La resa dei conti

Niceville #3

by Carsten Stroud

Niceville è una cittadina come tante nel Sud degli Stati Uniti, è il posto in cui il detective Nick Kavanaugh ha scelto di vivere per amore della moglie Kate, discendente di una delle famiglie fondatrici. Ma è proprio a Niceville che Nick ha incontrato il Male, e scoperto che può essere molto più forte degli uomini che lo combattono. Perché il Male si nutre dell’anima degli uomini, in un vortice efferato e senza soluzione di continuità. Chi è - o forse meglio che cosa è - Rainey Teague, il ragazzino adottato da Nick e Kate? Possibile che sia lui il responsabile di tutto? Chi sono veramente le decine di persone che stanno ricomparendo in città dopo essere state date per morte, come Charlie Danziger? Qual è il destino che aspetta il latitante e spietato Coker? Il Nulla sta per travolgere Niceville e forse è troppo tardi per fermarlo...

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Paranormal

406 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2014

About the author

Carsten 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

Reviews

[karen]

what are you playing at, netgalley??? did i not love the first two books in this series enough?? did i not sacrifice enough baby otters to you??



say the word, and i'll do it. even if it tries to fight back

[Rick Urban · Rating 2 out of 5]

So you pick up the third book in what is clearly marketed by the publisher as a TRILOGY, that accursed marketing gimmick whereby an author with a story that won’t fit into less than 500 pages is therefore stretched to 1500. It is called The Reckoning, and is indeed almost 500 pages long, and by the fact that it is described as “The Thrilling Conclusion to the Niceville Trilogy”, you expect it to come to a satisfying, thrilling, BIG, you know, conclusion.

You start reading, and find that the first 100 pages or so go off on a completely new plot from the previous books, and you admire the author for expanding the mythology in such a way that this isn’t a retread of what has happened before, but an expansion of the “Niceville Universe”. Unfortunately, you also struggle to distinguish Coker from Danziger, try to remember how Glynis Ruelle fits in, and wonder why Rainey Teague is acting so strangely when he was supposedly exorcised of his demons in book 2. You marvel that practically every character who was a part of the first two books, living OR dead, happens to show up, and you do your best not to go to your bookshelves and riffle through the previous paperbacks to remind yourself how all these pieces fit together.

You also begin to wonder why the author is spending so much time following the antics of a trio of “wise guys” holed up in a penthouse with the widow of a minor character who showed up in book 2, and whose relation to the bank heist that opened book 1 seems very long ago, and very tangential to the plot at this point. As dozens of pages go by, you realize that Stroud has no intention of tying up this plot strand, or the new one wherein the above criminals hire an Eastern European hit-man to off Coker and his girlfriend (and her sister…see, everyone makes an appearance), until the very last minute. You begin to suspect that this part of the book, with its fetishistic description of guns and rifles (actually, the whole series is fetishistic in this regard), is a sop to Stroud’s die-hard fans, since his past books appear to be mostly of the special forces/CIA/criminal enterprises nature…these books are his first foray into Southern Gothic supernatural fiction, but he seems to have grafted the guns and ammo plot into the central mystery because…he can? It never was a very comfortable marriage, but you keep thinking that, hey, this is the third book in the trilogy, so it’ll all come together: Coker will show up at Crater’s Sink and get killed by a vengeful spirit for his part in the murder of cops, a helicopter news crew, and many others who just happen to cross his path.

But no. Unfortunately, by novel’s end, nothing really comes together, so much as it sputters out. What originally seemed like a clever way to tell a story, with glancingly referenced reminders of previous big moments in the series (why rehash things we already know about?) turns out to be a rather odd narrative strategy, where each book seems like an attempt by different writers to describe an elephant in a pitch-black room. Or maybe it’s more like a jigsaw puzzle with a third of the pieces missing. Or maybe it’s like a writer who doesn’t have much interest in the genre he has decided to tackle, so he sticks to following the macho men around with their weapons, and every so often throws in some supernatural event to keep the story fitfully moving forward.

The kitchen sink approach that the author uses throughout this trilogy always nagged at you, because you just kept wonder how many balls Stroud could keep in the air. I mean, there is a LOT of plot, and a LOT of characters, so many that by the third book they stop being anything but signifiers for themselves: super-competent detective/former special ops guy, “guido”, smarter-than-she-looks bimbo, concerned wife…um, immortal evil, immortal good, immortal ambivalent she-devil…you get the picture.

So as you get down to the last 60 pages, your denial starts to crumble, and you begin to realize that there’s no way Carsten Stroud is going to wrap this all up…you take a few minutes out to scour the Internet for news that Stroud is working on the last book in the “Niceville Quartet”, but no dice…and you start to feel sad that a series with so much potential, that is so smoothly written and so much fun, is not going to stick the landing. The big ending comes and goes, and it’s not really very big, kinda confusing, and half-assed, like someone else came in and wrapped up the series after the original author mysteriously disappeared (maybe to appear many months down the road, impossibly, in an old man’s crypt?). And on the last couple of pages you get that cold feeling in the pit of your stomach when you come across the dreaded paragraphs, one per character, telling you what happened to them after the main action of the story. A summing up, as it were. Or just plain laziness. Or maybe a big fuck you to the reader. You close the book, feeling like you’ve been had, and the thought keeps running through your mind: When am I going to stop believing Stephen King’s book recommendations?!?

[Gram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, I finish the Niceville Trilogy and have to say that ending of Book 3 was a bit of an anti-climax, BUT it fitted nicely along with the rest of this weird and wonderful story. If you're a fan of Stephen King, you should read these 3 books. From the start, it features a spectacular armed robbery, horrors upon horrors that put slasher films to shame and supernatural happenings that defy all reason. This small American town also has an incredibly dark history covering hundreds of years. And, after all that's over and you've finally reached the end, you still get the oddest feeling that the scores of strange happenings in Niceville aren't over - not just yet.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled to keep all these characters straight, and how they had fit into the first two novels in this series. Maybe it had been too long in between them, I don’t know. But it was annoying to keep getting people switched around, and what their relationships were to each other, throughout.
I still kept trucking through to the end, only to find that the author had fizzled out and (supposedly) tied it up - but not as smartly as I would have liked. And the six months later chapter at the very end? It just made it seem like there is another book, or maybe another series coming from these characters in Niceville. I don’t like the way this all ended, it seemed like Stroud got tired of this series and just tacked something on the end.
Also, the author couldn’t seem to stick with one genre alone, in this novel. I’d rather he had stuck with the supernatural storyline that seemed SO strong in the first two novels, instead of changing out to some kind of shoot-‘em-up-type of novel, here.
3.5 stars, and recommended only if you absolutely have to know what happened next.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW: THE RECKONING by Carsten Stroud (NICEVILLE TRILOGY #3)

Before I discovered THE NICEVILLE TRILOGY, I had never read any of Carsten Stroud' s work. In preparation for reading an ARC if THE RECKONING, which is the completing volume of the Trilogy, I purchased the first two books, NICEVILLE and THE HOMECOMING. From the first page of NICEVILLE, I literally did nothing other than read Mr. Stroud' s incredible, captivating, enormously powerful work. For five nights and days I read nothing else, thought of nothing else, pondered nothing else. I vicariously lived in Niceville and Cap City, the Belfair Range and Crater Sink, Tallulah' s Wall and Sallytown and the Tulip River. That is how potent this series is, a veritable vivid and animate diorama.

[☠tsukino☠ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Reckoning - Niceville #3
E quindi? Finisce così? Tutto sto casino per tre libri e poi … puff … non succede niente?

Uno viene rinchiuso in una caldaia (spenta), il Nulla appare nel lago malefico per … sparire? da sola, il ragazzino si pente/non si ricorda e va bene così, e l’ammazza poliziotti viene lasciato andare.
E quale sarebbe la conclusione a cui giunse il padre di Kate che ritenne opportuno condividere con Kate e Nick prima di morire?

Che finale deludente e insignificante.

[K. Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending was much too quick and concise - the crescendo is amazing, pivotal, and suddenly, everything is all good. For no reason. I loved this series - but I was very concerned with the conclusion.

[jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book. this trilogy. this author. WOW.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will tell you right now that the only reason I marked a star off of this book has to do with me: this book is the final piece in a trilogy, and I haven't read the other two. Therefore, it took me a little while to figure out quite what was happening. It has nothing to do with the quality of writing whatsoever.

Carsten Stroud is a new author to me this year. I thoroughly enjoyed "The Shimmer" and jumped at the opportunity to review this book. Stroud brings us into Niceville, a fictional South Carolina town that is anything but nice, and does it with a bang: a cave-in that traps a young man. First responders begin developing the same kind of migraine, with auditory hallucinations (or so they think) of which the young man complained during the rescue attempt.

In the mean while, a former police officer is hiding out in Florida pretending to be a banker, and his partner (who is also having migraines) tries to figure out why he can't remember most of his life before he woke up in the MountRoyal hotel.

These are the primary plots that resolve by the end of the book, which has some rather gruesome murders happening all over Niceville as more people develop migraines.

Carsten Stroud is a worthy err to Stephen King when it comes to both physiological and psychological horror. He gives us flawed characters in a town at least as messed up as King's fictional Derry in the way it serves as a magnet for nasty stuff to happen, then grabs us and refuses to let go. If you like King's work, Carsten Stroud is for you.

[Sara Booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Per questo terzo e ultimo libro della serie confermo quanto già ampiamente detto in precedenza per gli altri due libri: è una storia davvero adrenalinica che quasi non lascia respiro! Vi sono moltissimi avvenimenti concatenati gli uni agli altri, a cui bisogna prestare particolare attenzione e inoltre è una serie che a mio avviso va letta un libro dopo l'altro, non facendo troppe pause altrimenti c'è il rischio di dimenticare alcuni avvenimenti o personaggi secondari, che sono comunque rilevanti ai fini della storia.
Io ho particolarmente amato lo stile di scrittura e le varie peculiarità di questa serie, e quindi non posso che confermare il mio giudizio positivo anche per questo terzo ed ultimo libro. Come unica pecca posso giusto dire che essendo stata abituata al ritmo vertiginoso dell'intera storia auspicavo ad un finale anch'esso al cardiopalmo e assolutamente geniale, mentre invece è risultato un pochino più fiacco e un pochino meno geniale rispetto alle mie aspettative.
Una serie comunque assolutamente consigliata agli amanti del paranormal horror!!!

[Gavin Armour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Band Eins war ein extrem harter Hard-boiled-Thriller, der über mindestens ebenso extremen Witz verfügte - er führte den Leser in die zugegeben etwas seltsame Welt des Südstaatenstädtchens Niceville ein, wo erstaunlich viele Menschen zu verschwinden pflegen, was erstaunlich wenige Menschen sonderlich aufzuregen schien. Doch die Vorkommnisse - ein brutaler Bankraub, Industriespionage, ein verschwundenes Kind – waren dann selbst für solch einen hartgesottenen Ort wie Niceville zu viel. Etwas kam in Bewegung und einige spürten das schon damals.

Band Zwei vertiefte dem Leser die mysteriösen Vorgänge vor Ort und auch die Charaktere des führenden Personals. Die Geschichte nahm nicht nur an Fahrt auf (obwohl das Tempo von Teil Eins schon rasant war), sondern gewann auch an Sinn und Bedeutung. Konnte man Band Eins vorwerfen, manchmal allzu sehr in seinem zynischen Witz zu baden, erging sich Band Zwei manchmal zu arg in den Untiefen des Mystery Thriller. Der nun vorliegende, die Erzählung abschließende Band Drei führt nicht nur die losen Enden zusammen, sondern es gelingt ihm auch, die Vorteile seiner Vorgänger zusammen zu führen und daraus einen würdigen Abschluß der Trilogie zu flechten.

Der Witz des ersten Bandes und die den Topos des „what lies underneath“ sehr ernst nehmende Erzählung des zweiten Bandes, werden von Autor Carsten Stroud nun zu einem manchmal arg bizarr anmutenden Potpourri amerikanischer Mythologie verquirlt, das trotz des Geschmacks eines extrem scharfen Chili, der Farbe frisch vergossenen Blutes und dem Personal einer Geisterbahn (im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes) zu einer großen Erzählung über die Verfasstheit des Landes, das kollektive Unterbewusste seiner Bevölkerung und den Umgang mit der eigenen Geschichte mutiert.

Die Story im Einzelnen wiederzugeben, ist nahezu unmöglich. Angesiedelt an einem Wochenende, werden auf drei Ebenen die in Band Eins und Zwei ausgelegten Spuren und Stränge aufgegriffen, teils zusammengeführt, wodurch der Leser endlich erfährt, was es mit Niceville und seinen Geheimnissen nun wirklich auf sich hat, teils werden sie aber auch separat behandelt, berühren sich die Geschichten nur marginal und sind am ehesten dadurch verbunden, daß die Ereignisse der einen Ebene sich indirekt auf die der nächsten Ebene auswirken. So haben die Band Eins dominierenden Gangster und ehemaligen Cops, die einen ultrabrutalen Überfall auf einen Geldtransporter begehen, eben nur indirekt mit den Geschehnissen um Crater Sink, den wieder auferstandenen Charlie Danzinger und den im Körper eines 13jährigen hausenden Dämon zu tun. Allerdings begreifen wir nun, wieso Männer, die in Band Zwei als ehrlich, aufrecht und gesetzestreu bezeichnet werden – so der ehemalige Scharfschütze Coker – uns in Band Eins als grausame und vollkommen skrupellose Killer begegnen. Denn – so viel sei verraten – in Niceville ist vorübergehend kaum wer Herr seiner Sinne, einige sind es schlicht gar nicht mehr, andere haben probate Mittel gefunden, die „Stimmen im Kopf“ zumindest zu übertönen – Chopin zum Beispiel hilft…

Wo Cormack McCarthy seine Weltuntergangsphantasien meist in heiligem Ernst vorträgt und Pete Dexter gern in einen trockenen Sarkasmus verfällt, um seine sozial- und gesellschaftskritischen Romane nicht zu didaktisch wirken zu lassen und seinen manchmal etwas gedehnten Stories den nötigen Schmiss zu verleihen, wirkt Strouds Schreiben erstmal bunt, brutal und comichaft bis zur Hysterie. Er spielt ungeniert mit allen ihm zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln und Klischees, lässt seine Protagonisten Sätze wie aus den allerbilligsten B-Movies der 40er und 50er Jahre aufsagen, treibt die Handlung mit einem Tempo voran, wie man es ebenfalls von plattesten Splatterfilmen erwarten würde, die ihre Logiklöcher mit andauerndem Krachen, mit Rauch und Explosionen und ununterbrochenem Spektakel zu übertünchen suchen. Doch sollte man die ganze Angelegenheit nicht unterschätzen oder gar abtun.

Stroud weiß genau, was er tut und er weiß genau, wo er seine Leser haben will. Und er weiß, wie er sie da hinbekommt, sie bei der Stange hält und dennoch subversiv lauter Themen und Aspekte der amerikanischen Gegenwart einfließen läßt, die ihm offenbar auf den Nägeln brennen. Ohne ins Detail zu gehen, wo man einfach zu viel verraten würde, kann man durchaus sagen, daß es für Stroud ganz offensichtlich ist, daß eine Gesellschaft, die ihre Schuld verdrängt, die sich ihrer Geschichte nicht bewußt ist und die sich dem Offensichtlichen nicht stellen will, dazu verdammt sein wird, sich selbst zu zerfleischen. Daß er in seiner Mixtur moderne Gangsterstory auf romantischen Grand Guignol, Jugenddrama auf Industriespionage, den Hard-boiled-Thriller auf die klassische Geistergeschichten treffen und das Personal eines Stephen-King-Romans im Format des Groschenheftchens (wo manche es sowieso verorten) auftreten lässt, sollte man keinen Moment lang als Parodie oder gar Abwertung begreifen, sondern sich schlicht vor Augen führen, daß die amerikanische Kultur im Kern immer eine des ‚Pulp‘ und durchaus stolz darauf war. So, wie im Blues und Jazz – originären amerikanischen Musikformen – das „Klauen“ einzelner Phrasen zum guten Ton gehört, weil man gerade so den Großen seine Referenz erweisen kann, so nutzt Stroud das Füllhorn der amerikanischen Literatur und Populärkultur nicht nur, um seinen Gruß an die (berühmteren) Kollegen zu entrichten, sondern er versteht es eben nahezu perfekt, aus diesen Zutaten das zu destillieren, was die U.S.A. heute ausmacht. Es waren immer die Genrewerke – egal ob Film oder Literatur – die die besten, weil lebensnahsten Analysen der amerikanischen Gegenwart lieferten. Stroud erzählt mit vulgären Mitteln aus einer vulgären Gesellschaft, die sich (großteils) einer vulgären Kultur hingibt. Seine Mittel, sein Stil und sein Wille zum Genre sind absolut kohärente Mittel zum Zweck. Und das Urteil, daß der Autor über dieses Land, seine Gesellschaft und seine Kultur fällt, ist vernichtend.

Es wurden vereinzelt Stimmen laut, das Ende, die Auflösung des dritten Bandes würde den Erwartungen nicht gerecht, sei zu unaufregend, ja, man habe mehr erwartet, Geheimnisvolleres, Aufwendigeres. Nun soll hier keinesfalls auch nur irgendetwas verraten werden – wobei sich mancher durch die Hinweise in Band Zwei durchaus schon ausgerechnet haben mag, wohin die Reise führt – , doch sei angemerkt, daß die Lösung so, wie sie nun ist, brillant gewählt wurde. Das, was alle möglichen sehr gegenwärtigen Probleme – Geldflüsse und die Wäsche derselben, die nun schon mehrfach erwähnte Industriespionage, Pubertätsprobleme Heranwachsender und Eheprobleme gelangweilter Kleinstädter – extrem klein, unwichtig und nichtig erscheinen läßt, ist älter als alles, was diese Probleme verursacht, ist stärker und mächtiger, als die dickste Wumme und es ist gnadenloser als Coker und Charlie Danzinger es in einer Person wären. Es ist vor allem nicht menschlich und also jenseits von Gut und Böse und somit menschlicher Moral enthoben. In einer Gesellschaft, wie Stroud sie beschreibt, wirkt das Auftauchen von etwas per se Amoralischen nicht nur wie ein Treppenwitz der Geschichte, sondern es stellt das Personal des Buches, ergo die Bewohner der Südstaatenkleinstadt Niceville, vor existentielle, vor wesentliche Probleme. ‚Niceville‘, was so viel bedeutet wie ‚Netthausen‘ oder „Schönburg“, sieht sich selber als amerikanische Musterstadt, alles ist an seinem Platz, mit fünf, sechs „alten“ Familien hat man auch die nötige historische Vertiefung, und die Dinge des Lebens laufen in gemächlichem Tempo vor aller Augen ab; was nicht passt, wird unterdrückt oder verdrängt. Umso schlimmer, wenn Verdrängtes oder Unterdrücktes plötzlich machtvoll an die Oberfläche steigt, sich sichtbar macht. Oder – um im „Sound“ des Romans zu bleiben – in die Köpfe der Menschen eindringt und dort insofern verheerend wirkt, als daß es nicht nur die tollsten Ideen fördert, sondern auch einen von Stroud als dem amerikanischen Wesen eigen definierten Hang zur Gewalt. Allerdings – das muß Stroud sich dann als Kritik doch gefallen lassen – geht die Geschichte so gut wie gar nicht auf die Rassenkonflikte ein, die es gerade in einer Stadt, die man wohl im südlichen Alabama oder nördlichen Louisiana verorten muß, zuhauf gäbe.

Doch selbst das kann man als subversives Element verstehen: Eine Nation, die in ihren Sonntagsreden gern darauf abhebt, ein ‚melting pot‘ zu sein, das gelungene Experiment eines Vielvölkerstaates, die ansonsten aber gern Gettoisierung betreibt und mit Minderheiten (selbst wenn sie keine mehr sind) niemals zimperlich umgegangen ist, wird hier in ihrer vollkommen falschen, weil blauäugigen Selbstwahrnehmung entlarvt. Zugleich zeigt Stroud, daß man keinesfalls, niemals, auf das „alte“ Wissen, daß Rüpel wie der momentan den amerikanischen Präsidentschaftswahlkampf aufmischende Donald Trump so gern verächtlich abtun und mit Füßen treten, wird verzichten können. Wenn einige Bewohner der Stadt – schließlich viel mehr, als es die Helden des Romans und der Leser je ahnten – ein Summen im Kopf sich zu Worten, ja Befehlen verdichten spüren, dann will Stroud seine Landsleute sicherlich nicht von Eigenverantwortung freisprechen, sondern er macht sich – indem er sich des Verschwörungstopos´/klischees der „Stimmen im Kopf“ bedient, oft gepaart mit der Vorstellung, geheime Dienste hätten den Betreffenden Chips in den Kopf gepflanzt – sowohl darüber lustig, wie die Amerikaner selbst noch im Angesicht des Offensichtlichen versuchen, die Augen (aka die Ohren) zu verschließen, warnt aber ebenso davor, wie leicht es ist, auf „fremde“ Stimmen im eigenen Kopf zu hören und zu welch fürchterlicher Gewalt es führen kann, wenn man dazu bereit ist.

Das alles läßt sich gut aus Strouds Romantrilogie, die mit jedem Band komplexer und vielschichtiger und damit auch tiefsinniger wird, herauslesen. Es geht aber auch anders: Man könnte auch sagen, daß Carsten Stroud ein hinreißender, temporeicher Megathriller aus all den Versatzstücken des Actionkinos und -romans gelungen ist, die der gemeine Konsument dieser Filme und Literatur eben genau so liebt. Und deshalb sollte man sich die drei Bände einfach (noch mal) vornehmen und sich einige vergnügliche Stunden ins gefährliche Niceville entführen lassen, um anschließend das alltägliche Leben in einer alltäglichen, durchschnittlichen Großstadt Mitteleuropas zu genießen, wo „sowas“ ja zum Glück nie passieren könnte…niemals vorkommt…nie…niemals…

[Sraah · Rating 3 out of 5]

this felt like a just tying-up-loose-ends book more than a flowing-with-the-previous-two-books book

sad!

it didn't follow along as closely and intimately with the characters i was used to reading and felt more from a distance looking in, but i did get to reunite with somebody i thought i wouldn't read about anymore so that was wonderful, but also sort of took away from the loss i felt in the second book, mixed feelings on that only because of the impact i felt from the second installment, and this healed all that pain and i guess i sort of like pain sometimes

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sono contenta di aver proseguito la lettura della trilogia fino alla fine dopo la difficile lettura del primo capitolo. Rimane un genere che non mi attrae però devo dire che quest'ultimo libro, tralasciando la parte surreale, mi ha davvero soddisfatta.

[Pupottina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il Nulla incombe su Niceville

Siamo abituati a non sorprenderci. Semmai è più probabile rimanere atterriti da un capitolo, da una sequenza narrativa, dove sappiamo di poterci aspettare qualsiasi cosa, anche la più improbabile e surreale.
Sorprendente è il primo aggettivo per commentare il terzo romanzo della serie Niceville di CARSTEN STROUD. Il Nulla vive in un’apparentemente tranquilla cittadina americana chiamata Niceville. Nei precedenti due romanzi, Niceville e I confini del Nulla, è accaduto di tutto e molto deve ancora accadere, poiché ogni situazione si è ulteriormente complicata senza risolverli. Se, come anticipa il titolo del romanzo conclusivo della trilogia, siamo a LA RESA DEI CONTI, il lettore è pronto a far luce su un grandissimo numero di misteri, reali e fantastici, poiché a Niceville niente può essere escluso.
“A livello quantistico, siamo tutti soltanto onde di energia … o particelle di energia.”
Un’energia malefica, da troppo tempo, si cela nelle ombre delle abitazioni signorili, dove cittadini ignari cercano di sopravvivere pur non sapendo con esattezza che nemico attendere o quale tragica morte li aspetti. Sì, perché è così che accade a Niceville, popolata da tanti personaggi che, romanzo dopo romanzo, sono destinati a vivere, morire e a ritornare. Non è un romanzo che parla di zombie, ma è uno stile narrativo particolarmente avvincente e dalle storie surreali, fantastiche e tenebrose. Il mistero non può allontanarsi dalle pagine della trilogia, pur rimanendo comprensibilissimo durante la narrazione. Ogni capitolo, dedicato al seguito di una storia destinata ad intrecciarsi con le altre, è ben descritto, chiarito e collocato nel procedere degli eventi che, anche con un semplice scambio di battute tra i personaggi, spiegano e sintetizzano cosa è già accaduto e sta al lettore immaginare (o tentare di farlo) cosa potrebbe ancora accadere. Per comprendere, per ricapitolare cosa è già accaduto e chi è il personaggio o dove avvengono le vicende narrate, ci sono un elenco dettagliato degli abitanti e una mappa di Niceville. Carsten Stroud ci fornisce davvero tutto ed è impossibile non comprendere l’alto livello e la complessità della sua narrazione che ottiene il fine ultimo: intrattenere ed entusiasmare anche il lettore più esigente e per farlo ci offre la sua riuscitissima trilogia, NICEVILLE.
E sì, siamo proprio a LA RESA DEI CONTI, dove la crudeltà non si attenua con le lacrime, ma anzi se ne nutre. Il Nulla non è così inafferrabile, ma scopriamo che vive nell’acqua e la usa come condotto per proiettarsi ovunque e perpetrare le sue maledizioni. Crater Sink è una dolina di acque nere, profonda almeno 300 metri, ma è anche qualcosa di più. Ogni cosa, che vi finisca dentro, non ne esce mai. Crater Sink si trova in cima a Tallulah’s Wall, un picco roccioso alto 360 metri che incombe sulla parte nordorientale di Niceville.
Più di ventimila abitanti di questa misteriosa cittadina sono scomparsi in circostanze inspiegabili nel corso dei secoli. Qualcuno è anche tornato improvvisamente senza saper dare spiegazioni. Qualcun altro è morto per poi ritrovarsi vivo. Niente è definitivo a Niceville, ma una cosa è certa: non tutti coloro, che vi vivono, sono brave persone. Mistero che si sovrappone ad altre vicende terribili ed inspiegabili. Tanto, tutto in una trilogia riuscitissima.

http://youtu.be/p3_6XNLtJjE

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Reckoning' (Vintage Books 2015) is Book #3 in Carsten Stroud's 'Niceville' trilogy, the story of a quiet southern town torn apart by murder and mayhem that can only be explained by supernatural beings. In this final chapter (read my reviews of 'Niceville' and 'Homecoming', the first two books in the series), what had been a thriller tinged with paranormal now is fully driven by the otherworldly actions of the hideous creatures that haunt what residents considered a safe and friendly place to raise their kids. The story is told through several point of views, almost like vignettes, tightly connected by the common plot line. With each vignette, we see another character's part in moving the story forward to its eventual climax. My only complaint is that it often takes a long time to get back to a favorite character as Stroud weaves his devious tapestry. And he always leaves us on a cliffhanger which--predictably--keeps me reading so I can find out what happens next.

What should make even non-paranormal readers try this book is Carsten Stroud's skill. He's a powerful writer, with a strong, unique voice that drives the plot and the characters. He's colorful, pithy, and likeable, able to draw readers in to the character's motivations with just a few sentences. Here are examples:

"The rain streaming down put a misty halo around all the streetlamps and hammered on the red tile roofs of the houses. The gutters were choking on leaves and muddy water."

"...also in their trudging walk and the way they sagged into themselves as they passed by him and went on out into the sunlit streets of Niceville. Their faces were blank, expressionless, and there were no children."

"...in hues and tints that even God had never seen coming..."

He used to apply this talent to military thrillers--six of them, all excellent. This trilogy shows his versatility as a writer.

I wonder what he'll pen next... Mr. Stroud? Would you give us a hint?

Be aware that this book is the third and final installment of a trilogy. It is much easier understood if you've read the first two.

[Alessandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Te la sei tirata per quasi milletrecento pagine e te la sei cavata bene, a volte pure alla grande. Nelle successive novanta-e-qualcosa mi fai pensare che hai in serbo un finale. Non dico uno scoppiettante, o all'altezza di tutte le pagine che l'hanno preceduto. Solo un finale. Nelle ultime quattro pagine mi racconti cosa succede tra due specchi. Roba che poteva prendersi un paio di capitoli, fare tutti contenti. Invece c'è una sottospecie di happy ending, per di più esposto tipo bullet list.
Dopo millequattrocentopagine ne avevi fin sopra i capelli di Niceville? O l'editore ti pressava per andare in stampa? O si è voluto lasciare uno spiraglio per un quarto episodio? Lo capisco, ma anche così saresti stato in grado di metterci un finale decente.
Quindi, per come la vedo io, le cose sono andate così: stavi perdendo l'aereo. Ti sei appuntato le idee come son venute. Hai infilato la nota in fondo alla bozza, "così la vedo e mi ricordo". Hai dormito e i tuoi neuroni hanno fatto le pulizie di primavera. Dopo l'atterraggio avevi fretta, dovevi andare a cena con la tua bella, ma l'editore ti ha chiamato rompendo i maroni con le sue deadline e tu gli hai mandato la bozza per farlo stare zitto, "che c'ho in programma una seratina con la mia Twyla". La bozza, che tu non hai riletto per la millemillesima volta ,"tanto c'è l'editor", è andata in stampa. L'editor, infatti, era scazzato come Byron con Beth, "fanculo Niceville, fanculo tutti". Il marketing va come l'Interceptor di Reed: in men che non si dica le traduzioni sono impacchettate e infiocchettate. Tutto come al solito, puoi prenderti una vacanza prima del prossimo libro. In un angolino del tuo subconscio, però, una vocina ancora ti punge:
- C'è una cosa che devi fare.
- Cosa?
- Ricordatelo da solo, bzzbzzbzz*!

*muahahah

[donna_ehm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stroud is a terrific writer who created a whole host of memorable and engaging characters with this series, not to mention a vivid physical setting in the town of Niceville and its surroundings. The dialogue is sharp and funny, the action scenes extremely vivid and believable (he clearly knows the military life, not to mention all manner of weapons that go BANG), and he also pulls off many very creepy and scary moments.

My only criticism with the final installment is the wrapped-up-with-a-bow ending. It all felt a bit rushed and skimmed over. I think another reviewer compared it to a movie that ran out of budget at the end, and I agree with that. Everything was tidied up far too much and far too quickly. In an interview the author commented that he was excited to have accounted for all of it (to paraphrase) and I think that was the problem: leaving a few ends dangling wouldn't have hurt while paying a bit more attention to other threads that needed it, like Rainey, who did some pretty serious shit while under the influence of the Nothing spirit, but we don't get any insight into what that experience was like for him. I thought that perspective was a glaring absence for the story.

Otherwise, this was a great series, one I'd definitely read again.

[Dena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of enjoyed the series, but the ending was very unsatisfactory. What happened to Mildred Pierce, the cat? The final scene at Crater Sink was blurry and didn't really tell the reader anything; like did the Nothing go away for good or just fade for a while? Did Mavis Crossfire have a lesbian affair with Deloris? If so, yuk. Even though the characters were amazingly likeable, neither of the dirty cops got in trouble for killing all those people, including 4 other cops. The whole police department and local FBI knew they did it, but they didn't do anything about it, which I found unbelievable. I guess Charlie lived on the farm as a very happy and content ghost with the other ghosts. It never explained what happened to the other one, the sharpshooter. And I don't believe a boy of 14 could live through everything Rainey lived through and ever be "normal" again. The ending wanted the reader to believe everyone lived happily ever after, and it was just too unbelievable. Overall, a fun series but with a disappointing ending.

[Scott Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some writers create a great story, some produce wonderful prose, a rare gifted few do both. Carsten Stroud is one of the few.

The Reckoning concludes the Niceville trilogy in pure Stroud style: sinfully wicked writing weaving a spell on the reader from start to finish. Niceville is about cops and robbers, ghosts and devils, and those caught "in-between". A Southern Gothic crime novel, populated with quirky crooks and Kevlar-wearing heroes, Native American demons and Hemi-loaded Police Interceptors.

If you like a little supernatural in your super-charged cop chases, you'll love the Niceville trilogy and The Reckoning in particular.

[Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying conclusion to the Niceville trilogy. The Reckoning contains the same amount of crazy as the previous novels, with gunfights, ghosts and gruesome killings. Despite the violence and gore it has a lot of heart, and characters you care about. I admit it feels a little unusual to root for a couple of stone cold killers (Coker & Danziger, I will love you forever), or to feel proud of a character for severing someone's ankle tendons, but that's just what Stroud does to you.

For once I think Stephen King isn't being overly generous in his praise.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As amply proved in Niceville and Homecoming, Stroud is a genius at combining viciously-realized action sequences with scenes of terrific suspense, topping it all off with a gift for characterization firmly in the rarefied realm of Elmore Leonard and George Pelecanos. Be warned, however; The Reckoning is not meant to be read before the first two acts. You go in blind, you’re going to be more than confused. Go in armed, and you’re set for one hell of a fine time.

Read the full review at The Redeblog.

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bella conclusione. Di solito la parte debole di questo genere di romanzi è la fine, qui invece, finisce tutto con i fuochi d'artificio e in maniera coerente con i primi due volumi.
Davvero una bella trilogia.

[Adam Maid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Niceville trilogy is SO GOOD.

[Ann Hendrickx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Het verhaal zat goed, maar zo een teleurstellend einde!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally got access to a copy of the third book in Carsten Stroud's "Niceville" trilogy. It took so long that I had lost my enthusiasm for reading it, but then I actually started reading it and got caught up in the problems of the people of Niceville, who have a serious problem with their nice little town.

The sense of an aura of mysterious evil (and maybe good) is so strong in this trilogy that it seems like another character (or maybe two). The nature of the menace is kept sketchily defined, and that adds to the suspense as the reader wonders just what exactly is going on here, and how serious is it? The sense of the possible existence of a balancing good force is just as murky until well into the third book.

This story of life in a small town with emphasis on the lives of the many characters, especially the police who are stuck with dealing with the fallout from what may be ordinary crime, but is really just too odd to be only that, manages to combine something that's a bit like a well-written police procedural with a dash of the supernatural thrown in. It's an unlikely combination, but it works. It's a bit like a John Sanford Lucas Davenport book, but with more atmosphere and more characters, with a touch of Stephen King added. SK is apparently a fan of this trilogy, because there's a blurb by him on the front of the third book that says "An authentic novel of American genius."

The police detective Nick Kavanaugh along with his wife Kate take in a boy called Rainey Teague, who is the first victim in the trilogy of some of that weird stuff going on. Unfortunately, the boy may not precisely be himself any longer.

While reading this trilogy, I kept finding myself trying to figure out exactly where in the US Niceville is located. Much of the terrain and society described sounds like the Southern Appalachians, but ocean views, live oaks, and Spanish moss also make an appearance. Several of the street names like Peachtree and Gwinnett sound like Georgia, and the town called "Cap City" sounds like Atlanta. I finally decided that Niceville must be in a non-existent fictional place with the Blue Ridge mountains on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

I don't know if this trilogy would stand up to a second reading. Even as I've read the books, I've noted sketchy characterization and bits of the plot that seemed slightly ridiculous, but the author makes it all work, and the overall effect is that true frisson that fun horror writing provides.

The author indulges himself in passages about guns, horses, and Maine Coon cats, so if you dislike any of those topics, you might not like parts of the books.

Highly recommended for a fun read.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW!

I’m not quite sure how to review the third book of a trilogy most people haven’t read.

The Reckoning will make minimal sense if you don’t have the built-in knowledge that comes from having read the first two. That’s not a criticism of the book; it’s just the reality of considering what would happen if you only read the final 400 pages of a narrative that spans 1,200 pages across three books.

So instead, as satisfying as the third book is, let me take this review to encourage you to try this series. It’s an audacious bit of world-building & quite possibly the most nimble combination of horror & crime-thriller I’ve ever read.

The first book, Niceville, is named after the small (fictional) Georgia town at the book’s center. It opens with a bloody bank heist, & for a while it seems as though it’s a pure thriller. We meet the robbers, we meet the cops investigating the crime, we meet a couple other characters ancillary to the heist. And it’s GREAT. It hums along like the best Elmore Leonard book Leonard never wrote.

But we soon come to see there’s something darker & more sinister at Niceville’s center. It involves the violent legacy of the families who founded the town & why Niceville has had an inordinately high number of people disappear without a trace. It soon becomes obvious that one of the disappeared – who reappears entombed in a Civil War-era crypt – is a doorway to the malevolent force that hums underneath all of Niceville.

In Niceville – the town – Stroud has created a world that lives & breathes. The huge granite wall that looms over the town. The seemingly bottomless lake that has claimed more than its share of victims. The river flowing through the center of town that houses hundreds of mysterious skeletons. Niceville is so vividly drawn I sort of wish I, as a Georgia resident, could hop in the car & visit.

But more importantly, Niceville – the trilogy – absolutely deserves to be seen among the best horror series in American literature.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 star story.. editing, meh.

I so thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and there is little criticism to make about the writing quality, which is effortlessly flawless. However. The editing in terms of continuity of detail is not up to standard.

For example, in the first book, Rainey Teague's eyes, first described as "big and brown, like a cartoon squirrel," manage to morph into bright blue.

Similarly, Kate Kavanaugh's hair color, when first described , is something that she has inherited from her mother, with the two noted as being auburn haired Irish roses. "Auburn" somehow becomes "black" by the third book in the series.

In the first book, Hannah Dietz turns five . During the course of events which take place chronologically after this, in the second book, Hannah is described as somehow mysteriously having regressed to being "almost five" years of age.

Perhaps these are things that less attentive or less uh, retentive readers may not notice ; I however, am unable NOT to do so. It's irritating on several levels but especially so given such an otherwise finely crafted and utterly entertaining series of books.

Both the Niceville trilogy and the stand alone novel, The Shimmer, were sheer joys to read. I read quite a bit--a few novels a week--and Carsten Stroud is a superbly gifted author whom I am delighted to have discovered. I hope he has many more books left still to write, because the man surely knows his craft and just how to spin one helluva original and entertaining story...or four.

But please sir, get a better editor!

[Scott Mccoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh. It has been a long time since I read the preceding two books in this trilogy. Perhaps if I reread them, this would make more sense. As a somewhat stand alone, this story seems to be a little unfocused and whole subplots, the mafia bit in particular seem unnecessary. Also, there are like a dozen important characters,, which feels like a lot, especially since we don't get a lot of character development. Maybe it's tying up threads from prior books. I don't know.

That being said, the author devotes a lot of time describing places, objects people and things. There is a bit of hyperbole going on because the protagonists are all beautiful/handsome and the villains are brutish, loutish, corpulent and vile. He throws out a lot of brand names which don't add a lot always. I don't know what a Bianchi shoulder holster has on a normal shoulder holster, but its probably amazing.

Lastly, and this is going to come across prudish, but the frequent mention of the female body, body parts and sex in terms I haven't heard or used since middle school is sort of record scratching jarring. Most women in the book are physically attractive, you know because you are told in moderately veiled terms. It really doesn't add to the story in the least. There's a whole sequence where a character foils a shooting at a coffee shop mostly because the barista was well endowed and at risk. I feel it just cheapens the narrative.

Overall, this book had some great ideas. I would have liked a tighter narrative and less instances of the word bazongas.

[Cristina Urdiales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Resumen ejecutivo: un chaval desaparece en un pueblecito americano durante días, hasta que lo encuentran abrazado por un cadáver en una tumba que lleva décadas sellada. Al mismo tiempo, se produce un robo de un furgón con varias víctimas mortales que vuelve del revés a las fuerzas del orden locales. Distintas personas del pueblo se ven enredadas en una u otra trama, que se cruzan en los protagonistas, una abogada nacida en una de las cuatro familias ancestrales del pueblo y su marido, un ex-combatiente y actual agente de la ley en el pueblo.

No está mal en conjunto. Tiene momentos bastante buenos y resulta atmosférico, al estilo de Stephen King. La mayor pega que puedo ponerle es que, como tantas novelas hoy en día, necesitas leerte los 3 volúmenes para llegar a algo. Estoy algo harta de tanta trilogía y demás, donde para terminar una historia necesitas cinco años. Por otra parte, se lee mejor como un thriller que como una historia de terror, es decir, la mayor parte de la historia se centra en un robo y sus consecuencias y probablemente esté mejor manejada esa parte que el resto, que tiene momentazos aquí y allá, pero no acaba de aprovecharlos del todo.

[Marc T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly Recommended.

The third book in this trilogy is excellent. Again, as I did in my review of the second book, I strongly advise that all three of these novels are read within a short time span of each other due to their numerous characters and their complexity.

While the first book is superb at establishing mood, introducing characters, and showcasing style, the second book stumbles slightly (as middle books in trilogies often do). This third one is slightly better than the first: it is tight, moves at an excellent pace, keeps the reader interested and on the edge of their seat, continues the excellent character relationships that have been established, and has crackling dialogue. In addition the humor, in the form of wry and sardonic observations and descriptions via the third person perspective and the character dialogue, remains potent.

Mr. Stroud does a masterful job weaving the various plot lines and characters together and brings it all to a fitting conclusion. The last 100 pages or so are tied together better than any book I've read in a long time. Everything snaps into place.