8 August 2015

Review #293: Mortom by Erik Therme



My rating: 4 of 5 stars



“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

----Anonymous



Erik Therme, an American author, has penned his debut novel, Mortom, which accounts the story of a brother and a sister who are left a huge estate by one of theirs distant cousin who committed suicide in a small town, upon reaching they discover a letter with a key that leads to a "treasure" hidden somewhere in that strange town.








Synopsis:

Andy Crowl barely knew his recently deceased cousin, Craig Moore, so he’s especially surprised to be named as the sole beneficiary in Craig’s will. Not that there’s much to inherit: just an empty bank account and a run-down house.

Once Andy arrives in the town of Mortom, however, he’s drawn into his puzzle-obsessed cousin’s true legacy: a twisted and ominous treasure hunt. Beckoned by macabre clues of dead rats and cemetery keys, Andy jumps into the game, hoping to discover untold wealth. But unsavory secrets—and unanswered questions about Craig’s untimely demise—arise at every turn, leading Andy to wonder if he’s playing the game…or if the game is playing him.

Something’s rotten in Mortom. And this dead man’s game might not be all that Andy is doomed to lose.



Andy and his sister Katie are left as the sole beneficiary in his distant cousin, Craig's will with a huge estate in a small and strange town, Mortom. Upon reaching, Andy found a letter with a key under a refrigerator, which tells about a hunt about the hidden treasure. Being always a fan of puzzles, Andy follows the clues that reveals darkness and questions on the nature of his cousin's so-told suicide. Hungry for the treasure, Andy's mind began to defer whether he made the right choice in following those twisted clues.

The writing style is fantastic, there's no complaint about it. The narrative is full of suspense thus engaging it's readers completely. The author tells his story in a way it feels like a playing a game of puzzle, we don't know what the end picture looks like, but with the clues we need to keep moving forward. The prose as well as the atmosphere is kept mysterious and scary with lots of unanticipated clues and twists on the way, thus keeping the readers on their edges with the nest move of Andy.

The mystery is though not that brilliant but portrayed strikingly and and revealed one layer after another. The twists though some were quite predictable, was revealed at the right moments thus maintaining it's depth of mystery with in the story.

The characters are not brought out with all their aspects be it flaws or stronger factors that define them. Andy is a strong character and the author had a good hold on to his twisting demeanor till the very end. Katie, on the other hand, puzzles me with her over-the-top curiosity about everything that Andy does, although there's a bit of humor in their non-stop bickering about almost everything. There are many shady characters that somehow give shape to the mystery and suspense that are well-developed. In a nutshell, the characters are though all psychologically flawed, still I couldn't much relate to them.

Overall, it's a powerful and challenging book that requires the brain to work hard on it's details and twists and that will keep the readers glued pretty much till the end.

Verdict: A must read for the psychological thriller fans.

Courtesy: Thanks Maxine once again for this great book. 
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Author Info:
Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader.

When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering for his oldest daughter’s volleyball team, or chilling on the PlayStation 3 with his eleven-year-old. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only seven places in the world UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.

Visit him here


Book Purchase Links:

1 comment:

  1. This book sounds really interesting. Thanks for the review, I will have to check it out!

    ReplyDelete

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