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julie_embleton's review
5.0
Welcome to Haven, a town ruled by white supremacists and abandoned by civility, where residents live in fear of their brutal leader, Campbell Madison. Amongst the residents a small group fight for the town’s freedom, striving to rid it of Madison’s scourge. Right from the first page Gagnier’s Dead’s Haven drew me in, despite my reluctance to be absorbed into the brutal, raw world he has crafted. This book got right under my skin; the characters, the sense of hopelessness within the town, the faint promise of redemption . . . Gagnier’s writing is superb. Punchy dialogue and masterful descriptions give the story a cinematic feel. The cast of characters are in your face from the start, so intuitively forming within the plot it’s hard to believe they’re fictional. Dead’s Haven begins as an almost post-apocolyptic tale, the arrival of Tim Hawkins, who speaks to the ghost of his dead wife, just a taste of the paranormal twist to come, while Samantha Wallace shines as the hardened, capable woman determined to end Madison.
This is the first book by Gagnier I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and it won’t be the last. While Dead’s Haven is book 4 in the Olivia & Hale series (which I’ll be adding to my library) it can be read as a standalone. This is a fantastic work of fiction, with an unexpected paranormal twist. Prepare to flip back to the start when you reach the last page just to enjoy it once more.
This is the first book by Gagnier I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and it won’t be the last. While Dead’s Haven is book 4 in the Olivia & Hale series (which I’ll be adding to my library) it can be read as a standalone. This is a fantastic work of fiction, with an unexpected paranormal twist. Prepare to flip back to the start when you reach the last page just to enjoy it once more.
kristianamr's review
5.0
Although you could consider Dead’s Haven from Nicholas Gagnier a stand alone novel, I personally believe reading at least Founding Fathers beforehand is the best way to approach reading Dead’s Haven. Having read Leonard the Liar, Founding Fathers and Mercy Road, the appearance of Alex Halford, Samantha Wallace, Rupert Smith, Olivia, Hale with long hair and rose tinted glasses and the mention of a girl named Grace, all come together in an intricate masterpiece of masterful storytelling and world building.
There is very little I can say which I haven’t said before about Gagnier’s writing. His characters lead and blossom, and his expert handling of multiple narratives in Dead’s Haven is reminiscent of Founding Fathers. The pace is new for Gagnier; it begins in media res, it’s punchy and tense. You follow the quiet, tentative footsteps of the protagonists and hope a twig does not crack beneath your feet either.
There is little I can say without spoiling a story which is the final step before Gagnier’s crescendo; the collision of humanity, morality and the Shroud (what we humans call purgatory, as Olivia tells Tim). All I can say is, Samantha Wallace stuns in this novel, more so than she did in Founding Fathers. In my head, I know what she looks like and who she is. She inspires me despite being paper and words. She finds peace in this story and I was overjoyed. If this is goodbye to her character, Gagnier did her justice. Her arc is brutal but beautiful.
There is little I can say, other than ‘Read it!’
There is very little I can say which I haven’t said before about Gagnier’s writing. His characters lead and blossom, and his expert handling of multiple narratives in Dead’s Haven is reminiscent of Founding Fathers. The pace is new for Gagnier; it begins in media res, it’s punchy and tense. You follow the quiet, tentative footsteps of the protagonists and hope a twig does not crack beneath your feet either.
There is little I can say without spoiling a story which is the final step before Gagnier’s crescendo; the collision of humanity, morality and the Shroud (what we humans call purgatory, as Olivia tells Tim). All I can say is, Samantha Wallace stuns in this novel, more so than she did in Founding Fathers. In my head, I know what she looks like and who she is. She inspires me despite being paper and words. She finds peace in this story and I was overjoyed. If this is goodbye to her character, Gagnier did her justice. Her arc is brutal but beautiful.
There is little I can say, other than ‘Read it!’
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