first book in little expositional nuggets, but they are mostly for the people like me, who have read a book or two between this one and niceville and they are more like bread-crumb reminders than stand-ins for you aforementioned motherlumpers. you do it your way, you are going to miss a lot. you do it my way, and hopefully you will have the same reading experience as i had, and you will feel lit up from within with satisfaction in a well-told tale.
here are some tags for you: southern gothic, canadian author, crime fiction, ghosties, historical flashbacks, eeeeevil child, afterlife-intervention, beware the deer, bone baskets, mysterious disappearances,crimes both white-collar and otherwise, fantastic courtroom scene, drill-torture, mental asylum, mysterious reappearances, gorgeous elderly archivist, a mayaimi indian gigolo,assassins,sharpshooters, high-speed highway chase, hostage situation in a fortified survivalist store,and very hungry cats.
ohhhhh, it is my kind of delicious.
the action in this book picks up right after niceville ends, and from there, there are some time-jumps, but it mostly follows chronologically in a shortish span of time.
niceville is the kind of small town that inhabits the sleeping brain of david lynch. on the surface, it is all scenic and quaint, with its little trolly rolling through the historical district by antebellum houses and weeping willows, and a vast lake, steeped in native american lore. oh, but there is a darkness roiling unseen, and the borders between here and after-here are porous.
and on top of the supernatural presence, there is also good old human crime. one crime in particular, which has consequences that spiderweb out into four or six additional crimes, keeping the various law enforcement agencies very busy indeed.
and with all this going on, it still manages to be funny. frequently. which is something i just love, when it is successful - a book that can be creepy one moment, and then crime-thrillery, and then making me laugh all in the span of a few pages (or screens, because i am so modern now) the chapters are on the shorter side, and they all have huge-font, evocative titles like: what the military term "vertically deployed into the terrain" actually means and zero to sixty in four point three is good but sixty to zero in one is not. it is definitely a book that holds your attention.
apart from the haunted carnival fun of its plot and pacing, the characters are so very good. and nuanced - there are characters that you would expect to hate, like charlie danziger. but i just couldn't stop myself from having a soft spot for him, long before the scene with mavis where even the most cynical reader has to forgive him. and you cannot dislike a character named lemon featherlight. you think you can, but you can't.
there is definitely space for a third book, here. i'm not sure if he is planning on going for it, but in the introduction, there is the following quote:
"I hope Mr. Stroud, having had so much fun writing Niceville, listening to his people give him terrific dialogue, is writing a sequel or another one like it."
and who can argue with elmore leonard? there are such mixed reviews for niceville on here, leaning over to the negative, it must be told, that i want to be very careful about recommending it, because i guess people don't like books where there are a lot of converging storylines where awesome stuff happens. and some people like shows where people sing all the time. so, people are strange, but i loved this book, and that's the best i can do for you.
come to my blog!
it is such a "me" book that i am too blinded to even know who else i should recommend it to. and by "it," i mean niceville, because if you attempt to read this one before you read that one i will slap my keyboard and pretend it is you.
i mean, it's your life to live and you make your own choices, of course. just don't make dumb choices. the book does a good job of dropping details from the first book in little expositional nuggets, but they are mostly for the people like me, who have read a book or two between this one and niceville and they are more like bread-crumb reminders than stand-ins for you aforementioned motherlumpers. you do it your way, you are going to miss a lot. you do it my way, and hopefully you will have the same reading experience as i had, and you will feel lit up from within with satisfaction in a well-told tale.
here are some tags for you: southern gothic, canadian author, crime fiction, ghosties, historical flashbacks, eeeeevil child, afterlife-intervention, beware the deer, bone baskets, mysterious disappearances,crimes both white-collar and otherwise, fantastic courtroom scene, drill-torture, mental asylum, mysterious reappearances, gorgeous elderly archivist, a mayaimi indian gigolo,assassins,sharpshooters, high-speed highway chase, hostage situation in a fortified survivalist store,and very hungry cats.
ohhhhh, it is my kind of delicious.
the action in this book picks up right after niceville ends, and from there, there are some time-jumps, but it mostly follows chronologically in a shortish span of time.
niceville is the kind of small town that inhabits the sleeping brain of david lynch. on the surface, it is all scenic and quaint, with its little trolly rolling through the historical district by antebellum houses and weeping willows, and a vast lake, steeped in native american lore. oh, but there is a darkness roiling unseen, and the borders between here and after-here are porous.
and on top of the supernatural presence, there is also good old human crime. one crime in particular, which has consequences that spiderweb out into four or six additional crimes, keeping the various law enforcement agencies very busy indeed.
and with all this going on, it still manages to be funny. frequently. which is something i just love, when it is successful - a book that can be creepy one moment, and then crime-thrillery, and then making me laugh all in the span of a few pages (or screens, because i am so modern now) the chapters are on the shorter side, and they all have huge-font, evocative titles like: what the military term "vertically deployed into the terrain" actually means and zero to sixty in four point three is good but sixty to zero in one is not. it is definitely a book that holds your attention.
apart from the haunted carnival fun of its plot and pacing, the characters are so very good. and nuanced - there are characters that you would expect to hate, like charlie danziger. but i just couldn't stop myself from having a soft spot for him, long before the scene with mavis where even the most cynical reader has to forgive him. and you cannot dislike a character named lemon featherlight. you think you can, but you can't.
there is definitely space for a third book, here. i'm not sure if he is planning on going for it, but in the introduction, there is the following quote:
"I hope Mr. Stroud, having had so much fun writing Niceville, listening to his people give him terrific dialogue, is writing a sequel or another one like it."
and who can argue with elmore leonard? there are such mixed reviews for niceville on here, leaning over to the negative, it must be told, that i want to be very careful about recommending it, because i guess people don't like books where there are a lot of converging storylines where awesome stuff happens. and some people like shows where people sing all the time. so, people are strange, but i loved this book, and that's the best i can do for you.
come to my blog!
May 28, 2013
Carsten Stroud's "The Homecoming" (Knopf 2013) is the second in the "Niceville" trilogy. It picks up where "Niceville" left off, with our hero Nick Kavanaugh, called in when a flock of crows brings down a private jet of Chinese nationals by mucking up their engines. Nick is already knee deep in a dozen other police problems (many carried over from the first novel), including the disappearance of his father-in-law, several mysterious deaths, and a bank robbery no one can solve. To add to the confusion, his wife Kate is guardian for a ten-year-old orphaned boy who comes to live with them--and brings with him a whole new set of ghosts, voices, and personal agendas. As Nick wades through the clues, the only thread he can find to explain everything that has happened is supernatural forces preying on his quiet sun-dappled community.
Let me stop here: I don't ordinarily go for paranormal, and before "Niceville", Carsten Stroud didn't write that type of book. I got interested in Stroud through his military novels--"Cuba Strait" and "Cobraville"--so was excited to find a new novel by him. He didn't so much change genres as create a new sub-category of 'paranormal thriller'. If I were interested in that genre, there's no one better to write it than Stroud. He has a light-hearted approach ("Speaking of painful, he was aware of Deitz looming at his shoulder, smelling lemony fresh" and "In short, from the ground up, he looked pretty damn good, like a designer refrigerator or like one of those retired NFL linebackers who get jobs as halftime commentators on Fox and CBS--hyper-snazzy in a vaguely alarming way"), a down-to-earth believability even of the unbelievable. Plus--and this may be the most important element--the ghosts and goblins in no way rule the plot; there are lots of 'regular' thriller/mystery pieces to keep the story moving along the traditional genre tracks. In his competent hands, this blending of two genres works. Consider this quote at the beginning of the novel:
"Among the dead, there are those who still have to be killed."
Who could not keep reading after that?
The setting is the southern town of Niceville, a slow-moving, friendly place where most people know most everyone. Stroud recreates this tight, got-your-back community expertly with dialogue, descriptive detail, and chapter titles like 'Zero to Sixty in Four Point Three is Good but Sixty to Zero in One is Not'. Every character Stroud introduces fits perfectly, and there are many. If you didn't meet them in the first book, you might feel overwhelmed by the volume of people it takes to move this plot along. If you read "Niceville" first, you'll be OK. In fact, Stroud often refers to events covered in the first book. Yes, he tries to explain them, but it's a complicated plot with lots of twists and turns and murders and oddities. Consider:
"Plus remember that guy, the guy who found out Twyla's dad was taking pictures of her in the shower, got ahold of them and emailed them to Twyla?"
Yeah, I do, from the first book. There's a lot of backstory that adds a ton of color to the story. If all you get is that one sentence, you might be left shaking your head.
Don't let my whining discourage you from buying this book. Stroud is a top notch story teller. I'll be reading Part III.
Let me stop here: I don't ordinarily go for paranormal, and before "Niceville", Carsten Stroud didn't write that type of book. I got interested in Stroud through his military novels--"Cuba Strait" and "Cobraville"--so was excited to find a new novel by him. He didn't so much change genres as create a new sub-category of 'paranormal thriller'. If I were interested in that genre, there's no one better to write it than Stroud. He has a light-hearted approach ("Speaking of painful, he was aware of Deitz looming at his shoulder, smelling lemony fresh" and "In short, from the ground up, he looked pretty damn good, like a designer refrigerator or like one of those retired NFL linebackers who get jobs as halftime commentators on Fox and CBS--hyper-snazzy in a vaguely alarming way"), a down-to-earth believability even of the unbelievable. Plus--and this may be the most important element--the ghosts and goblins in no way rule the plot; there are lots of 'regular' thriller/mystery pieces to keep the story moving along the traditional genre tracks. In his competent hands, this blending of two genres works. Consider this quote at the beginning of the novel:
"Among the dead, there are those who still have to be killed."
Who could not keep reading after that?
The setting is the southern town of Niceville, a slow-moving, friendly place where most people know most everyone. Stroud recreates this tight, got-your-back community expertly with dialogue, descriptive detail, and chapter titles like 'Zero to Sixty in Four Point Three is Good but Sixty to Zero in One is Not'. Every character Stroud introduces fits perfectly, and there are many. If you didn't meet them in the first book, you might feel overwhelmed by the volume of people it takes to move this plot along. If you read "Niceville" first, you'll be OK. In fact, Stroud often refers to events covered in the first book. Yes, he tries to explain them, but it's a complicated plot with lots of twists and turns and murders and oddities. Consider:
"Plus remember that guy, the guy who found out Twyla's dad was taking pictures of her in the shower, got ahold of them and emailed them to Twyla?"
Yeah, I do, from the first book. There's a lot of backstory that adds a ton of color to the story. If all you get is that one sentence, you might be left shaking your head.
Don't let my whining discourage you from buying this book. Stroud is a top notch story teller. I'll be reading Part III.
January 1, 2019
man oh man
this guy can W R I T E
there's so much detail in everything he puts in front of you
all these characters!
this book filled my heart with tension during police chases and deers and shootouts and ghost sightings
i was even crying over a character i thought i hated but i've followed them for so long....
carsten stroud knows how to weave a story and make everything tie together perfectly
there's so much going on but it all comes together in the best and worst ways
i highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who wants a good story and i haven't even read the third book yet!
this guy can W R I T E
there's so much detail in everything he puts in front of you
all these characters!
this book filled my heart with tension during police chases and deers and shootouts and ghost sightings
i was even crying over a character i thought i hated but i've followed them for so long....
carsten stroud knows how to weave a story and make everything tie together perfectly
there's so much going on but it all comes together in the best and worst ways
i highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who wants a good story and i haven't even read the third book yet!
June 1, 2025
3.5 stars… I did enjoy this read and I do occasionally read super natural stories although they are not my favorite genre. I probably should have read the first book in this series only because there are a lot of characters to keep straight. However, I don’t think it is necessary in order to enjoy this story. The author did a great job covering the gist of Niceville ( a town you really don’t want to visit let alone live there!!) Niceville is the name of the first book and the setting of both stories.
February 5, 2014
The Homecoming by Carsten Stroud is the second novel in a series that started with Niceville two years ago. My initial review of Niceville was very positive with the regret that I felt Stroud had tried to do too much with the book. Was it a mystery? A crime novel? A ghost story? Or somehow with great ambition, Stroud tried to make it all three. He did well but I felt he left much unsaid. In The Homecoming, Carsten Stroud continues the tale and begins to fill in what was missing in Niceville.
...And only last night, right here where he was standing, right on these steps, Kate had opened these same black doors onto a thing that had no explanation, no framework, no reason to exist that fit into any of the outer world's reality. It was utterly strange, and it was hostile--hate filled, hungry, mindless--something out of a nightmare world, something alien and terrifying and inexplicable.
The both saw it, Nick and Kate.
And they both saw the woman--the image of the woman--who had stepped out of that old mirror in a haze of green light and confronted the thing in the doorway. They had recognized her from an old picture. It was a woman named Glynis Ruelle, who had died in 1939. This had actually happened last night...
Nick and Kate Kavanaugh, having so recently survived the events that resulted in finding the missing child Rainey Teague. Rainey who somehow stared into an antique mirror and then disappeared only to be found later buried in a sealed crypt. A crypt that hadn't been opened in over a hundred years. Now Nick and Kate have sheltered Kate's sister and her two children as well from an abusive husband and father. A husband, Byron Dietz who had just been stopped in possession of stolen bank money. A robbery that had killed several of Nick's fellow officers.
There are millions of dollars missing. Cops dead. FBI questioning everyone. A plane crashing into a murder of crows. And beneath it all. A small boy possessed of ghosts. Ghosts who want to live again.
..."Are you coming with me?" Anora asked.
Talitha shook her head.
"No, Missus. I wish I might. I can't."
"Yes you can. I forgive you. It's not too late for you. You can go to the pastor at Plaquemine and confess. To a judge. You can...atone."
"Missus, I believe I done that already. For what I done to you, Mister London has killed me."
"Killed you?"
"Yessum. Mister London has killed me with a rope down in the box maze and now I am hung in the juniper willow with a note I never wrote pinned to my dress. Mister London, he don't collect I never got my letters, but Second Samuel knows."
She paused for a moment, as if listening.
"They calling for me now, Missus. My run is done. I am bound for unconsecrated ground, because I am a whore and a murderess. I only come to take you to the mirror. Remember me to Second Samuel, if you can. He was a fine daddy to me, and I am sorry I was such a bad daughter..."
And did I mentioned there was also a mob enforcer bent on finding the missing robbery money for himself?
As with Niceville, Stroud packs The Homecoming with a cast of characters and dialogue not seen much these days. In fact you may have to go back to William Diehl's Sharky's Machine for wit like you will find here.
A terrific read and setting up the third book which I hope is soon to come.
...And only last night, right here where he was standing, right on these steps, Kate had opened these same black doors onto a thing that had no explanation, no framework, no reason to exist that fit into any of the outer world's reality. It was utterly strange, and it was hostile--hate filled, hungry, mindless--something out of a nightmare world, something alien and terrifying and inexplicable.
The both saw it, Nick and Kate.
And they both saw the woman--the image of the woman--who had stepped out of that old mirror in a haze of green light and confronted the thing in the doorway. They had recognized her from an old picture. It was a woman named Glynis Ruelle, who had died in 1939. This had actually happened last night...
Nick and Kate Kavanaugh, having so recently survived the events that resulted in finding the missing child Rainey Teague. Rainey who somehow stared into an antique mirror and then disappeared only to be found later buried in a sealed crypt. A crypt that hadn't been opened in over a hundred years. Now Nick and Kate have sheltered Kate's sister and her two children as well from an abusive husband and father. A husband, Byron Dietz who had just been stopped in possession of stolen bank money. A robbery that had killed several of Nick's fellow officers.
There are millions of dollars missing. Cops dead. FBI questioning everyone. A plane crashing into a murder of crows. And beneath it all. A small boy possessed of ghosts. Ghosts who want to live again.
..."Are you coming with me?" Anora asked.
Talitha shook her head.
"No, Missus. I wish I might. I can't."
"Yes you can. I forgive you. It's not too late for you. You can go to the pastor at Plaquemine and confess. To a judge. You can...atone."
"Missus, I believe I done that already. For what I done to you, Mister London has killed me."
"Killed you?"
"Yessum. Mister London has killed me with a rope down in the box maze and now I am hung in the juniper willow with a note I never wrote pinned to my dress. Mister London, he don't collect I never got my letters, but Second Samuel knows."
She paused for a moment, as if listening.
"They calling for me now, Missus. My run is done. I am bound for unconsecrated ground, because I am a whore and a murderess. I only come to take you to the mirror. Remember me to Second Samuel, if you can. He was a fine daddy to me, and I am sorry I was such a bad daughter..."
And did I mentioned there was also a mob enforcer bent on finding the missing robbery money for himself?
As with Niceville, Stroud packs The Homecoming with a cast of characters and dialogue not seen much these days. In fact you may have to go back to William Diehl's Sharky's Machine for wit like you will find here.
A terrific read and setting up the third book which I hope is soon to come.
October 22, 2023
It's been a year since I read Niceville, and there's a bit of catching up to do in this sequel. Not only are the plots strands from the first book alive and well, but a bunch of new ones are introduced in the first twenty pages of The Homecoming. My feeble brain had trouble keeping track of who was who, who was dead and who was alive, or who was a ghost for that matter. Luckily, all characters are quite memorable and impressively named.
There's no snappy way to summarize why I liked the book so much (or maybe there is, but you know, feeble brain). The southern noir/ghost story/thriller elements just mix so adorably, the characters are irresistable and the dialogue, ah, the dialogue. I would read a whole book about my favorite law enforcement representatives Coker and Danziger, who are also killers and bank robbers, sitting on the porch, looking like Henry Fonda and Sam Elliott, sipping on white wine while trying to get their stories straight:
"You could shoot me out of hand, right now, tell everybody you just dropped in and found me counting the cash, and then we slapped leather."
"Slapped leather?"
"You know. Had a gunfight".
"Slapped leather?"
"It's from the movies, dammit".
"What was the movie? Cabaret?"
Aww, you guys.
Anyway, you should know that there's a lot of graphic violence (I mean the kind that requires a closed casket), though Stroud doesn't linger on it too long. There's the paranormal stuff, which is treated as pretty normal stuff, because this is Niceville where normal is overrated. And then there's the action stuff, where things explode and shots are fired and cars are chased. If this is a mix of ingredients you find distasteful, you should probably pass. I found it just as charming and scary and funny as I did the first time around.
Now I'm a little anxious since I can't find any solid information on the release of the third and final installment. Am I supposed to just...wait? Write Coker/Danziger fanfic while I wait? Okay then.
There's no snappy way to summarize why I liked the book so much (or maybe there is, but you know, feeble brain). The southern noir/ghost story/thriller elements just mix so adorably, the characters are irresistable and the dialogue, ah, the dialogue. I would read a whole book about my favorite law enforcement representatives Coker and Danziger, who are also killers and bank robbers, sitting on the porch, looking like Henry Fonda and Sam Elliott, sipping on white wine while trying to get their stories straight:
"You could shoot me out of hand, right now, tell everybody you just dropped in and found me counting the cash, and then we slapped leather."
"Slapped leather?"
"You know. Had a gunfight".
"Slapped leather?"
"It's from the movies, dammit".
"What was the movie? Cabaret?"
Aww, you guys.
Anyway, you should know that there's a lot of graphic violence (I mean the kind that requires a closed casket), though Stroud doesn't linger on it too long. There's the paranormal stuff, which is treated as pretty normal stuff, because this is Niceville where normal is overrated. And then there's the action stuff, where things explode and shots are fired and cars are chased. If this is a mix of ingredients you find distasteful, you should probably pass. I found it just as charming and scary and funny as I did the first time around.
Now I'm a little anxious since I can't find any solid information on the release of the third and final installment. Am I supposed to just...wait? Write Coker/Danziger fanfic while I wait? Okay then.
July 13, 2013
Since this is the 2nd book in a trilogy, the first thing you should wonder is "Do I need to have read this first book?" - You don't, necessarily, but I would recommend it. If you read Niceville and are wondering if you need to re-read it, you don't. The author does a good job of including enough details of the prior book to spark your memory, but if you skip the first book all together, I think you are missing something.
Strange things are afoot in Niceville. Unsolved crimes, mafia connections, and OTHER things. Otherworldly things. I think this is a fun and really original series. There are occasional bits of humor, and overall it's interesting and engaging.
Things that bug me - the story will be clipping along, and then all of a sudden the author stops to describe a house in detail, or some landscaping, even a car. That really slows the story down for me. And the dialog is stiff and uncomfortable at times. I'm not sure Stroud is all that great at writing women.
Aside from that, I really enjoy the series, particularly since it's such a mix of genres. I'm looking forward to the third book, but don't feel left hanging by some massive cliffhanger.
Strange things are afoot in Niceville. Unsolved crimes, mafia connections, and OTHER things. Otherworldly things. I think this is a fun and really original series. There are occasional bits of humor, and overall it's interesting and engaging.
Things that bug me - the story will be clipping along, and then all of a sudden the author stops to describe a house in detail, or some landscaping, even a car. That really slows the story down for me. And the dialog is stiff and uncomfortable at times. I'm not sure Stroud is all that great at writing women.
Aside from that, I really enjoy the series, particularly since it's such a mix of genres. I'm looking forward to the third book, but don't feel left hanging by some massive cliffhanger.
October 12, 2018
Continuación directa del anterior. Mismo estilo que el primero aunque el final queda un poco más en el aire. Mezcla de thriller policial por un lado e historia sobrenatural por el otro.
Como pasó en el origen de esta historia me gusta por los personajes estereotipados – muchísimos son una mezcla de los personajes de Clint Eastwood o Charles Bronson – todos son pistoleros, exmilitares o saben de armas, duros, muy duros. Está ambientada en un estado sureño amante de las armas. El que menos lleva un revólver y el que más un rifle de francotirador megapro.
Creo que en este libro el salto entre las historias de distinta temática no es tan abrupto y lo hace mejor.
Y lo que en realidad hace que me guste, y por eso no es una recomendación que haga en general ya que se sale un poco de lo común, son las escenas peliculeras. El autor es capaz de narrar de forma muy vívida – cruda, organizada pero directa – escenas clásicas de tiroteos, persecuciones... su forma de narrar la acción es muy buena. Siempre en el punto exacto y desde el personaje correcto. Es como si al narrar el tiroteo de la película Heat fueses capaz de verlo en tu mente.
Como pasó en el origen de esta historia me gusta por los personajes estereotipados – muchísimos son una mezcla de los personajes de Clint Eastwood o Charles Bronson – todos son pistoleros, exmilitares o saben de armas, duros, muy duros. Está ambientada en un estado sureño amante de las armas. El que menos lleva un revólver y el que más un rifle de francotirador megapro.
Creo que en este libro el salto entre las historias de distinta temática no es tan abrupto y lo hace mejor.
Y lo que en realidad hace que me guste, y por eso no es una recomendación que haga en general ya que se sale un poco de lo común, son las escenas peliculeras. El autor es capaz de narrar de forma muy vívida – cruda, organizada pero directa – escenas clásicas de tiroteos, persecuciones... su forma de narrar la acción es muy buena. Siempre en el punto exacto y desde el personaje correcto. Es como si al narrar el tiroteo de la película Heat fueses capaz de verlo en tu mente.
January 9, 2015
This book was on my radar because it has supernatural elements, but it is more a thriller than fantasy. The main characters are law enforcement personnel, criminals and an extended family that is in the middle of it all- a bank robbery, stolen American intelligence, mysterious evidence, a teen who had been buried alive, ex-FBI agent with Mafioso enemies and more. I had not read the first book in the series (Niceville), and I don't think it detracted a great deal, but reading it first would have helped me understand some of the characters better.
March 4, 2022
Secondo capitolo della trilogia. Rimane per me una lettura difficile in quanto il genere surreale non mi interessa in modo particolare. Tralasciando questo comunque, la lettura stavolta è stata più scorrevole, perché i personaggi erano già noti, e la storia è cresciuta tanto da incuriosirmi circa il finale che mi aspetta
March 11, 2025
Disappointing. Not sure I will read the 3rd one.
July 19, 2013
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2013/07/...
The Homecoming starts right up where Niceville left off, with the crash of a Chinese Lear full of possible Chinese spies. Also, Byron Dietz has been arrested in connection with a bank robbery that involved the execution style slayings of four cops that were pursuing the suspects, and Nick Kavenaugh, brother in law to Dietz, is shocked. Byron is a thug, and a wife beater, but he certainly doesn’t think he’s stupid enough to get caught with a bunch of cash from the robbery in the wheel well of his Hummer. Jump to six months later,and Nick’s got a lot more on his plate. In fact, Byron’s wife, Beth, with children Axel and Hannah, came to live with him and his wife, Kate, after Beth took one too many punches, and Rainey Teague, the boy that went missing in Niceville, has settled in with Nick and Kate as well. Well, settled in may not be the right word. Nick has a bad feeling about Rainey, nothing he can quite put his finger on, and it’s kept him at arm’s length from the boy. Either way, things are a far cry from the quiet that he enjoyed when it was just him and Kate. Nick will soon have plenty of other things to worry about when things start coming to a head concerning that bank robbery and Byron Dietz.
Meanwhile, Kate is finding out some things of her own. Rainey and Axel have been up to no good, skipping school and breaking into Rainey’s mother’s home, supposedly in search of answers concerning her disappearance and his father’s suicide. Rainey’s origins are still a mystery, but soon those secrets will start coming out, and something has gotten in to Rainey, an evil that is conniving and insidiously intelligent. With the help of Lemon Featherlight, a local ladies man, Kate’s brother Reed, and even, reluctantly, Nick, Kate is determined to find out what’s wrong with Rainey, and protect him at all costs, even if it drives a wedge between her and Nick.
I managed to summarize a good portion of The Homecoming, but there’s quite a bit left that I haven’t even touched. The author delves back into the rich history of Niceville and its founding families, one of which Kate is a member of, and another of which Rainey Teague is quite diabolically tangled in. There are a few supernatural entities at work in Niceville, some of which are benevolent, and one of which is decidedly not. We also still have the storyline involving the three men involved in the bank robbery, one of which is active law enforcement, and shockingly enough, I grew to like these guys over the course of the two books. They’re not good men, but they’re complicated men, and you can never forget the Niceville effect. It makes people do and see strange things, and boy do things get strange. Kate and Nick are a loving couple, but they’re both extremely independent people, making for a very intriguing dynamic.
Carsten Stroud has a wonderfully twisted imagination and he seamlessly weaves southern noir in with horror and supernatural elements to create a genre defying series that, personally, I love. Yep, this series has a ton going on, lots of plot threads and enough characters to make your head spin but the author manages to tie in everything, and everyone, effortlessly. Not to mention the dialogue is off the charts good. I wouldn’t recommend reading The Homecoming without reading Niceville first. There’s just too much going on and a lot of events in The Homecoming might not make sense to new readers. The series is unique, complex, odd, creepy, sometimes sad and always fascinating, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be more stories set in Niceville in the future.
The Homecoming starts right up where Niceville left off, with the crash of a Chinese Lear full of possible Chinese spies. Also, Byron Dietz has been arrested in connection with a bank robbery that involved the execution style slayings of four cops that were pursuing the suspects, and Nick Kavenaugh, brother in law to Dietz, is shocked. Byron is a thug, and a wife beater, but he certainly doesn’t think he’s stupid enough to get caught with a bunch of cash from the robbery in the wheel well of his Hummer. Jump to six months later,and Nick’s got a lot more on his plate. In fact, Byron’s wife, Beth, with children Axel and Hannah, came to live with him and his wife, Kate, after Beth took one too many punches, and Rainey Teague, the boy that went missing in Niceville, has settled in with Nick and Kate as well. Well, settled in may not be the right word. Nick has a bad feeling about Rainey, nothing he can quite put his finger on, and it’s kept him at arm’s length from the boy. Either way, things are a far cry from the quiet that he enjoyed when it was just him and Kate. Nick will soon have plenty of other things to worry about when things start coming to a head concerning that bank robbery and Byron Dietz.
Meanwhile, Kate is finding out some things of her own. Rainey and Axel have been up to no good, skipping school and breaking into Rainey’s mother’s home, supposedly in search of answers concerning her disappearance and his father’s suicide. Rainey’s origins are still a mystery, but soon those secrets will start coming out, and something has gotten in to Rainey, an evil that is conniving and insidiously intelligent. With the help of Lemon Featherlight, a local ladies man, Kate’s brother Reed, and even, reluctantly, Nick, Kate is determined to find out what’s wrong with Rainey, and protect him at all costs, even if it drives a wedge between her and Nick.
I managed to summarize a good portion of The Homecoming, but there’s quite a bit left that I haven’t even touched. The author delves back into the rich history of Niceville and its founding families, one of which Kate is a member of, and another of which Rainey Teague is quite diabolically tangled in. There are a few supernatural entities at work in Niceville, some of which are benevolent, and one of which is decidedly not. We also still have the storyline involving the three men involved in the bank robbery, one of which is active law enforcement, and shockingly enough, I grew to like these guys over the course of the two books. They’re not good men, but they’re complicated men, and you can never forget the Niceville effect. It makes people do and see strange things, and boy do things get strange. Kate and Nick are a loving couple, but they’re both extremely independent people, making for a very intriguing dynamic.
Carsten Stroud has a wonderfully twisted imagination and he seamlessly weaves southern noir in with horror and supernatural elements to create a genre defying series that, personally, I love. Yep, this series has a ton going on, lots of plot threads and enough characters to make your head spin but the author manages to tie in everything, and everyone, effortlessly. Not to mention the dialogue is off the charts good. I wouldn’t recommend reading The Homecoming without reading Niceville first. There’s just too much going on and a lot of events in The Homecoming might not make sense to new readers. The series is unique, complex, odd, creepy, sometimes sad and always fascinating, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be more stories set in Niceville in the future.
March 27, 2016
Der erste Teil dieser Trilogie, "Niceville", war ein einprägsamer hard-boiled Thriller, der uns von einem Banküberfall und der anschließenden Flucht (und v.a. von der Härte) der Gangster und der Verwirrung der Cops, von dem verschwundenen Jungen Rainy Teague und von höchst seltsamen Vorgängen rund um Crater Sink, einen zentralen Ort dieses Städtchens, und auch davon erzählte, daß in dieser Südstaatenkleinstadt immer wieder Menschen verschwidnen.
Band zwei, "Die Rükkehr", setzt noch am gleichen Wochenende ein, von dem die Geschehnisse des ersten Bandes berichten, und führt diese zunächst weiter. Doch allein der fast um das Dreifache angeschwollene Umfang dieses Werkes zeugt davon, daß Carsten Stroud seiner etwas anderen Südstaatensaga nicht nur diverse Kniffe und Wendungen zu verpassen bereit ist, die nicht schnell erzählt werden können (obwohl die Handlung, wenn auch durch zwei größere Sprünge auf Monate verteilt, in ihren Einzelteilen extrem komprimiert wird, wodurch der Autor enorme Spannung generiert), sondern er gibt seinen Figuren auch eine andere Tiefe, lotet sie genauer aus. Teil eins mutete in seiner Direktheit, ohne viel psychologischen Aufhebens um das, was geschah, eher wie ein Thriller von Richard Stark o.ä. an, hier nun gelingt es Stroud, die Figuren weitaus besser und genauer zu umreißen, wozu er allerdings oft nur wenige skizzierte Wesenszüge herausarbeiten muß, manchmal lediglich ein paar Zeilen Dialog benötigt, was von der ökonomischen Klasse dieses Schriftstellers zeugt. Und diesen Band eher in die Richtung der Werke eines Stephen King treibt.
Auch inhaltlich wähnt man sich am Ende dieser gut 600 Seiten eher in den Gefilden des großen ameriknaischen Erzählers. Denn es übernimmt zusehends jene Macht die Oberhand in der Handlung, die schon in Teil eins deutlich zu spüren war, nun jedoch virulent und amssiv in das Leben einiger der Bewohner des Städtchens eingreift. Ein kurzer Ausflug in das Jahr 1840 bietet uns auch ein paar Hinweise auf das, was sich im gegenwärtigen Niceville abspielen könnte und weshalb die, die verdammt sind, ihre Schicksale zu erleiden haben. Stroud treibt die Handlung wieder mit enorm viel Action voran, wieder wird die Erzählung in drei nahezu parallell verlaufende Handlunsgstränge aufgeteilt, die hier allerdings schon deutlich enger miteinander verwoben sind, als dies in Teil eins der Fall war. Eine "Inhaltsangabe" macht daher wenig Sinn, würde sie doch eher verwirren oder aber zu viel verraten.
Soviel sei dann aber doch gesagt: Wo Teil eins eine im Grunde harte Erzählung von einem hyperbrutalen Überfall war, in dessen Verlauf Kräfte eingriffen, die weder die Protagonisten noch der Leser verstand oder einzuordnen wusste, driftet die Erzählung hier sehr viel deutlicher Richtung Übernatürliches. Das läßt für den dritten Teil vermuten, daß Stroud uns womöglich als Abschluß seiner Trilogie eine gänzlich ins Phantastische mäandernde Story anbieten wird. Man darf gespannt sein!
Das hier jedenfalls funktioniert, es macht Spaß, es treten hinreichend seltsame Charaktere (v.a. auf Mr. Endicott sei an dieser Stelle verwiesen) auf, an denen man sich nicht satt lesen kann und zugleich schafft es Stroud auch, uns z.B. für den kleinen Rainy Teague soviel Mitgefühl zu entlocken (was Teil eins doch deutlich abging, war Empathie mit und Sorge für die Figuren), daß wir seiner Passionsgeschichte fast mit Trauer folgen. Stroud bindet uns also besser ein, nimmt uns mit und wir sind mittendrin in dieser Kleinstadt und ihren ganz spezifischen Problemen. Teil drei wird erwartet, mit Spannung und Ungeduld....
Band zwei, "Die Rükkehr", setzt noch am gleichen Wochenende ein, von dem die Geschehnisse des ersten Bandes berichten, und führt diese zunächst weiter. Doch allein der fast um das Dreifache angeschwollene Umfang dieses Werkes zeugt davon, daß Carsten Stroud seiner etwas anderen Südstaatensaga nicht nur diverse Kniffe und Wendungen zu verpassen bereit ist, die nicht schnell erzählt werden können (obwohl die Handlung, wenn auch durch zwei größere Sprünge auf Monate verteilt, in ihren Einzelteilen extrem komprimiert wird, wodurch der Autor enorme Spannung generiert), sondern er gibt seinen Figuren auch eine andere Tiefe, lotet sie genauer aus. Teil eins mutete in seiner Direktheit, ohne viel psychologischen Aufhebens um das, was geschah, eher wie ein Thriller von Richard Stark o.ä. an, hier nun gelingt es Stroud, die Figuren weitaus besser und genauer zu umreißen, wozu er allerdings oft nur wenige skizzierte Wesenszüge herausarbeiten muß, manchmal lediglich ein paar Zeilen Dialog benötigt, was von der ökonomischen Klasse dieses Schriftstellers zeugt. Und diesen Band eher in die Richtung der Werke eines Stephen King treibt.
Auch inhaltlich wähnt man sich am Ende dieser gut 600 Seiten eher in den Gefilden des großen ameriknaischen Erzählers. Denn es übernimmt zusehends jene Macht die Oberhand in der Handlung, die schon in Teil eins deutlich zu spüren war, nun jedoch virulent und amssiv in das Leben einiger der Bewohner des Städtchens eingreift. Ein kurzer Ausflug in das Jahr 1840 bietet uns auch ein paar Hinweise auf das, was sich im gegenwärtigen Niceville abspielen könnte und weshalb die, die verdammt sind, ihre Schicksale zu erleiden haben. Stroud treibt die Handlung wieder mit enorm viel Action voran, wieder wird die Erzählung in drei nahezu parallell verlaufende Handlunsgstränge aufgeteilt, die hier allerdings schon deutlich enger miteinander verwoben sind, als dies in Teil eins der Fall war. Eine "Inhaltsangabe" macht daher wenig Sinn, würde sie doch eher verwirren oder aber zu viel verraten.
Soviel sei dann aber doch gesagt: Wo Teil eins eine im Grunde harte Erzählung von einem hyperbrutalen Überfall war, in dessen Verlauf Kräfte eingriffen, die weder die Protagonisten noch der Leser verstand oder einzuordnen wusste, driftet die Erzählung hier sehr viel deutlicher Richtung Übernatürliches. Das läßt für den dritten Teil vermuten, daß Stroud uns womöglich als Abschluß seiner Trilogie eine gänzlich ins Phantastische mäandernde Story anbieten wird. Man darf gespannt sein!
Das hier jedenfalls funktioniert, es macht Spaß, es treten hinreichend seltsame Charaktere (v.a. auf Mr. Endicott sei an dieser Stelle verwiesen) auf, an denen man sich nicht satt lesen kann und zugleich schafft es Stroud auch, uns z.B. für den kleinen Rainy Teague soviel Mitgefühl zu entlocken (was Teil eins doch deutlich abging, war Empathie mit und Sorge für die Figuren), daß wir seiner Passionsgeschichte fast mit Trauer folgen. Stroud bindet uns also besser ein, nimmt uns mit und wir sind mittendrin in dieser Kleinstadt und ihren ganz spezifischen Problemen. Teil drei wird erwartet, mit Spannung und Ungeduld....
March 12, 2018
Recensione pubblicata su Cronache di Betelgeuse
Niceville non è mai stato un paesino tranquillo, ma con le ultime vicende sembra essere ancora più oscuro e minaccioso. La famiglia di Nick non può certo pensare di sfuggire alle forze oscure che li circondano, considerando anche come si era chiuso il libro precedente.
Inizia a diventare difficile separare la realtà dall’immaginazione, anche se sembra di essere trascinati dentro un incubo orrendo. Ovviamente anche i protagonisti si accorgono che qualcosa non sta funzionando come dovrebbe, che sono presenti delle forze occulte che stanno tramando nell’ombra. Ma come si fa ad affrontare un nemico che non si vede, antico di secoli?
Nick si trova veramente nei guai e per la prima volta inizia ad ammettere che ci sia qualcosa che va oltre la sua comprensione. Il colpo finale è stato l’aver visto un’apparizione nel suo giardino alla fine del primo libro, ma con tutte le singolarità che si trova ad affrontare non riesce a trovare una spiegazione ragionevole. Il suo rapporto con la moglie Kate ha degli alti e bassi, nonostante lui si sforzi in tutti i modi di tenerla al sicuro. La donna infatti affronta la vita come se non ci fossero problemi, ignorando il suo istinto quando invece dovrebbe scappare a gambe levate perché è in pericolo. Nick stesso rischia più volte la vita, senza che possa fare molto, perché viene semplicemente travolto dagli eventi. Kate invece riesce a cacciarsi in situazioni di pericolo anche quando potrebbe benissimo salvarsi.
Rainey è il fulcro della vicenda e devo ammettere che è un personaggio abbastanza odioso. Non si molti scrupoli nel mentire alle persone che lo hanno accolto in casa, mettendo in pericolo chiunque pur di dimostrare che non ha bisogno di nessuno. Non riesce ad accettare la nuova situazione, così come non va molto d’accordo con Nick. Essendo solo un ragazzo non si dovrebbe incolparlo di tutto, ma dopo qualche capitolo non si può fare a meno di odiarlo.
L’inizio del libro riprende subito dagli avvenimenti del precedente, ma trascorre qualche mese prima che sia strani incidenti tornino a sconvolgere la vita di Niceville. Se a questo ci aggiungiamo una rapina finita nel sangue, capite bene che il clima non sia dei più tranquilli.
Niceville non è mai stato un paesino tranquillo, ma con le ultime vicende sembra essere ancora più oscuro e minaccioso. La famiglia di Nick non può certo pensare di sfuggire alle forze oscure che li circondano, considerando anche come si era chiuso il libro precedente.
Inizia a diventare difficile separare la realtà dall’immaginazione, anche se sembra di essere trascinati dentro un incubo orrendo. Ovviamente anche i protagonisti si accorgono che qualcosa non sta funzionando come dovrebbe, che sono presenti delle forze occulte che stanno tramando nell’ombra. Ma come si fa ad affrontare un nemico che non si vede, antico di secoli?
Nick si trova veramente nei guai e per la prima volta inizia ad ammettere che ci sia qualcosa che va oltre la sua comprensione. Il colpo finale è stato l’aver visto un’apparizione nel suo giardino alla fine del primo libro, ma con tutte le singolarità che si trova ad affrontare non riesce a trovare una spiegazione ragionevole. Il suo rapporto con la moglie Kate ha degli alti e bassi, nonostante lui si sforzi in tutti i modi di tenerla al sicuro. La donna infatti affronta la vita come se non ci fossero problemi, ignorando il suo istinto quando invece dovrebbe scappare a gambe levate perché è in pericolo. Nick stesso rischia più volte la vita, senza che possa fare molto, perché viene semplicemente travolto dagli eventi. Kate invece riesce a cacciarsi in situazioni di pericolo anche quando potrebbe benissimo salvarsi.
Rainey è il fulcro della vicenda e devo ammettere che è un personaggio abbastanza odioso. Non si molti scrupoli nel mentire alle persone che lo hanno accolto in casa, mettendo in pericolo chiunque pur di dimostrare che non ha bisogno di nessuno. Non riesce ad accettare la nuova situazione, così come non va molto d’accordo con Nick. Essendo solo un ragazzo non si dovrebbe incolparlo di tutto, ma dopo qualche capitolo non si può fare a meno di odiarlo.
L’inizio del libro riprende subito dagli avvenimenti del precedente, ma trascorre qualche mese prima che sia strani incidenti tornino a sconvolgere la vita di Niceville. Se a questo ci aggiungiamo una rapina finita nel sangue, capite bene che il clima non sia dei più tranquilli.
April 29, 2014
This book is very odd. I suppose it is meant to be. It is about a town called Niceville where supernatural happenings occur. This would have been fine if there was not another non-supernatural storyline occurring at the same time. This other storyline is a bank robbery. Because of these two completely unrelated story lines, the book is very scattered. And when I say unrelated I mean completely and totally unrelated. It is a though two different books fell on the floor and the pages just got stuffed altogether. It could have been a little less wordy with the inconsequential details as well. Within each storyline there were also things that did not make sense. For example, one victim had 15 cats and was said to have a maid come in every 3 days to keep the house from smelling bad. Yet, he still was not found at the end of the book that was said to be 3 weeks after he was tied to his bed. The supernatural storyline was wrapped up much to easily and the non-supernatural storyline ended with a lot of loose ends. What are the bone baskets? What happened to Coker? I understand this is 2 of a trilogy, but a few hints on some of these big questions should be there to leave the reader wanting to read the next rather than feeling cheated. I think if this book had been 2 separate books with better attention to the details I mentioned above and to the endings, it would have been much better because the stories on their own would pretty good and most of the characters were pretty likeable.
August 6, 2013
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
I like noir fiction, and this book started off very well with a slam bang action opener. A plane flies into the side of a mountain, and on that plane are some Chinese secret police. A couple of bad cops pull off a heist and blame it on another crook. Then some mob guys in Leavenworth hire a hitman to go after the wrong crook.
Our hero is good cop Nick Cavanaugh. He's chasing the same (wrong) crook for other reasons, and this guy happens to be his brother-in-law. The plot is fairly complex, which I like, but then a supernatural subplot threaded its way in and some things got fairly confusing. Also, because of the number of characters and their relationships, I had a hard time keeping track of all the good cops and bad cops.
The story takes place in Niceville and its environs, which is a city in the southern United States. I think Niceville is supposed to be located in northern Louisiana, but I don't remember if the author was that specific.
This was a fun read up to a point, but I found it hard to follow, especially when the supernatural subplot was introduced.
I like noir fiction, and this book started off very well with a slam bang action opener. A plane flies into the side of a mountain, and on that plane are some Chinese secret police. A couple of bad cops pull off a heist and blame it on another crook. Then some mob guys in Leavenworth hire a hitman to go after the wrong crook.
Our hero is good cop Nick Cavanaugh. He's chasing the same (wrong) crook for other reasons, and this guy happens to be his brother-in-law. The plot is fairly complex, which I like, but then a supernatural subplot threaded its way in and some things got fairly confusing. Also, because of the number of characters and their relationships, I had a hard time keeping track of all the good cops and bad cops.
The story takes place in Niceville and its environs, which is a city in the southern United States. I think Niceville is supposed to be located in northern Louisiana, but I don't remember if the author was that specific.
This was a fun read up to a point, but I found it hard to follow, especially when the supernatural subplot was introduced.
July 27, 2016
Carsten Stroud's The Homecoming was a great second volume to the Niceville Trilogy. It was just as much wicked fun as the first book, and for the same reasons: interesting and memorable characters, unpredictable twists and collisions amidst the several well-braided stories that make up the novel, & the hybrid, genre-defying mash-up that encapsulates it all. And while The Homecoming suffers from the same pitfall that Niceville did: a lack of clarity or cohesive mythology to the supernatural elements, The Homecoming improved upon the too-neat, cut-and-dried, just deserts ending of Niceville and opted for an ending more reflective of the verisimilitude of the rest of the novel. Overall, while I found The Homecoming to be slightly less compelling than Niceville, I liked it just as much and look forward to reading the final volume: The Reckoning!
April 24, 2015
I am a fan of Carsten Stroud so when I saw the second book in his Niceville's series, The Homecoming, I grabbed it. The Homecoming is one of those books you want to read slow so you can savor every sentence. Maybe it's because Niceville has a southern setting, or maybe it's because Stroud is such a great writer. His style is fluid and while there remain unanswered questions the book stands on its own as did Niceville.
While some may consider The Homecoming horror, some psychological, some multidimensional, the novel is a bit genre bending. The characters are well-written, superbly witty, charming, vile, and even disgusting. I loved them all. While Niceville isn't all that nice you will be drawn into the lives of the people of Niceville. It is not a place I'd want to visit, but I held onto this book for as long as I could.
While some may consider The Homecoming horror, some psychological, some multidimensional, the novel is a bit genre bending. The characters are well-written, superbly witty, charming, vile, and even disgusting. I loved them all. While Niceville isn't all that nice you will be drawn into the lives of the people of Niceville. It is not a place I'd want to visit, but I held onto this book for as long as I could.
October 16, 2015
The second book in the Niceville trilogy was every bit as good as the first, though I found this one to be less creepy than the first, it was perhaps more interesting because it delved into the history and lineage of a lot of the characters. I also really enjoyed learning more about Coker and Danziger and how their story evolves. I was a little surprised at how much I ended up liking both of them, especially after what they did! Cannot wait to read the final book! Would love to know when the audiobook is being released!
June 11, 2015
Loved Niceville, really loved Homecoming. Hard to set down (one more page, I'll just read one more...well, this chapter...I can't stop! :). Suspenseful, original, creative. A great horror saga with comic relief. Excellent. Well-written, dimensional characters, clever plot twists, full of the unexpected. Monsters and mysteries, cops and cosa nostra - something for everyone! AAA+++! Highly highly recommend!
June 27, 2017
My review of the first installment was spot on. The multiple threads have bgeun to come together and the story made much more sense this time around. As such, it is an improvement on the first, but not by enough to gain another star.
It suffers some of the same issues the first had. A great number of sub plots and perspectives that could perhaps have been filtered out, info dumping, stereotyping of characters, and not quite knowing what genre it wanted to belong to.
It suffers some of the same issues the first had. A great number of sub plots and perspectives that could perhaps have been filtered out, info dumping, stereotyping of characters, and not quite knowing what genre it wanted to belong to.
August 18, 2013
Niceville is a horrid little town which has some great people living in it. The Homecoming starts up minutes after the end of Niceville. It provides satisfying answers to many if not all the open questions. It still has some weird elements, but they are more integrated into the story. Loved these people. Loved this story. I am totally in for a continuation.
June 22, 2015
Alhoewel dit boek wel beter was dan het eerste deel vind ik nog steeds de schrijfstijl heel erg onprettig. Het is heel erg rommelig geschreven maar omdat straks in juli het slotdeel verschijnt was ik wel nieuwsgierig hoe dit boek ging.
November 12, 2015
un bel crescendo. Il Male che permea la città acquista spessore. Alcune storie si chiudono ed altre si infittiscono lasciando presagire altre meraviglie (si fa per dire) :).
Attacco subito il terzo volume: devo sapere.
Attacco subito il terzo volume: devo sapere.
July 16, 2013
I love paranormal/supernatural books and this was a good one. I will be looking for the rest of this trilogy.
August 22, 2017
I absolutely loved the creepiness of this book. I cannot wait to see where this goes next.
February 29, 2020
Ondanks het eerste deel dat ik heb gelezen en toch wat minder was, ben ik dit tweede deel begonnen. Het verhaal blijft me wel intrigeren en blijft mysterieus.
February 6, 2021
Highly Recommended.
I don't remember how I came to own "Niceville" but I do remember reading it and liking it so much that I immediately purchased all of Stroud's other titles. I have yet to read his non fiction work but have read all of his thrillers and strongly recommend them. They are top notch work, not just for their plots but for their characters and the style of the writing (great dialogue, realistic, well researched, and thrilling with a strong dash of sardonic humor).
The trilogy that begins with "Niceville" and concludes with "The Reckoning" are thrillers and mysteries with a bit of the supernatural mixed in. Maybe more than a bit.
"The Homecoming" is the second of the three. I advise strongly that they are read in order within a short span of each other. They are convoluted, very detailed and since it had been a few years since I read "Niceville", this one was a little confusing until I began to recall who was what and did what when. The author does a fairly good job summarizing the first book, but he takes his time and the summary is so woven into the plot that you really need to have some recollection of the first book to understand the second.
The reason I only allotted 4 stars to this novel is two fold: some of his set pieces are cliff hangers, with the next chapter focusing on other characters. The reader only comes to understand the resolution of the cliffhanger later, often through hindsight of a character or conversation between two characters. While it doesn't happen all the time, it occurs often to be mentioned. I found this slightly frustrating. It is an interesting style choice but one that I feel cheats the reader slightly. Especially since the author has such skill at writing actions pieces. Why lead up to the action and then only describe it later in something bordering on passivity? Stroud can command a tense, thrilling scene, no doubt, and should do so all the time, not just some of the time.
The other reason is the ending seems somewhat abrupt. Probably because the third book picks up on or near the conclusion of the second.
Despite these qualms, it is still a very enjoyable book, as are all of his works I've read so far.
I don't remember how I came to own "Niceville" but I do remember reading it and liking it so much that I immediately purchased all of Stroud's other titles. I have yet to read his non fiction work but have read all of his thrillers and strongly recommend them. They are top notch work, not just for their plots but for their characters and the style of the writing (great dialogue, realistic, well researched, and thrilling with a strong dash of sardonic humor).
The trilogy that begins with "Niceville" and concludes with "The Reckoning" are thrillers and mysteries with a bit of the supernatural mixed in. Maybe more than a bit.
"The Homecoming" is the second of the three. I advise strongly that they are read in order within a short span of each other. They are convoluted, very detailed and since it had been a few years since I read "Niceville", this one was a little confusing until I began to recall who was what and did what when. The author does a fairly good job summarizing the first book, but he takes his time and the summary is so woven into the plot that you really need to have some recollection of the first book to understand the second.
The reason I only allotted 4 stars to this novel is two fold: some of his set pieces are cliff hangers, with the next chapter focusing on other characters. The reader only comes to understand the resolution of the cliffhanger later, often through hindsight of a character or conversation between two characters. While it doesn't happen all the time, it occurs often to be mentioned. I found this slightly frustrating. It is an interesting style choice but one that I feel cheats the reader slightly. Especially since the author has such skill at writing actions pieces. Why lead up to the action and then only describe it later in something bordering on passivity? Stroud can command a tense, thrilling scene, no doubt, and should do so all the time, not just some of the time.
The other reason is the ending seems somewhat abrupt. Probably because the third book picks up on or near the conclusion of the second.
Despite these qualms, it is still a very enjoyable book, as are all of his works I've read so far.
January 19, 2021
Now THAT’S how you do the second book in a trilogy.
Too often it seems like the troublesome middle book doesn’t have much on its mind beyond moving all the pieces into place for the third & final installment. A lot of stuff happens, but none of it really matters.
But Carsten Stroud’s The Homecoming – the second book in his Niceville trilogy – pulls off a neat hat trick: it’s a satisfying read by itself, it sets the stage for the third book, & most impressively, it helps to clarify the first book.
That first book, Niceville, is a fun but undeniably busy introduction to Stroud’s fictional Georgia town. There’s at least – & I’m not kidding here – a dozen different subplots to keep track of. I thought Niceville was great, but I understand why people were exhausted at the end & perhaps a little uninterested in reading further in the series.
But The Homecoming distills all the noise from the first book to two distinct points: the fallout from a violent bank robbery & the literal ghosts that haunt Niceville. Those two plot threads run on parallel tracks throughout the entire book, & while there are hints that they’ll intersect in the final installment, Stroud purposely keeps them separate.
The result is that it renders each storyline even more satisfying. You say you want a thriller? Well, then, you’ve got detective Nick Kavanaugh still trying to figure out the truth behind the robbery that killed four cops. But you’d also like a horror novel? In that case, there’s the continuing story of Rainey Teague, who disappeared in the first book (only to reappear – alive – in a sealed crypt) & who now appears to be a doorway to malevolent forces that have existed in Niceville for over a century.
Stroud is doing something really special. Niceville – the town – is a feat of world-building, & the characters that populate it are vibrant & compelling. The thriller elements are genuinely tense, & the ghost story has grown more complex – Stroud unveils more of the town’s dark history – & more unsettling.
The best compliment I can give is that I closed the final page of the second book & immediately opened to the first page of the third.
Too often it seems like the troublesome middle book doesn’t have much on its mind beyond moving all the pieces into place for the third & final installment. A lot of stuff happens, but none of it really matters.
But Carsten Stroud’s The Homecoming – the second book in his Niceville trilogy – pulls off a neat hat trick: it’s a satisfying read by itself, it sets the stage for the third book, & most impressively, it helps to clarify the first book.
That first book, Niceville, is a fun but undeniably busy introduction to Stroud’s fictional Georgia town. There’s at least – & I’m not kidding here – a dozen different subplots to keep track of. I thought Niceville was great, but I understand why people were exhausted at the end & perhaps a little uninterested in reading further in the series.
But The Homecoming distills all the noise from the first book to two distinct points: the fallout from a violent bank robbery & the literal ghosts that haunt Niceville. Those two plot threads run on parallel tracks throughout the entire book, & while there are hints that they’ll intersect in the final installment, Stroud purposely keeps them separate.
The result is that it renders each storyline even more satisfying. You say you want a thriller? Well, then, you’ve got detective Nick Kavanaugh still trying to figure out the truth behind the robbery that killed four cops. But you’d also like a horror novel? In that case, there’s the continuing story of Rainey Teague, who disappeared in the first book (only to reappear – alive – in a sealed crypt) & who now appears to be a doorway to malevolent forces that have existed in Niceville for over a century.
Stroud is doing something really special. Niceville – the town – is a feat of world-building, & the characters that populate it are vibrant & compelling. The thriller elements are genuinely tense, & the ghost story has grown more complex – Stroud unveils more of the town’s dark history – & more unsettling.
The best compliment I can give is that I closed the final page of the second book & immediately opened to the first page of the third.
November 7, 2017
Un ottimo seguito del libro precedente, un "libro di mezzo" di una trilogia che non soffre assolutamente la classica sindrome dei libri di mezzo delle trilogie. Ovvero, non è un libro in cui succede poco o niente e che è utile solamente a fare da riempitivo per passare dal primo all'ultimo libro, ma è una storia piena di avvenimenti importanti, colpi di scena e intreccia riuscitissimi, che mantengono il ritmo sempre serrato, proprio come mi aspettavo. Non ho molto altro da aggiungere se non che sono rimasta davvero molto soddisfatta, se possibile questo libro è anche migliore del primo e nessuna aspettativa è rimasta delusa. Solo un consiglio: siccome questa trilogia è ricca (ricchissima!) di azione e i colpi di scena si susseguono di continuo è preferibile non fare passare molto tempo dalla lettura tra il primo, il secondo e il terzo libro. E' quindi auspicabile leggerli tutti di fila, soprattutto adesso c'è la possibilità di farlo, essendo i libri già tutti in commercio, altrimenti si rischia di dimenticarsi i tantissimi intrecci di trama e personaggi che caratterizzano questa bella ma un po' ingarbugliata storia.
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