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Peculiar County
Growing up in Peculiar County, Kansas, is a mighty...well, peculiar experience. In 1965, things get even stranger for Dibby Caldwell, the mortician's fifteen year old daughter. A young boy's ghost haunts Dibby into unearthing the circumstances of his death. Nobody—living or dead—wants her to succeed. James, the new mop-topped, bad boy at school doesn’t help. Dibby can’t get him out of her head, even though she doesn’t trust him. No, sir, there's nothing much more peculiar than life in Peculiar County…except maybe death in Peculiar County.
318 pages, Paperback
Published July 21, 2017
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews
October 8, 2017
Thank you so much to booksgosocial via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of Peculiar country by Stuart West.
Humor and horror all in one.
In the peculiar country everything is done differently, how they live, what they do, everything is different from our typical norm. I thought that the story was interesting and intriguing but a bit repetitive.
Our main character is constantly talked about as not your average girl, not your typical girl, not just a girl over and over... we get it she's special, move on.
Humor and horror all in one.
In the peculiar country everything is done differently, how they live, what they do, everything is different from our typical norm. I thought that the story was interesting and intriguing but a bit repetitive.
Our main character is constantly talked about as not your average girl, not your typical girl, not just a girl over and over... we get it she's special, move on.
October 4, 2017
Most of the book was Dibby telling us that she's not like other girls over and over and over.
She has a blue bike, you guys. She's not like other girls.
She's not like other girls.
She's not... like... other... girls.
She has a blue bike, you guys. She's not like other girls.
She's not like other girls.
She's not... like... other... girls.
May 4, 2018
Review: PECULIAR COUNTY by Stuart R. West
I've never lived in Kansas, don't think I've ever been there. But then, I don't think too many people have encountered Stuart West' s Kansas either. As Stephen King mutated Maine, so Mr. West has transformed Kansas into a "meta-Kansas," a condition of "Otherness" above and beyond the Kansas normally experienced by residents and tourists.
Perhaps the quintessence of "meta-Kansas" exists in Peculiar County, where nothing operates according to the laws of physics (except possibly gravity) and where being dead certainly doesn't mean you don't have a part to play, something to say, and an axe to grind. Just ask Dibby, age 15. She lives a quiet country life as the town's undertaker' s daughter. Well, it was a quiet life--till young Los Angeles (James) moves to town (and hates it) and the ghost of a tormented, tortured, young boy cries out to Dibby...for relief, for understanding, for revelation, for vengeance? He's not resting in peace and neither is she.
I've never lived in Kansas, don't think I've ever been there. But then, I don't think too many people have encountered Stuart West' s Kansas either. As Stephen King mutated Maine, so Mr. West has transformed Kansas into a "meta-Kansas," a condition of "Otherness" above and beyond the Kansas normally experienced by residents and tourists.
Perhaps the quintessence of "meta-Kansas" exists in Peculiar County, where nothing operates according to the laws of physics (except possibly gravity) and where being dead certainly doesn't mean you don't have a part to play, something to say, and an axe to grind. Just ask Dibby, age 15. She lives a quiet country life as the town's undertaker' s daughter. Well, it was a quiet life--till young Los Angeles (James) moves to town (and hates it) and the ghost of a tormented, tortured, young boy cries out to Dibby...for relief, for understanding, for revelation, for vengeance? He's not resting in peace and neither is she.
July 31, 2017
Stuart R. West knows a thing or two about combining humour with horror. His deft style lifts both characters and plot straight off the page and into the reader's mind and living room. This latest work is a classic West Tale. They do everything differently in Peculiar County. They live differently, die differently and, in between are secrets heaped upon secrets, ghosts, spooky librarians - and a girl called Dibby trying to solve a murder, assisted by a cast of ghosts and a highly fanciable new boy in town called James. You never know quite what is going to happen next in Peculiar County, but it's a lot of spooky fun finding out.
August 14, 2017
Peculiar County is a very strange and fun book. Hangwell is a unique town with a strange background and weird happenings around every corner. Dibby is being haunted by a young boy and she becomes determined to find out why and what happened to him.
This book was really good. The ghost story and secrets make for an intriguing mystery. The characters, especially Dibby, are very likable and I love her country manner and language. This book was a wild ride from start to finish. It was packed with action. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I really enjoyed it.
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This book was really good. The ghost story and secrets make for an intriguing mystery. The characters, especially Dibby, are very likable and I love her country manner and language. This book was a wild ride from start to finish. It was packed with action. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I really enjoyed it.
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August 6, 2017
Mildly creepy, so don't pick this up for the big chills. What Mr. West has accomplished is a book that keeps on giving phrase after clause after sentence after paragraph you'll want to highlight and say "this is so amazingly good." To do that, I'd have had to highlight the whole darned thing. Here's just a couple of examples of words that sing to me:
"The scythe rose, scarred the moon's face. The weapon swooshed down. Thunked into Hedrick's back, the sound of a watermelon chunked apart."
Another:
"A bad wind, riding shotgun with evil, spat through the field. Corn stalks rattled like bones. A whistled wheezed through the field, a train plummeting down, down, dead straight into Hell."
Another:
"Waves of flowing blood rolled into the cornfield. Soon, only the tips of the tallest stalks rose above the red tide and I floated into the sea of blood. I let it take me, far downstream, away from the murder and madness. I closed my eyes. And sun, seeking calm."
And Another:
"A rooster beat me awake, but not by much. The early bird had nothing on me. I had places to be, people to meet, murderers to uproot."
The first person approach to Dibby, the 15-year-old female lead, is a highly dangerous task for a 50-something old guy, but he just dug in and channeled a perfect Dibby from 1965. This was a brilliant choice. Trying to emulate a 21st Century 15-year-old would be doomed to failure, but the 1965 version of a polite lil gal from Kansas with plenty of issues like a runaway mom and the high-school drama queen hellbent on making her life hell? Brilliant.
I happened to have written a first person book in the POV of an 11-year-old Texas boy. The cadence and style between Dibby and Eddie is pitch perfect. Guess what? I was about Dibby's age in 1965 and a tomboy to boot, so I know this girl. I was this girl. Except Dibby is stronger and smarter and more eloquent.
I kept waiting for Mr. West to falter on this character, but he pulled it off like he was Stephen King writing about the kids in Maine dealing with killer clowns, a possessed Plymouth Fury, or a high school girl pushed to her horrible heights my a bunch of high school bullies.
Peculiar County isn't as scary as King's books, but the the pitch perfect characterizations and intriguing use of language remind me of the master writer.
I've read a lot of Mr. West's books. I generally enjoy them. This one, however, hits the sweet spot for me. Dibby is a heroine of the first order taking charge in a very Peculiar County in Kansas.
Totally recommended for light horror fans. I don't care for tons of gore, so this book set with me right well (see, I'm writing like Dibby talks now).
"The scythe rose, scarred the moon's face. The weapon swooshed down. Thunked into Hedrick's back, the sound of a watermelon chunked apart."
Another:
"A bad wind, riding shotgun with evil, spat through the field. Corn stalks rattled like bones. A whistled wheezed through the field, a train plummeting down, down, dead straight into Hell."
Another:
"Waves of flowing blood rolled into the cornfield. Soon, only the tips of the tallest stalks rose above the red tide and I floated into the sea of blood. I let it take me, far downstream, away from the murder and madness. I closed my eyes. And sun, seeking calm."
And Another:
"A rooster beat me awake, but not by much. The early bird had nothing on me. I had places to be, people to meet, murderers to uproot."
The first person approach to Dibby, the 15-year-old female lead, is a highly dangerous task for a 50-something old guy, but he just dug in and channeled a perfect Dibby from 1965. This was a brilliant choice. Trying to emulate a 21st Century 15-year-old would be doomed to failure, but the 1965 version of a polite lil gal from Kansas with plenty of issues like a runaway mom and the high-school drama queen hellbent on making her life hell? Brilliant.
I happened to have written a first person book in the POV of an 11-year-old Texas boy. The cadence and style between Dibby and Eddie is pitch perfect. Guess what? I was about Dibby's age in 1965 and a tomboy to boot, so I know this girl. I was this girl. Except Dibby is stronger and smarter and more eloquent.
I kept waiting for Mr. West to falter on this character, but he pulled it off like he was Stephen King writing about the kids in Maine dealing with killer clowns, a possessed Plymouth Fury, or a high school girl pushed to her horrible heights my a bunch of high school bullies.
Peculiar County isn't as scary as King's books, but the the pitch perfect characterizations and intriguing use of language remind me of the master writer.
I've read a lot of Mr. West's books. I generally enjoy them. This one, however, hits the sweet spot for me. Dibby is a heroine of the first order taking charge in a very Peculiar County in Kansas.
Totally recommended for light horror fans. I don't care for tons of gore, so this book set with me right well (see, I'm writing like Dibby talks now).
August 28, 2017
What a fun read! This new book by @StuartRWest should definitely be on our ToBeRead list.#TBR. If you enjoy a paranormal mystery written from the point-of-view of a sassy 15-year-old, you'll like this book. It has all the elements of a paranormal--ghosts, witches and human monsters. It also has a touch of teenage romance.
Set in 1965, the story launches on the first page with a summons from a ghost. That leads to our heroine, Dibby Caldwell, to question the ten-year-old mysterious disappearance of a young boy. She sticks her curious nose in enough places to disturb the sleepy, spooky little town of Hangwell, Kansas and soon disturb the human monsters who live there. Her partner in the search for answers is the new kid in town, whose good-looks attract Dibby's tomboyish, cold heart.
Not to give too much away, I will simply add, that Dibby finds out more than she bargained for and ultimately puts her life in jeopardy. Oh, yes, her dad is the local mortician which adds some ghoulishness to the story. We can almost hear the spooky laughter of the dead bodies stored in Dibby's basement.
Readers will not only enjoy the mysterious happenings, but they will also take pleasure in the colloquial atmosphere in this well-described small town. Hangwell could be anywhere from the deep South to the Mid-West. Towns like it exist all over this country. West does a nice job of describing the strange characters who live in Hangwell, and he uses language consistent with that population.
I've earmarked some writing that I particularly enjoyed:
...in Peculiar County where death comes a'knocking in an anything but a natural manner.
True friends tended not to last long, worn out faster than cheap sneakers.
So why had his flirtation with Suzette plugged my heart full of lead?
As I'd only known him from a vague boogeyman status, his gentle nature caught me off-guard.
In the morning, my overalls and flannel shellacked me with a nice coating of normal.
...the wind dosey-doed through the Judge's tree's naked tree limbs, whistling quite the jaunty melody.
There's much more fun dialogue and writing promising to keep any reader entertained. My hope is Mr. West will not stop here but will continue this story into a series.
How many stars will I give this book? Only because I'm not much into paranormal, I gave it 4.5 but on Amazon that's as good as 5.
Set in 1965, the story launches on the first page with a summons from a ghost. That leads to our heroine, Dibby Caldwell, to question the ten-year-old mysterious disappearance of a young boy. She sticks her curious nose in enough places to disturb the sleepy, spooky little town of Hangwell, Kansas and soon disturb the human monsters who live there. Her partner in the search for answers is the new kid in town, whose good-looks attract Dibby's tomboyish, cold heart.
Not to give too much away, I will simply add, that Dibby finds out more than she bargained for and ultimately puts her life in jeopardy. Oh, yes, her dad is the local mortician which adds some ghoulishness to the story. We can almost hear the spooky laughter of the dead bodies stored in Dibby's basement.
Readers will not only enjoy the mysterious happenings, but they will also take pleasure in the colloquial atmosphere in this well-described small town. Hangwell could be anywhere from the deep South to the Mid-West. Towns like it exist all over this country. West does a nice job of describing the strange characters who live in Hangwell, and he uses language consistent with that population.
I've earmarked some writing that I particularly enjoyed:
...in Peculiar County where death comes a'knocking in an anything but a natural manner.
True friends tended not to last long, worn out faster than cheap sneakers.
So why had his flirtation with Suzette plugged my heart full of lead?
As I'd only known him from a vague boogeyman status, his gentle nature caught me off-guard.
In the morning, my overalls and flannel shellacked me with a nice coating of normal.
...the wind dosey-doed through the Judge's tree's naked tree limbs, whistling quite the jaunty melody.
There's much more fun dialogue and writing promising to keep any reader entertained. My hope is Mr. West will not stop here but will continue this story into a series.
How many stars will I give this book? Only because I'm not much into paranormal, I gave it 4.5 but on Amazon that's as good as 5.
October 17, 2017
Peculiar County
by Stuart R. West
BooksGoSocial
Teens & YA
Pub Date 30 Jul 2017
I am reviewing a copy of Peculiar County Through BooksGoSocial and Netgalley:
Growing up in Peculiar County Kansas in 1965 is a strange experience, even stranger for Dibby Caldwell, the morticians fifteen year old daughter who is being haunted by a ghost of a young boy which prompts Dibby to unearth the circumstances of his death. She learns the boy is eight year old Thomas Saunders who had gone missing in May of 1953.
It seems that no one living or dead wants Dibby to uncover how Thomas Saunders died. In her search to find Thomas Saunders killer she discovers that her Father had been close to EveLyn Saunders
Will Dibby be able to uncover what happened to Thomas Saunders, who was behind his murder? Will she die trying? Find out in Peculiar County.
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
September 2, 2017
15-year-old, down-to-earth, tomboy Dibby is about the last person you’d expect to get caught up in the world of ghosts and witches, but that’s exactly what happens when a young phantom starts making nighttime visits. He’s eager for Dibby to uncover the truth about his passing. Even more unbelievable for Dibby is that the cute new boy in school seems to be interested in her! Between ghostly visions, chasing down clues, and contemplating her first real date, what’s a girl to do? With his trademark wry humor, author Stuart West takes on another enjoyable ride!
September 12, 2017
I love stories that are a mix of mystery and magic, and this story has exactly that. Peculiar County pulls the reader into the old south, and the characters are rich in the culture and nitty-gritty colloquialisms that fit the story to a T. This book is well written and keeps the reader involved. I had my suspicions about who the antagonist was in this tale, but I was wrong. Which was great, because it surprised me. Maybe you can figure it out? Give it a try!
September 27, 2017
A fun read! This book has a bit of this and that. There are ghost, witches, and of course human monsters. The title definitely describes the town of Hangwell. This book had me hooked from the first chapter. The characters are easy to follow, the main characters are easy to like. Even the sarcastic, distrustful Dibby is a likeable character. The story is well written. It doesn't get repetitive with the mundane parts. Has many twists to keep readers guessing. I greatly enjoyed it.
February 15, 2018
I just finished reading this book -someone said it might be too spooky for me. Not at all. Very well written. I love the characters - very well developed and I could picture all of them, from the hero and heroine to all the peculiar characters, especially the sisters. . All strange characters for sure. Had me on the edge of my seat and I was forced to quit reading because my eyes were tearing and blurred.. Couldn't wait to get back to it.
September 14, 2017
I am always on the look-out for new young adult authors and books that have quality to offer, and Stuart West's Peculiar County falls into that category. I enjoyed this book as an adult reader, but would also recommend it for young adults. A nice addition to the school library or classroom bookshelf, as well as the shelf at home. An enjoyable read.
September 19, 2017
ARC from Netgalley. A quirky story about a quirky Kansas teen who sees more than she should and won't leave well alone. Add in the arrival of a new boy who brings first love and life for Dibby just got very interesting. I really enjoyed this and found the characters very engaging.
February 23, 2019
I had so much fun reading this book! Stuart R. West has a knack for writing a mix of the creepy, funny, original, and well...peculair. Full of fascinating characters, weird happenings, and great plot twists, Peculiar County was a fun house thrill of a book. I hope I get to visit there again.
November 16, 2019
I just couldn't get into it got close to 1/2 way through but have given up. I think it's more my not enjoying the author's way of writing than the quality of the writing.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews