Haven of Swans

This one was a really gruesome serial killer and even the ending is gruesome. I liked the handful of main characters and enjoyed the amnesia part, but honestly nothing else really attracted me. The small-town feel of Rock Harbor was completely missing in this one, where Sheriff Kaleva is nowhere to be seen, no one listens to Bree, and a maniac is running loose murdering women for their faces.

There was almost no follow-up to all the small-town drama left unresolved from the fourth book and this is set several years later with all the same things left unresolved. Bree's sister is nonexistent and Naomi may or may not have ever had a baby—we don't know since not a single bit of Naomi's home life is mentioned. But in the place of small-town charm we have a pride parade out of nowhere in 2007 rural Michigan (hey, I know it isn't the Bible Belt and all, but this is highly unlikely) and women putting their hands all over the place on each other—talk about unnecessary scenes in a “Christian” novel which doesn't forward the suspense a single bit. And the only one who says anything about it is the extremely mixed-up maniac killer?

Come to think of it, while everyone's supposed to be Christian in this little town, I don't recall any pastor mixing in the inner circle of people. Odd.

Anyway, with the extreme violence, the lack of Rock Harbor charm, and the lack of side character follow-up, the book didn't even seem to be in the same series. I'm disappointed.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required. Review is based on a final copy.