Review: The Remains by Vincent Zandri

About the Author: Vincent Zandri is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include the bestselling, Moonlight Falls,Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.

Summary: Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape.

Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.

Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year.

But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.

My Thoughts: The book grabbed a hold of me right away. The plot was compelling, and the mystery behind what happened 30 years ago and what was happening in the present time kept me interested. I liked that the chapters were pretty short, containing the action in small bites.

What I didn’t like is less than what I did, but I cannot ignore it. The main thing (a big pet peeve of mine) is that there were numerous grammatical errors. Specifics: inappropriate use of apostrophes to denote plural; use of the wrong word (“site” instead of “sight,” “where’s” instead of “wears”; missing articles (the, a, an, etc.); misuse of plurals (parent’s house instead of parents’ house, for one example). As one with editing experience, this is very hard to ignore while reading. It’s downright frustrating, and EXTREMELY distracting. Rather than focusing entirely on the action, I’m caught fuming over mistakes that, frankly, shouldn’t be part of a finished, published work. These are errors that should NOT make it past the editing process. I understand that writers don’t always get it right, and that’s fine. They don’t have to. But, the editors SHOULD be able to fix any such errors. No one editor is perfect, and – yes – some of grammar and such is more preference than hard-and-fast rules. But, basic things like use of incorrect words aren’t subjective in any way. In my opinion, things like this should NOT find their way into a finished, published work. If this were an electronic product, people would return them for manufacturing defects. Unfortunately, no one seems to care as strongly about the quality of a written product.

With that said, the story itself is a good one. It’s got interesting plot points, hidden history, and creepy coincidences – or are they coincidences? You decide! I liked how Rebecca’s history was revealed in small chunks throughout the story. I never felt like I was being strung along. With that said, I did feel the final reveal a bit anticlimactic. This story holds lots of promise, but I felt it slightly disappointing. The first part – The City – really had me going, but the second part – The Woods – lost me. I don’t mean I wasn’t able to follow the plot. I followed it fine. It just didn’t read as well as the first part. I did, however, love the very last chapter. It was great closure to the story.

Overall, if I am able to overlook the grammar problems throughout, this was an enjoyable read that held my interest and compelled me to stay up late reading. It was a good enough plot that I’m definitely going to look for more of Zandri’s books. Will I read this again? Probably not – at least not without a red pen in hand!

My Rating: 3 stars

Source: Received as part of a blog tour promotion on Pump Up Your Book. (You can read the first chapter and view the book trailer HERE.)

Read It: Get your own copy HERE. (This is an Amazon link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission. Your support is appreciated!)

FTC Disclosure: All items reviewed were either obtained by me for my own enjoyment or sent (from the author, publisher, publicist, via tour sites, etc.) in exchange for an honest review. I receive no monetary compensation for my posts. All opinions expressed are my own.

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