When the Bones Sing
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Average rating4.5
For fans of House of Hollow and She Is a Haunting.
The past three years have been tough for Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, a small town quietly tucked away in the Ozark mountains. More than two dozen people have disappeared on the local hiking trails; there one moment, gone the next, not a trace left behind, until their buried bodies are discovered.
17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up.
Some of the old-timers believe that it’s the monstrous Ozarks howler snatching people off the Aux Arc Trail. Well Dovie doesn’t believe in the howler, and she doesn’t believe her best friend Lo when he tells her he is being haunted by dark shadows. All she believes in is her talent that guides the local sheriff to the bones when they begin their song, then reuniting the dead with their families to give them some peace.
Lo doesn’t know peace, though. The shadows follow him everywhere. He soon learns they’re the murdered hikers and they want answers. But the truth of their deaths isn’t buried with their bones; it’s hidden somewhere deep in the hills. And Lo and Dovie must unearth it before anyone else is killed.
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Simply put this book was the perfect blend of southern small town supernatural thriller and New / Young Adult fiction with a dawning of that moment when best friends begin to examine and explore their evolving feelings as they turn to a deeper romantic love. Taken together this, for me, is the very definition of great gothic Storytelling!
With writing so vivid and sensory that I could literally feel the heat and smell the sweet scent of the Ozark Mountains blended with the unique scent of Lucifer's Creek, this book transported me to the hills and streets of small town Arkansas. I felt as if I met all the strange and curious people who lived the holding secrets and sorrows so close to themselves that left their decisions and action creating ghosts that lived within every shadow. Add to this the knowledge of Mountain Magic, Ozark Legends and Southern Lore that Nana and Granny brought to the page and I was entranced by a magical world that kept me wondering how man and myth would merge in Dovie and Lowain world to create the mystery that we were trying solve, and yes I mean we because I was with Dovie at every turn. This story was perfectly paced with tension and suspicion, I found myself racing with Dovie and Lo to find out who was snatching the hikers from the trail and spinning theories on their motivation. With great twists and turns, surprises and red herrings, this was the Nancy Drew style book my 16 year old self always wanted because it was real, current, imaginatively written and filled with all the longing, sweet kisses and pulse pounding emotions to fill any big screen . Told completely from Dovie's perspective, this narrative design not only increased tension but also brought a wonderful sense of romance and a touch of romantic rivalry between Lo and a surprise secondary character.
I cannot think a more perfect read for anyone, Young, New or Mature Adult because every character, primary and seconday, is well rounded, complex, and vital to this story....even the setting itself that is as vital to When The Bones Sing and even speaks with a melodic voice to the characters and readers alike.
This is my first book by Ginny Myers Rain and it will not my last.
