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ellelainey's review
2.0
Book – Unearthed
Author – B.A. Tortuga
Star rating - ★★☆☆☆
No. of Pages – 200
Cover – Gorgeous.
POV – 3rd person, multi-POV
Would I read it again – No.
Genre – Paranormal, Archaeological, Contemporary, Horror, LGBT
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
I was really excited about this one. As soon as I read the blurb and saw the cover, I was hopeful of a really great archaeological story, with some horror elements.
Sadly, it didn't really live up to expectations. Jacob wasn't a likeable or relatable main character. He was brash, selfish, ignorant and crass. I didn't like him as a person, being in his thoughts or the reckless way he reacted to situations that emerged. I truly believe that if Ben had been in Jacob's place, half of the events wouldn't have taken place in the way they did.
All the characters were stereotypical in some way: the Scot with a Mac surname that makes Mac his new nickname (making it confusing and disorientating whenever he's called San); the lazy, selfish archaeologist who is work obsessed but life stupid; the crass mother who is more obsessed with work than interested in her own son, because she's an academic and knows everything. I could go on, but I won't. But, just to end it (as I'm Scottish and it really, really annoyed me) there was this little nugget - “Is it custom in Scotland to pick fights with your family when a friend dies so everyone can be as wrecked as you are?” Not only is this rude, insulting and downright discriminatory, but it's senseless and stupid, too. It's quite obvious that Sam has been through a terrible trauma and Ben acts like it's a personal insult to him that he's not handling it well. Blaming it on his nationality is ridiculous.
There's a lot wrong here with the characterisation, as well as in terms of expressing it. I never felt like I got to know any of the characters in a way that made an impact. I felt like an observer, rather than someone sucked into the story and living it with them.
Ben and Sam were interesting characters, but the stereotypical way they were portrayed rubbed me up the wrong way. Ben was sweet, smart and independent, while Sam began as a smart, caring boyfriend but became a total manic that flip-flopped between ridiculous and downright stupid. It can't even all be blamed on the possession, either, I'm sorry to say.
However, in the midst of their spiral into madness together, a few things really got on my last nerve. Most importantly, there's the incident where Sam first begins acting really suspiciously weird to us readers. There's a line (not dialogue or thought) that says “Christ, he didn't sign up for long-term abuse here.” Now, I get that there's this massive switch flipped in Sam, by we've seen NONE of that until now, so claiming that what he's going through is long-term abuse is downright degrading to domestic violence and makes a mockery of it. That line is only relevant a few chapters ahead, when Sam lashes out violently and Ben physically reacts, restraining and beating him until he's back to being Sam again. THEN you can call it abuse, but don't claim that a personality switch over two days is long-term abuse.
The POV's. Well, there were far too many of them, for a start. We got Jacob, Ben, Sam, Calder, Patrick, Daniel and even Annie's diary entries. Now, I get the importance of the diary entries and with Jacob our main character, that makes sense too. I even get the addition of Sam's POV, since he's the one directly affected by the package delivered to his museum. I could even, at a push, accept Daniel's POV because it shows us the final battle between the Ute people and the creatures. But there is no need for ALL of them. A lot of it was to show events that the MC's weren't privy to, sure. But it just didn't feel natural, it didn't help with the flow or the story and often the POV's were short, useless for progression of the story and merely to add an additional horror aspect that really wasn't needed.
To go back to the horror aspect, I have to admit that it didn't make any sense. There was no explanation for how, why or when any of this stuff had happened. It was just a flood of evil on a contemporary world, with one or two attempts at a flashback to how it had happened. But never any why. Who were these creatures? Why did they call each other Brother but practically salivate over each other? Where did they come from? Did they originate in Italy or was that just where they were caught and held captive, by some religious order of monks? None of these questions were answered. Nor how they'd been awoken, when the monks supposedly took such pains to bury them deep and keep them hidden. You'd imagine that if there were monks involved and they were able to keep these creatures captive, then surely they could have kept the cave hidden, protected or made sure that they couldn't be woken? What stopped that from working? Why were their wings white in Calder's memory, but black in reality? How did he get those memories? Where or who did they come from? Why was Jacob having hallucinations of Annie? How did Calder drift through mirrors, when he was alive, conscious and well? So, so, so many questions that were never answered.
When it comes to the writing, there's a lot left unexplored – as in the questions above – but there's also a lot lacking with continuity. For example, people are sitting one minute (or standing) and are suddenly walking the next (or sitting) with no action of getting up (or sitting down). In the very first sex scene, all of which are confined to Sam and Ben even though they're not the main characters, a thumb appears out of nowhere! I know it sounds ridiculous, but I read the passage and the page 3 times to check and that thing just materialised into the explanations, though it hadn't been there before. In fact, I believed they were having sex until they began talking about how they'd save that for later. What? Talk about confusing.
In terms of language, I was really put off with the excessive swearing and attempts at humour. I didn't find any of the 'humour' funny and it wasn't just because it was dry, sarcastic humour. It just felt false and flat. Combined with a swear word every five seconds, it was a little much to take in and it made the story read stilted and unnatural. There were also instances of lazy writing, which sounds terrible, but it's the best way I can describe it. “The subject changed any faster and he'd get whiplash.” ← This is a lazy way of avoiding having to say something that takes up the exact same amount of words in a way that makes more sense (hint, add 'if' at the beginning and remove 'and'). This kind of writing can pass in 1st person, but never in 3rd where it just reads as lazy and confusing. It stops the eye from flowing towards the next part, because you stop to make sure that you actually read that and didn't miss something.
It didn't help that there was no separation or definition of dreams, which is something I hate with a passion. Nothing turns me off more than an author trying to trick the reader into believing something is real, only to later reveal that it's a dream. It ruins the flow of the story, it makes the reader wonder if the author thinks they're stupid, and it definitely makes me wonder why I spend all my time reading a book that is trying to lie to me.
Finally, I have to say that the Epilogue makes no sense. Whatsoever.
~
Overall, it was slow going. I enjoyed the premise of the story and it could have been fantastic, but it felt a little too much like someone had watched the movie 'The Cave' and come up with their own version, which didn't really come together.
The only characters I liked were side characters that barely got any part in the story and the horror aspect wasn't really anything to shy away from. It was all a little over-exaggerated, incredulous and didn't make any sense. The writing was stilted, disorientating and dragged.
Sadly, there wasn't enough archaeology, the horror was forced and there was no attempt to explain any of the circumstances that took place.
Author – B.A. Tortuga
Star rating - ★★☆☆☆
No. of Pages – 200
Cover – Gorgeous.
POV – 3rd person, multi-POV
Would I read it again – No.
Genre – Paranormal, Archaeological, Contemporary, Horror, LGBT
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
I was really excited about this one. As soon as I read the blurb and saw the cover, I was hopeful of a really great archaeological story, with some horror elements.
Sadly, it didn't really live up to expectations. Jacob wasn't a likeable or relatable main character. He was brash, selfish, ignorant and crass. I didn't like him as a person, being in his thoughts or the reckless way he reacted to situations that emerged. I truly believe that if Ben had been in Jacob's place, half of the events wouldn't have taken place in the way they did.
All the characters were stereotypical in some way: the Scot with a Mac surname that makes Mac his new nickname (making it confusing and disorientating whenever he's called San); the lazy, selfish archaeologist who is work obsessed but life stupid; the crass mother who is more obsessed with work than interested in her own son, because she's an academic and knows everything. I could go on, but I won't. But, just to end it (as I'm Scottish and it really, really annoyed me) there was this little nugget - “Is it custom in Scotland to pick fights with your family when a friend dies so everyone can be as wrecked as you are?” Not only is this rude, insulting and downright discriminatory, but it's senseless and stupid, too. It's quite obvious that Sam has been through a terrible trauma and Ben acts like it's a personal insult to him that he's not handling it well. Blaming it on his nationality is ridiculous.
There's a lot wrong here with the characterisation, as well as in terms of expressing it. I never felt like I got to know any of the characters in a way that made an impact. I felt like an observer, rather than someone sucked into the story and living it with them.
Ben and Sam were interesting characters, but the stereotypical way they were portrayed rubbed me up the wrong way. Ben was sweet, smart and independent, while Sam began as a smart, caring boyfriend but became a total manic that flip-flopped between ridiculous and downright stupid. It can't even all be blamed on the possession, either, I'm sorry to say.
However, in the midst of their spiral into madness together, a few things really got on my last nerve. Most importantly, there's the incident where Sam first begins acting really suspiciously weird to us readers. There's a line (not dialogue or thought) that says “Christ, he didn't sign up for long-term abuse here.” Now, I get that there's this massive switch flipped in Sam, by we've seen NONE of that until now, so claiming that what he's going through is long-term abuse is downright degrading to domestic violence and makes a mockery of it. That line is only relevant a few chapters ahead, when Sam lashes out violently and Ben physically reacts, restraining and beating him until he's back to being Sam again. THEN you can call it abuse, but don't claim that a personality switch over two days is long-term abuse.
The POV's. Well, there were far too many of them, for a start. We got Jacob, Ben, Sam, Calder, Patrick, Daniel and even Annie's diary entries. Now, I get the importance of the diary entries and with Jacob our main character, that makes sense too. I even get the addition of Sam's POV, since he's the one directly affected by the package delivered to his museum. I could even, at a push, accept Daniel's POV because it shows us the final battle between the Ute people and the creatures. But there is no need for ALL of them. A lot of it was to show events that the MC's weren't privy to, sure. But it just didn't feel natural, it didn't help with the flow or the story and often the POV's were short, useless for progression of the story and merely to add an additional horror aspect that really wasn't needed.
To go back to the horror aspect, I have to admit that it didn't make any sense. There was no explanation for how, why or when any of this stuff had happened. It was just a flood of evil on a contemporary world, with one or two attempts at a flashback to how it had happened. But never any why. Who were these creatures? Why did they call each other Brother but practically salivate over each other? Where did they come from? Did they originate in Italy or was that just where they were caught and held captive, by some religious order of monks? None of these questions were answered. Nor how they'd been awoken, when the monks supposedly took such pains to bury them deep and keep them hidden. You'd imagine that if there were monks involved and they were able to keep these creatures captive, then surely they could have kept the cave hidden, protected or made sure that they couldn't be woken? What stopped that from working? Why were their wings white in Calder's memory, but black in reality? How did he get those memories? Where or who did they come from? Why was Jacob having hallucinations of Annie? How did Calder drift through mirrors, when he was alive, conscious and well? So, so, so many questions that were never answered.
When it comes to the writing, there's a lot left unexplored – as in the questions above – but there's also a lot lacking with continuity. For example, people are sitting one minute (or standing) and are suddenly walking the next (or sitting) with no action of getting up (or sitting down). In the very first sex scene, all of which are confined to Sam and Ben even though they're not the main characters, a thumb appears out of nowhere! I know it sounds ridiculous, but I read the passage and the page 3 times to check and that thing just materialised into the explanations, though it hadn't been there before. In fact, I believed they were having sex until they began talking about how they'd save that for later. What? Talk about confusing.
In terms of language, I was really put off with the excessive swearing and attempts at humour. I didn't find any of the 'humour' funny and it wasn't just because it was dry, sarcastic humour. It just felt false and flat. Combined with a swear word every five seconds, it was a little much to take in and it made the story read stilted and unnatural. There were also instances of lazy writing, which sounds terrible, but it's the best way I can describe it. “The subject changed any faster and he'd get whiplash.” ← This is a lazy way of avoiding having to say something that takes up the exact same amount of words in a way that makes more sense (hint, add 'if' at the beginning and remove 'and'). This kind of writing can pass in 1st person, but never in 3rd where it just reads as lazy and confusing. It stops the eye from flowing towards the next part, because you stop to make sure that you actually read that and didn't miss something.
It didn't help that there was no separation or definition of dreams, which is something I hate with a passion. Nothing turns me off more than an author trying to trick the reader into believing something is real, only to later reveal that it's a dream. It ruins the flow of the story, it makes the reader wonder if the author thinks they're stupid, and it definitely makes me wonder why I spend all my time reading a book that is trying to lie to me.
Finally, I have to say that the Epilogue makes no sense. Whatsoever.
Spoiler
If Elena hadn't been pregnant at the start of this, if she'd been impregnated by Carlo after he'd been infected by the 'winged creature' then it would make sense. However, there is NO explanation of her having had contact with the bones, bleeding or being at any way connected to what happened in the cave where her husband died. Which makes it impossible for what is hinted here to be possible.Spoiler
It does suggest there might be another book, but I won't be reading it.~
Overall, it was slow going. I enjoyed the premise of the story and it could have been fantastic, but it felt a little too much like someone had watched the movie 'The Cave' and come up with their own version, which didn't really come together.
The only characters I liked were side characters that barely got any part in the story and the horror aspect wasn't really anything to shy away from. It was all a little over-exaggerated, incredulous and didn't make any sense. The writing was stilted, disorientating and dragged.
Sadly, there wasn't enough archaeology, the horror was forced and there was no attempt to explain any of the circumstances that took place.
the_novel_approach's review
4.0
Dr. Jacob Keys is in the mountains of Wyoming and wants to be left alone. He’s been satisfied with ten years of spelunking, finding artifacts and gemstones, and photographing and recording his findings. Most of his associates are archeologist; one happens to be his mother, Dr. Anne Keys, with whom Jacob has a close but complex relationship. His ex, Caleb Paulsen, has been enticed by Jacob’s mother to join her in Italy—for a discovery that is not only unbelievable but terrifying. When Jacob gets word that his mother and her crew have perished, and Caleb is missing, Jacob heads to Italy as well.
Jacob, needing comfort, contacts his best friend, Ben Walking Turtle, an anthropologist and writer, and member of the Ute tribe. Ben’s partner is Sam “Mac” MacDougal, a Scotsman and the head of the Butterfold Museum in Casper. Jacob lets Ben know he is going to Italy to find out what happen to his mother and Caleb. But little do any of them know that there’s a delivery on its way to the museum, and Sam’s curiosity gets the better of him. With the help of the spirits, and guidance from Ben’s father and brother, and his faithful companions, Piah and Kono, Ben will have to face an evil beyond any other to save the love of his life, and the land. But the spirits always expect a sacrifice.
BA Tortuga has brought us the terror of nightmares in the Unearthed. She’s one of my favorite writers, and usually writes rodeos and sweet love affairs between cowboys, but Unearthed is very different. Her vivid descriptions of the nuraghe and Nuragic Era had me researching more information on both. Native American folklore plays a large part in the story, which thoroughly kept me invested. Her writing made this story even more intriguing, from dream effects to the reality of the evil that was unleashed. Of the four main characters—Jacob, Caleb, Sam and Ben Walking Turtle—Ben was the most intriguing and courageous character.
The ending was a shocker and a heartbreaker for me, but I absolutely enjoyed this book. I hope the author plans to write more books that meld fact and fiction with the paranormal.
Reviewed by Maryann for The Novel Approach Reviews
Jacob, needing comfort, contacts his best friend, Ben Walking Turtle, an anthropologist and writer, and member of the Ute tribe. Ben’s partner is Sam “Mac” MacDougal, a Scotsman and the head of the Butterfold Museum in Casper. Jacob lets Ben know he is going to Italy to find out what happen to his mother and Caleb. But little do any of them know that there’s a delivery on its way to the museum, and Sam’s curiosity gets the better of him. With the help of the spirits, and guidance from Ben’s father and brother, and his faithful companions, Piah and Kono, Ben will have to face an evil beyond any other to save the love of his life, and the land. But the spirits always expect a sacrifice.
BA Tortuga has brought us the terror of nightmares in the Unearthed. She’s one of my favorite writers, and usually writes rodeos and sweet love affairs between cowboys, but Unearthed is very different. Her vivid descriptions of the nuraghe and Nuragic Era had me researching more information on both. Native American folklore plays a large part in the story, which thoroughly kept me invested. Her writing made this story even more intriguing, from dream effects to the reality of the evil that was unleashed. Of the four main characters—Jacob, Caleb, Sam and Ben Walking Turtle—Ben was the most intriguing and courageous character.
The ending was a shocker and a heartbreaker for me, but I absolutely enjoyed this book. I hope the author plans to write more books that meld fact and fiction with the paranormal.
Reviewed by Maryann for The Novel Approach Reviews
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