Burntown

Ten-year-old Miles Sandeski witnesses his Mother being Murdered by a man wearing a chicken mask. Attempting to save his Mother, Miles shoots her killer with his bow and arrow. His father is arrested for her Murder and subsequently commits suicide while in prison. Miles has always stood by his story that his father did not kill his Mother, but a man in a chicken suit did.

Eva Sandeski loved watching her father build in his workshop. He built wonderful things with hidden compartments where he would leave little trinkets for her to find. His most important “invention” (really Thomas Edison’s) is a device that allows a person to talk to the dead. The blueprints were left to Miles by his father who had them handed down to him.

One night a terrible storm rages and the river near the Sandeski family home begins to rise. As the family begins to prepare to avoid being flooded, the machine turns on and Miles’ Mother’s voice is heard telling them there was “danger” and “He’s here”. The next thing Eva remembers she is lying on the riverbank and her Mother tells her that her Father and brother are both dead, they no longer have a home and they need to hide because they are still in danger.

Eva and her Mother are “rescued” by an interesting group of women known as the “fire eaters” Eva’s Mother soon becomes one of them and they change their names. Eva decides to change her name to Necco after the candy she loved as a child. Necco/Eva finds herself alone after her Mother’s suicide and begins living in an abandoned car with her boyfriend Hermes. Then one day she wakes up to find her boyfriend has been murdered and she is considered a suspect.

She is not the only character in this book. There is sweet lovable Pru who dreams of having her own circus. Mr. Marcelle, who has always been kind to Pru, is the “strong man” of her dreams. He makes deliveries to the school where Pru works, but he also works as a private investigator. He has been hired to find a missing person and will not stop until he has answers. Then there is Theo a lonely high school student who gets into a bad situation, after experiencing love for the first time. Theo is the catalyst for Pru and Necco/Eva meeting the three of them form a bond and band together to try and figure out what happened to Theo’s missing money, who killed Necco/Eva’s boyfriend, who is the chicken man, and what really happened the night that Eva’s father and brother died.

Whew! This book is full of secrets, but they are all tied together. I am not even sure how to classify this book. Is it a mystery? Yes! Is it a thriller? Yes! Are there some supernatural elements? Yes! Basically, this book has something for everyone. While reading this book, I kept thinking how this also felt like it had the vibe of an Alice Hoffman book. By that I mean, the mixing of paranormal with fiction, with mystery, with romance. I think this takes a special skill to pull off and McMahon did it beautifully. The way she wove her story really worked.

This book was oddly compelling, and I read (devoured) this book! There were lots of characters in this book and eventually all of their stories connect in the end. While reading the book, I kept wondering about her “brother”. While reading, I scratched my head thinking thought Eva was an only child” then “hmmmm why isn’t her brother mentioned in any news articles?” but that is answered in the book. Again, everything really does tie together in the end (I know I have been saying that a lot in this review but it is true!!!).

In short, I really enjoyed this book! I also loved “The Winter People” by McMahon. These books are entirely different, but both were such a pleasure to read. This book is different but wonderfully so. It is almost like a circus. One needs to suspend some disbelief while reading this. It’s worth it, by the way. I can’t say that there is anything about his book that I did not like. I really enjoyed how the story unraveled. Things are not always as they seem and those who loves us, sometimes lie to us to keep us safe. Small towns harbor and hold secrets – until eventually the dam breaks and they come pouring out.

I received this book from Doubleday and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.