By Scott Shepard
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
Descending Son wants to be a mystery, a horror novel and a soap
opera all at the same time. All that does is stretch the story into a
meandering mish-mash. It starts out well as a mystery with our main
protagonist returning home to his ailing father after a seven year
absence. A mysterious car accident and the strange demise of his father
moves the novel into suspense mode. Yet after a third of the tale passes, a
supernatural aspect emerges and we are in horror city. I don't want to
ruin the "surprise". Lets just say it's an over used concept. This isn't
to say that this type of mystery / horror hybrid of family secrets
haven't been done well before. It's just that the author's blending of
current events and past comes across a bit too choppy and haphazard. Not to
mention that I am getting tired of the cliff-hanger ending that hints a
sequel. Can't anyone write a single stand-by-itself book any more? I'm
tempted to give it an extra star just for being based in my hometown but
frankly, the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs locales doesn't really
add much. Overall, I found this to be a major disappointment. I'm still
waiting from something worthwhile from the Amazon First program.
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