This one caught my attention from the beginning. Gritty and dark. I looked forward to listening to it. Good audio Performer.

One of the best books of the year for me, up until the the ending, which had me wanting to take away three stars. Upon reflection I can't do that because 98% of the book was so incredibly good. Loathed the ending, though, for reasons I can't explain without spoilers. I love McCammon's writing and I wish I could have given this five stars, but I just can't get past the ending. Such a disappointment.

It's nice to see that Robert McCammon STILL has it! I very much enjoyed this novel. There is so much to recommend it. The flow and the pace were remarkably smooth with a building of tension in the second half that had me on the edge of my seat at times. The character of Ginger is such a classic example of femme fatale with emphasis on the fatale! The heroism and the truly humble soul of Curtis was a great counterpart to the psychopaths in the story. And, for anyone who has read Robert McCammon's brilliant masterpiece Boy's Life you'll also be pleased to know that there are two characters from that novel who make a cameo appearance in this novel. You'll have to read the novel to find out whom.

Have I mentioned I love Robert McCammon? Oh wait, only all the time.

It’s 1934 America, the depression era is…. Well, depressing. Racism is at an ugly high and confidence tricksters are looking to up their score and kidnapping seems to be the way forward.

This is a depression era crime thriller at its core but, like a lot of McCammons works, peppers in a little bit of the supernatural to add a little extra to the story.
The fact that probably 2/3 of this book is from the perspective of the villains is also a great shake up to the standard formula.

While I don’t think this is his best work, I did really enjoy it and it’s a relatively short but action packed story. The work gone into making it feel real to the period was great and it definitely felt accurate. The racism was of course uncomfortable to read, but again was sadly real for the period. Knowing that it’s put across as a negative definitely makes it easier.

With a moderately small cast it was able to fully flesh out everyone and add those layers to draw you in. Writing as expected was wonderful and the pacing was perfect too.

Another great McCammon.

It's not that the book isn't well written or that the story is terrible, but rather that the book spent so much time in the mind of someone who was rather awful. He wasn't even interestingly evil -- more impulsive, not very introspective, and -- especially for an experienced conman -- not very good at understanding his compatriots. Now, there was another protagonist -- the hero -- who sits dangerously close to the "Magical Negro" trope. Or maybe he's firmly immersed? Particularly as his real role seems to be walking out of his own life to rescue a random little girl.

I'm assuming that the novel purposely has quite a few nods to King's "The Shining."

McCammon at close to his best!

This was an entertaining but ultimately lackluster effort from McCammon. It felt like he wasn’t sure what story to tell, leaving lots of irrelevant tangents without any pay off. The ending was particularly weak as well. 3 stars for keeping me engaged.