Loyalty

Loyalty #1

by Adrianna Scovill

Loyalty Kane is a boy with a heavy secret to bear. His life has never been a happy one, but the bags beneath his eyes, and his stooped shoulders, are signs of a burden greater than unhappiness. The solace he finds in school will soon be gone, as summer rushes toward him. Loyal fears and loathes the hot summer months that most children love.

His teacher worries about him. Reverend Harring worries about him. But when Loyal's friend, Lisa--Reverend Harring's young daughter--is brutally murdered, the whole town is rocked by shock and grief. Through their own pain, Miss Collins and Reverend Harring try to reach out to Loyal. Even Lisa's surrogate older brother tries to help the boy.

The more Loyal attempts to push them away, the more determined they become to help him. None of the adults know just how dark Loyal's secrets are, or what horrors their prodding will reveal. The burden, carried for years on the hunched shoulders of a solitary ten-year-old, might be heavy enough to crush them all.

Genres: Horror

317 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2014

Reviews

[Reeda Booke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very strange book, but I mean that in a good way. It was very different from the usual horror stories that I have read. There are many twists in the story that I didn't see coming which added to my enjoyment, as it kept me engaged to the end. I can't say much more about it for fear of giving something away. Hopefully the synopsis is enough to interest you to read it as it did me.

*Please note that it does touch upon the subject of child abuse and there is one particularly horrible scene. Just wanted to mention that.

[Rachel Drenning · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in one day, and it's a long book. That should tell you how good it was. A really enjoyable page turner from an author that needs to write more! There is a second book I intend to start after I take a small break. Lol.
I took off a star due to a scene that felt like it was just thrown in there. It had no purpose. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but it was literally a whole chapter. Other than that, great book.

[Tiffany Collins-Haight · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books I love to read are the books you just can’t put down. Laundry, cleaning house, and even sleeping are not priorities when you’re completely at the mercy of the story. If you have plenty of clothes, your spouse doesn’t care if the house is a mess, and you can consume gallons of coffee the next morning, I highly recommend Loyalty.

The main character, Loyalty Kane, isn’t your typical “not a care in the word” ten-year-old. Something is not quite right, and the people around town notice. Abusive parents? Oh no. Loyalty, also known as Loyal, has a secret much darker than that.

My goosebumps started at the beginning of the book, when little Lisa Harring is murdered. Who would kill an innocent child? A child who was Loyal’s best friend? A police investigation begins and more people are murdered. What is happening in this peaceful town? Who is the killer?

To go into more detail would give the story away, and I don’t want to do that. Instead, I’d like for you to get your hands on this book and devour it like I did. I want you to experience the twists and turns, and the seemingly permanent goosebumps.

[Diana Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was interesting and engaging. Not super high quality writing but not bad. About half of the main characters were interesting, the others a little bland but they played their roles. The book was overly long (could have been told in at least 2/3 the pages it actually took), but since I tend to tear through books and mourn their ending, this actually did not bother me.

I wouldn’t call this horror, it’s really more of a thriller, but I realize that’s a pretty subjective distinction. I only have two significant criticisms of this book. The first one is that it’s setting itself up to be part of a series. I am critical of this because it could (and probably should) stand on its own. I feel that everyone is trying to make their books into series these days and it is getting really old. It seems like authors are just trying to get more traction out of a story, rather than putting real thought into a meaningful ending. Reminds me a little too much of Hollywood. There is something extremely valuable about the resolution of a story, whether it is happy or sad, unsatisfying, etc. It makes you reflect about what you just read and elicits deeper understanding of the story as a whole, with meaning. To just trail off feels sort of like a cop-out. And, this book was good, but probably not good enough to hold my interest for a second round. Note to authors everywhere!

My second criticism, and I’ll make it short, is this: In the middle of this story, suddenly two of the secondary characters embark on their own miniature story, completely irrelevant in any way to the actual surrounding book. It felt weird, disruptive and pointless, and it really pulled me out of the main story.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book! I can't really say anything else without giving away spoilers, so I won't. But if horror novels are your thing then you'll like the book too! Warning does contain abusive situations.

[Brian S. Shipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarre

What a freaky book.Take a midget serial killer,and identical twins with powers and you have this story.hard at times to follow,but was still a good read.

[Rachel Drenning]

Loved it

This was a great story that I read in one setting. It was a long book too, so that should tell you how great it was. A lot of unpredictable twists. Excited that there is a book 2.

[Tracy Scovill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Very exciting, hard to put down.