Mandy and Alecto: The Collected Smog City Book Series

Smog City #1-4

by Rebecca McNutt

Eccentric amateur photographer Mandy Valems dreams of life beyond her seemingly mundane Cape Breton town. Still reeling from the death of her older brother in a peculiar car accident, she spends all her time at the notorious Sydney Tar Ponds hazardous waste site.

Everything changes when Mandy meets Alecto. A cynical, depressed chain-smoker with an affinity for super 8 filmmaking, Alecto gives her the opportunity to rebel against everything holding her back... but her new best friend has a dark past and an even darker future, and she might be the only one who can help him.

The Smog City books tell an often harrowing tale, but friendship prevails between two individuals trying to survive unimaginable grief, nostalgia and loss.

Genres: Mystery

733 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2016

Reviews

[Luke Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A once in a lifetime book by a once in a lifetime author, Rebecca McNutt's collected stories of Mandy and Alecto and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, conjure up tangible dreams of the near past in film and music and industrial landmarks just as much as they do a glowing tribute to true friendship and a cautionary tale against technological evolution and the sagacious words that those who do not observe history are destined to repeated it. In many ways, Rebecca's work is a national treasure of Canadian identity and history just as much as it is a personal evolution of sorts, an urban fairytale, a coming of age parable in a world ever changing and ever losing that which made it so special to begin with. She sees and notices all the little details that make reading her works such an enriching experience, like looking at a photograph, one page at a time. Capturing so much and making you feel it with every word. One thing's for sure, Rebecca McNutt is a very special author and I am so thankful she has shared her work with me over the years and continues to share it with the world.

[Stevan Nikolic · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways, fiction writing is often autobiographical. Of course, writers’ imagination is rooted deep into their inner being, and their perceptions of the outer world are nothing else but mirror images of their internal experiences. So, no matter how much writers put into research of the subject their fiction work is about, their own identity is frequently obvious in the characters they are writing about. With some authors and books that is more noticeable than with others.

While reading the novel Mandy and Alecto by Rebecca McNutt, one of the questions I was asking myself was – How much of Rebecca McNutt was in her novel’s main character Mandy? Mandy was so well developed as the main character, almost to the point of the intimate knowledge. That’s where my question is coming from. Originally written as a series of four novels, Smog City (book 1), Super 8 (book 2), Shadowed Skies (book 3), and Shoot the Drag (book 4), it reads well as one work, although some people may be overwhelmed with 730 pages. Nevertheless, it was a real joy to read this fast-paced and extraordinary work. Some may try to categorize it by genre as thriller or fantasy, but in my opinion, it would be unjust to limit it within the boundaries of any popular genre. In my mind, it has all attributes of great literary fiction, and with some minor polishing, this novel could be a real early masterpiece by a young and very talented author.

Mandy and Alecto are not everyday ordinary people. They are two loners, anti-social, self-exiled in their own world and in constant conflict with the reality around them. Regardless of that, we like them, and unintentionally, we get pulled into their lives, and can’t stop reading just to find out what happened next. As we keep reading, slowly but surely we realize that there is a bit of Mandy and Alecto in each of us. We start looking at things from their perspective…

This novel could be a great base for a movie or even mini-series. It is my pleasure to recommend it.

[Kat Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy, do I have a lot to say.

I originally read this series before it became a book with all of them in it. The first book in the series "Smog City", had me absolutely hooked from the beginning. I love the characters and I see how they became so sentient to Rebecca, as they became sentient to the audience as well. This anthology had me laughing, crying, and every emotion you can possibly think of.

In book three it seemed to be a bit dragged out and went in circles a few times, but nonetheless I was still hooked. Now, book four was a different story. The ending was unexpected and had me in tears. Rebecca McNutt did a beautiful job at making the characters absolutely lovable... Now, I didn't find a lot of the book as "disturbing", but more as very morbid at some times. But that's just me, I don't find things like this book "frightening", or "triggering" because I write all the same. Now, If this was a true story, it would most definitely be horrifying (yes, I know there is some truth behind it, though it is coated in fiction, but I'm not sure how close to the fiction the real story really is). The ending of this book was honestly the most morbid part of the entire series, in my opinion and I'm not exactly sure why I felt that way. Most likely, it is because none of us really expected anything horrible to happen to poor Mandy.

One thing I'm still stuck on is whether Mandy and Alecto love each other as friends, siblings, or lovers. I like to think in my own mind that it is a love that is somewhat romantic but mainly just.. like, they really really care about each other.

I think this series has ended well. Of course, I am very sad that i'd finished this, and I will miss the characters dearly. I apologize if my review is all over the place, but I'm just writing this out how I would talk about it.

Forever will Mandy, Alecto, Corey, Millie, and Hearn live on in our hearts. <3

[Dave Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this novel in exchange for an honest review:
Mandy and Alecto take you on a journey across a lifetime of experience, they expose you to an alternative perspective of a world within the world, and their story twists the paranormal around the everyday.
There’s a meandering yet increasing feeling of suspense running through the story with definite horrifying undertones, but ultimately this is a tale of an enduring friendship between two unlikely characters, both of whom have been repeatedly let down by those close to them and who face ever increasing odds attempting to tear them apart.
All of this takes place in an industrial setting but the novel encompasses wider world topics such as the changing pace of progress and mans never ceasing rush for new technology at any cost as well as the impact of environmental changes to small town life.
This novel is hard to pigeon hole, so I would have to categorise it as a supernatural thriller, but it could easily be categorised as retro fantasy, such is the breadth of the author’s imagination.
There are scenes of non-romantic love, loss, violence, grief, elation, suffering and redemption as well as condemnation and forgiveness. Not bad for a writer who wrote the basis for this whole series aged just 12 years old.
Despite having a reasonably strong story line weaving through the whole 4 book series/encapsulating novel, I found it a little disjointed at times and there are clear indications that the author was a little immature and naïve at the time of writing, but there’s nothing here that a little polish couldn’t resolve: for instance there’s a propensity to repeat certain words and phrases.
I would recommend this book to a Young Adult audience, although it does contain themes that some might find a little disturbing, it certainly wouldn't be out of place in the General Fiction aisle.
As this isn’t my usual type of reading material I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

[R.G. Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, Rebecca McNutt is an accomplished storyteller. Her ability to create unique characters of considerable complexity, both real and imagined, and express her understanding of human nature within the context of a compelling story line is simply terrific. Mandy and Alecto drives itself on so many levels: an expressionist, surreal, sometimes brooding, sometimes whimsical allegory with a nod toward a modernized Greek mythology, based on real events and places, but encompassed by the enveloping haze of an otherworldly environment. Ms. McNutt is someone to keep an eye on. This is simply a fine book. Read it.