The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Published by Imajin Books

There are many legends about the Nahanni River in the Northwest Territory, many of them featuring headless corpses and skeletons, and disappearances, a river of ghosts. Cheryl Kaye Tardif has placed her paranormal techno-thriller in this beautiful and awesome part of northern Canada. I love how she describes everything so well that each scene is vividly implanted in the reader's mind, so much so that one can almost hear the falls, the rapids, and boiling currents of the river, the rustling of the leaves in the wind. This descriptive mode is captured throughout the book, even through the horrors to be found when Del, with a team and guide, searches for her father. He was believed dead for several years, after disappearing in the Nahanni area, but now Del has reason to believe he is alive.

It all begins when an elderly man shows up in her classroom with a message and a journal. She recognizes the message as something her father always said, and finally discovers that she has known this man, he is a friend of her father's and he also disappeared from that ill-fated group of men. He appears much older than he should, and very ill, but he says her father is alive and gives her a journal with instructions to "follow" her heart. He is taken away to a hospital where he is rapidly aging and dying. Del turns to the journal and discovers it has been written in some kind of code. There also seems to be a map of some sort. She knows she will do anything to find her father, and her ex-boyfriend is ready to assemble a search team and make the arrangements.

What a mixed bunch of characters make up the team! Del (Delila) Hawthorne is a Professor of Anthropology and her young assistant Peter insists on going along. Jake, who she meets first at the hospital and again at Bio-Tec where her father had worked, and TJ, her ex-boyfriend. Peter brings Miki, who is a math savant and may be able to break the code, and Jake brings his assistant, the fiery and fiercely jealous Italian, Francesca. A lone vacationing computer programmer, Gary, is stranded when his wilderness party doesn't show up, and Hawk, the Dene guide adds him to their party.

It doesn't take long for problems to arise, both natural and man-made. Who is trying to sabotage their trip? When Del's medication for MS disappears, who would have taken it? Was it the feisty Francesca? A romantic connection seems to be building between Del and Jake. Could Gary be someone other than who he supposedly is? Will finding the secret river give them answers, or more questions? The river is very hazardous as they near the falls, but Miki and Del believe they have to pass this spot to arrive at what they think will be the location to find the secret river. Hawk does not believe there is a secret river, but he does recognize what the landmarks are on the map. As they portage up the falls, they think the worst must be over, but will soon rethink that.

A tense, strange trip to destiny lies ahead. Not just their destiny, but the destiny of the human race. Can they stop the inevitable? Layers of horror lead to more danger for the team. I won't tell. This book is character- and action-driven, terrifying, and yet tender at times even in its intensity. Cheryl has a knack for writing the gamut of human emotion, and in this case even inhuman. A good thriller, graphic in some places, but deftly written. A real nail-biter.

Sidetracks by Valerie Connelly

 Reviewed for Review the Book
Publisher:  Nightengale Press

Take a wild ride on the railroad to oblivion or to a better life with "sidetracks" that will define you and your outcome. What thought would go through your head while sitting in this darkened train? On one hand we have a nondescript middle-aged woman who has just fallen in the tub and cracked her skull, as an equally ordinary delivery man arrives to deliver flowers, notes water coming down the stairs and rushes to her aid, pulling her out of the tub. Peyton was able to quickly punch in to 9-1-1. But while he is trying to save her life, someone else has slipped in unnoticed, and fires shots at both before Hannah's dog attacks the assailant and is subsequently killed. A very timely visit by Lynn Hargrove, a lawyer friend of Hannah, having a gut feeling that all was not well with her friend, results in again alerting the police and ambulance for both victims, who arrive just in time.

Our two protagonists, Hannah and Peyton, next recognize, if recognize can be considered the correct word, that they appear to be riding on a train to an unknown destination, though they do not "see" each other yet. 

Hannah is the first to become aware of the train and finds herself locked in a probable stateroom alone. But wait!  welcoming her, although she seems to be nothing more than a disembodied voice, and explaining to her what has happened to her and that she will be accompanied by various "Agents" who will assist her to relive important formative parts of her life. What she learns from these times of her life will eventually help her to make choices. There will be 4 Agents along the way. If she fails she will either go back to her life on the track she is on, possibly unable to function, end her life, or carry on with her life changed and going in a new direction.  The final decision will depend on the "Processor".

Although the theme has been sometimes used in various ways in the past, Valerie Connelly has written this book as fresh, fascinating, all-encompassing and surprising, the passages and sidetracks are thought-provoking, and the end result may bring surprises. The journey and trials in this book are personal and the reader can learn a lot from them.

Being that this is essentially a murder mystery, there are many chapters interspersed with what is happening in the background of their lives during this search within themselves. There is a lot going on in all directions, with Lynn and Detective O'Riley, the cop detective who responded to the calls, in a race against time to find the attempted murderer or murderers while bodies begin to pile up. There is plenty to keep the murder-mystery fan guessing,

Back on the train, both Hannah and Peyton have discovered each other, as he has been assisted by his own Agents, and find themselves in and out of their past, first separately and in later episodes, sometimes together. The purpose of the trip is to determine if there was a "sidetrack', a time when they might have changed direction in their lives and this must play out to its final result.  Hannah has chosen a risk she had always wondered if she should have taken, and Peyton has chosen a decision of wealth found where he might have changed his life around. These sidetracks are played out for them to a certain point and they are returned to the train once again.

While they are taking these journeys of self, Lynn and Detective O'Riley are trying to make progress in the case. There are many sidetracks here, too, or perhaps more "red herrings"; just who was the intended victim and why are more people being killed. What exactly is going on in this case, are they related or separate?

Meanwhile, back on the train, there are more stops to be made, but the Agents are now showing them some definitely undesirable outcomes in this imaginary route they have taken.  This being the last trip, they will face a Tribunal, a decision on their fates will be decided by what they have learned and what track they will want to take. A decision that will be made by the "Processor" after hearing what they have learned.

This book took my attention right from the start.  The theme is fascinating in its growth and direction, the murder mystery is well-written, and I could hardly wait to see the final conclusion. I found myself rooting for this or that to happen, there are surprises, happy times, disturbing times, and confusing times, all wrapped up in a neat little bundle. While reading about the sidetracks, I found myself thinking along those lines, but decided I took the right track after all. Now to live up to it. I feel an affinity with the four main characters in the book, a sign of an excellent writer.