{"id":2899,"date":"2011-07-14T00:06:44","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T04:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=2899"},"modified":"2011-07-05T00:17:51","modified_gmt":"2011-07-05T04:17:51","slug":"draw-the-dark-by-isla-j-bick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=2899","title":{"rendered":"Draw the Dark by Isla J. Bick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Title: Draw the Dark<\/em>
\nAuthor: Isla J. Bick
\n<\/a>Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
\n<\/a>Source: ARC from NetGalley<\/a><\/p>\n

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“The things I draw: They tend to die.”<\/p>\n

There are things the people of Winter, Wisconsin, would rather forget.\u00c2\u00a0The year the Nazis came to town, for one. That fire, for another.\u00c2\u00a0 But what they’d really like to forget is Christian Cage.<\/p>\n

Seventeen-year-old Christian’s parents disappeared when he was a little boy.\u00c2\u00a0 Ever since, he’s drawn obsessively: his mother’s face…her eyes…and what he calls “the sideways place,” where he says\u00c2\u00a0his parents are trapped.\u00c2\u00a0 Christian figures if he can just see through his mother’s eyes, maybe he can get there somehow\u00c2\u00a0and save them.<\/p>\n

But Christian also draws other things.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Ugly things.\u00c2\u00a0 Evil things.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Dark things.\u00c2\u00a0 Things like\u00c2\u00a0other people’s fears and nightmares.\u00c2\u00a0 Their pasts.\u00c2\u00a0 Their destiny.<\/p>\n

There’s one more thing the people of Winter would like to forget: murder.<\/p>\n

But\u00c2\u00a0Winter won’t be able to forget the truth,\u00c2\u00a0no matter how hard it tries.\u00c2\u00a0 Not as long as Christian draws the dark…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Draw the Dark <\/em>was a pleasant surprise.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s dark in a delightfully creepy way.\u00c2\u00a0 Bad things happened in Winter before Christian was born and he has the opportunity to set them right.\u00c2\u00a0 The plot threads include self-discovery, a mystery and high school horror.\u00c2\u00a0 I enjoyed the way Bick combined the subplots with the main plot.<\/p>\n

It’s nice to see a teenage protagonist who doesn’t have everything figured out.\u00c2\u00a0 He wants friends but doesn’t have them.\u00c2\u00a0 When he finally gets one it’s partly because she points out he can’t recognize when someone is being friendly towards him.<\/p>\n

I’ve read several books with World War II as the setting and this was the first time I’d heard about POW Camps in the U.S. with German soldiers.\u00c2\u00a0 It was nice to have a new element added to my knowledge of the war.<\/p>\n

About the Author<\/span>
\nIlsa J. Bick is an award-winning science fiction author primarily known for her Star Trek novels and short stories. Her first Star Trek novel, Well of Souls<\/em>, became a 2003 Barnes & Noble bestseller. In addition, she has written several stories, novellas, and novels for the BattleTech and MechWarrior: Dark Age franchises. She has also published a number of short stories in various magazines, anthologies and other online venues. “The Key,” a supernatural murder-mystery about the Holocaust and reincarnation, was named “distinguished” in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2005, and a novella-length sequel is forthcoming. Before she became a successful author, Bick was a child\/adolescent and forensic psychiatrist. She holds a degree in literature and film studies, and has presented and written widely on applied psychoanalysis and film.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Title: Draw the Dark Author: Isla J. Bick Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab Source: ARC from NetGalley “The things I draw: They tend to die.” There are things the people of Winter, Wisconsin, would rather forget.\u00c2\u00a0The year the Nazis came to town, for one. That fire, for another.\u00c2\u00a0 But what they’d really like to forget is Christian… Continue reading Draw the Dark by Isla J. Bick<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[400,401],"class_list":["post-2899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-draw-the-dark","tag-ilsa-j-bick","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t