Black Valley

Rating:
Summary: Amateur Writing Effort
Review: I have not read Jim Brown's previous effort (24/7)...perhaps if I had I would not have spent good money on this book. Black Valley is so full of grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, context errors and malapropisms (example: "collective conscience" instead of "collective conscious") that I found the book nearly impossible to read. How anyone could compare Jim Brown to Dean Koontz is beyond me. Koontz is a master of the language, whereas Brown could benefit from a remedial English class. If you are even halfway literate, you will not enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely fantastic book--a classic page turner!
Review: Jim Brown's first novel 24/7 impressed the heck out of me, so I was excited to see that his second book, Black Valley, was now available. I went out, bought a copy, and began reading. Fortunately, this happened on a day when I didn't have much on my agenda, because once I started Black Valley I could not put it down. Having to abandon Black Valley midway, even for a few hours, would have been hard to do!

If you like mysteries, this book is definitely for you--Jim Brown has woven an intriguing tale that mystery lovers will enjoy trying to solve (although Black Valley has so many fun twists and turns I didn't even come close to guessing any of its secrets!) If you love horror, Black Valley will not disappoint you--Jim Brown's imagination rivals that of Stephen King. If you love science fiction, you are definitely in luck as Black Valley is filled with fascinating explanations and plots. If you like suspense, then all I can say is hang on and buckle your seat belt, as this book will literally make your pulse pound--I see from reading other reviews that I am not the only one who had such a reaction while reading this incredible book.

I won't bother going into the plot, as it has already been well-described up above, but I do want to comment on the villain, Whitey Dobbs. Dobbs is easily one of the most evil and creepy bad guys I have ever encountered in literature, and I loved every heebie-jeebie filled minute of him. Part "Killer Bob" from Twin Peaks, part "the Ghost" from Harlan Coben's novel "Gone for Good" and part Freddy Krueger, Dobbs is still a unique and original villain that may just haunt you for days long after the book is finished.

I highly recommend giving Black Valley a try--you won't be disappointed! And I cannot wait for Mr. Brown's third novel--please keep them coming!

Rating:
Summary: A Superb Sophomore Effort from Jim Brown
Review: There are for readers few pleasures that surpass picking up a novel and having one's expectations, however high they may be, simultaneously exceeded and turned upside down. 2003 has been a good year for such an experience, what with SMALL TOWN by Lawrence Block and SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane, among others. It is, however, an unexpected and welcome event to have a writer accomplish such a feat with a sophomore effort. This is precisely what Jim Brown has done with BLACK VALLEY.

BLACK VALLEY opens with what could be called a "locked coffin" mystery --- what else do you call it when you lock someone in a coffin, bury them, unearth the coffin a few hours later and find it empty? The story then picks up 22 years later, as things in Black Valley, Oregon begin to rapidly and inexplicably reach FUBAR status. The action seems to gradually center on five people: John Evans, the town sheriff; Nathan Perkins, the mayor; Clyde Watkins, the area's congressman; Mason Evans, the founder of a successful construction company and John's cousin; and Dean Truman, self-effacing genius, Nobel-prize winner, and professor at the local college. The five were boyhood friends, and all except Truman were involved 22 years before in the prank burial of a dangerous misfit named Whitey Dobbs, a burial that went suddenly and horribly wrong.

Now Whitey Dobbs, missing from the casket and Black Valley for 22 years, suddenly reappears, as inexplicable events begin to occur in and around the town. Truman holds to his core belief that there are no phenomena that cannot be explained scientifically. His belief is shaken, however, when occurrences in and around the town become more mysterious, and more and more deadly. Truman slowly realizes that he may hold the key not only to the reappearance of Dobbs, but also to the deadly events that are occurring --- and that he may well be responsible for them. And the key to everything may partly lie in the secret that Truman has kept for decades, the secret that has prevented him from leaving BLACK VALLEY.

BLACK VALLEY is a genre-blurring book, mixing equal parts suspense, mystery, horror, and a few other things as well, to create a novel that from beginning to end is impossible to predict or anticipate and that surprises from first page to last. Brown, who created the expectation of more great things with 24/7, his first novel, meets that expectation and surpasses it. There is no doubt he will continue to do so: books as good as BLACK VALLEY don't come along by accident. Highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub