Trickling Sands

by Jerrod Fasan

Two spouses, Richard and Serene awake to a morning of uncanny feelings and to add to their unease, they soon discover their six-year-old son Mark is nowhere to be found. Despite their numerous attempts of searching top and bottom throughout their home, there is no trace their son. After searching, Serene and Richard finally locate him in his favorite hide-n-go-seek spot in the basement. Unfortunately, they also find themselves submerged in an unspeakable nightmare. Longtime friend Trevor and his colleagues of the Welder Viller Police Department seek to get to the bottom of the grim misfortune. Trevor’s relentless endeavors to acquire answers are fueled by the pursuit of justice and to find healing within his subdued heart. Emotional confrontation and suspicion, eventually leads to the answer he desires. Though after obtaining the answers he so desperately seeks, it shepherds more sorrow and pain, than all the other events leading up to it.

127 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2019

About the author

Author writes under Jerrod O. Fasan

Jerrod Fasan is an American first-time novelist who obtained his associates in English from Borough of Manhattan Community College and then obtained his bachelors in English from Brooklyn College. With a love for all genres, he first tackled the area of crime and mystery because of his fascination with the details he could offer to his readers. Trickling Sands, a 'who done it' novel is a milestone for Fasan as he takes the readers onto an entirely different path and into a creepy-surreal darkness to search for a killer. His goal is to continue to write and bring page-turning stories to readers that will not only inspire but also captivate them.

Reviews

[Amrita. Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a crime thriller surrounding the story of a crime involving a law enforcement officer. It has a great start and the plot is interesting but the environments could use a little bit more description. For eg: the police procedures and the character’s emotions needs a bit more description. The plot twists kept me hooked throughout the book and the end is surprising! Give it a try, it is a good read.

[K.T. Munson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot/Characters

This novel started out great, excellent hook, an interesting murder mystery. I really enjoyed the start of the novel, it really had this budding potential. However, curiosity more then anything kept me going after that. I liked Richard, but Garett was a little hard to like. Many of the supporting characters, except for Aunt Laurel and Mark, were pretty flat. There was little life in them and that made it hard to connect. What was worse, there was head hoping throughout.

Overall

The writings main issue was it told the story rather then showed the story. This meant that every scene and action was robotic. The overall message of the story (which I won’t say more and risk ruining anything) was excellent and worthwhile. I am not sure I liked the ending/outcome after all that build up, but I could see why the author went in that direction. I’d actually started to suspect at one point this might be the conclusion, but the author did good keeping it going until the big reveal. The setting was difficult to visualize and the police procedurals felt very fictional, which made it even more difficult to grasp onto. The ending, much like the middle, stretched out too long and could have easily been wrapped up in a single chapter instead of multiple. Which is surprising considering it was only 99 pages. That being said the story kept me reading because I ‘had to know’ so the tight suspense and promise of resolution was pretty well done overall.

Rating

2.5 stars (rounded up)

Interesting plot, great message, and mediocre writing.

Where did I get it?

Kindle Unlimited

[David Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detective novella with many twists of fate

A police officer is called to deal with the nightmarish case of a missing son. He gets more than he bargains for in this seemingly surreal tale, though it does end up on a positive note. The author gets straight to the point racking up the tension and suspense. The chapters are short and the story is fast paced. The best parts of the novel are the beginning which has a supernatural slant and the end chapters which are redemptive and satisfying. The author uses considerable poetic license but the dialogue is sometimes cheesy. This book is worth reading. It is a good story, it can be read in a solitary two hour sitting making it a good time investment.

[Heidi | Paper Safari Book Blog · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some good moments but struggled to find its voice. Since this is a novella everything seems very rushed. I'm not sure what year this is supposed to be in the book but the family only had one cell phone which is strange and the police waited an awfully long time to go investigate when one of their own doesn't show up for work.

The beginning was the best part as it surprised me I was drawn in by it and was waiting for it to develop more but it just didn't happen. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a religious book but there was an element of that in the writing. Either way I just didn't connect to the story.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book clearly had a string moral message, unfortunately for me this came at the expense of an enjoyable story.

The dialogue felt clunky in places, and was for me lacking in emotion.

The book length was also odd… too long for a short story, and not long enough for a full length novel. This meant for me that the story felt underdeveloped in some areas, and some parts were just left not really making sense.

Sorry but this one was not for me.

Thanks to Booksirens for sending me a copy to read and review.

[Amanda Briggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself was interesting, and I appreciated the message the author was trying to convey. However, the execution left me struggling at times. The writing felt a bit amateurish, with little character development and a timeline that didn’t quite seem right (ie, the fingerprint results seeming to take months?). Some parts of the storyline didn’t feel very realistic, and the dialogue between characters often came across as unnatural. That said, I applaud the author’s effort in bringing this story to life, and with some fine tuning, it could become a much stronger and more engaging read.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trickling Sands is an excellent whodunnit novel that centers around the murder of a detective's partner. The story is captivating and keeps you hooked as you try to figure out what happened. Though a bit emotional, the surprising ending is a great payoff for staying invested throughout the book. If you're a fan of detective mysteries, this is a must-read.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novella had an interesting story line, it wasn't bad, but a little underwhelming.
Being a stickler for details the last name Hines later became Addison. And a fingerprint changed to DNA then back to fingerprint.

[Mawara Shazad]

never read it

[Debbie Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 'who done it' begins with intriguing events that culminate in a surprising consequence. The clues are well-chosen and entertaining. The book ends with an appropriate and timely message.

[Jessica Keesling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story!