Review: PRIMAL, D. A. Serra

• Print Length: 224 pages
  
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1478198036
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Perry Street Pictures, Inc. (May 13, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.Kindle
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00839M7AQ
• Source: review copy supplied by author.
• Read an extract on author site

Synopsis (Amazon)

The writer who made you laugh with Punky Brewster, who made you cry with Just Ask My Children, will now make you cringe with PRIMAL. This story was originally purchased by one of America's most prestigious storytellers James Cameron.

What if the worst happens and you are not a cop, or a spy with weapons training and an iron heart? What if you're a schoolteacher - a mother? In this gritty crime thriller a family vacation takes a vicious turn when a fishing camp is invaded by four armed men. With nothing except her brains, her will, and the element of surprise on her side, Alison must kill or watch her family die. And then - things get worse.

My Take

Alison is just an ordinary Mum, an elementary school teacher in fact, who isn't much of an outdoors person, who would rather sit in an easy chair while her husband and son enjoy boating and fishing. But the Burne family put an end to those plans when they invade the fishing camp where Alison and her family are meant to be spending a few days.

The real tension in PRIMAL begins where most novels would wind the story up. Even so what happens initially to Alison and her family is horrifying enough to evoke Alison's primal instincts to protect her family. But then, perhaps a bit predictably, the horror isn't over, and Alison's primal instincts remain at the surface. Alison's husband and son are making a good recovery from their ordeal, but, just as clearly, Alison is not.

Perhaps, like me, your mind will come up with a scenario for the second half of the novel, but you'll  have to keep reading to see if you are right.

I'm not sure whether "enjoy" is the right word for reading a novel like PRIMAL. One review site I saw had it rated as "R". That seems a rather extreme reaction to me, but it certainly is a novel that requires the reader to make a personal response, to question whether their own primal instincts would surface in the same way under similar provocation.

My rating: 4.5

You might like to also read

• an author interview
• Book review: Buried Under Books

Visit Deborah Serra's website

On the doorstep, waiting to be read

Currently I have many more books in the "waiting to be read" pile than I really have any hope of reading in the near future. Several of them seem to arrive each week at present, and sit on the shelves making me feel guilty. So I have decided to feature some of them, (mainly review copies forwarded to me by publishers), in a more or less weekly feature, so you get to consider whether you want to read them. My postings won't be reviews, just titles with publisher's blurbs. Some I may actually read in the near future and then do a proper review. I'd like to also stress that there is no rhyme or reason to my selections. Please note that this listing is in no way a recommendation for you to read a title, simply a chance for you to assess for yourself whether you would like to read it. I will also try to discover whether the book is available on Kindle, particularly for Australian authors which are not necessarily available overseas.

My focus this week is on some e-books, which I have on my Kindle. Some of these are review copies, others books I have recently purchased.

THE LAST POLICEMAN, Ben H. Winters

Recently the winner of Best Paperback Original in the 2013 MWA Edgar Awards.
Published by Quirk 2012
Available on Amazon

Blurb (Amazon)

What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?

Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.
 
The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.
 
The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

PRIMAL, D.A. Serra

Published 2012

Available on Amazon

Blurb (Amazon)

The writer who made you laugh with Punky Brewster, who made you cry with Just Ask My Children, will now make you cringe with PRIMAL. This story was originally purchased by one of America's most prestigious storytellers James Cameron.

What if the worst happens and you are not a cop, or a spy with weapons training and an iron heart? What if you're a schoolteacher - a mother? In this gritty crime thriller a family vacation takes a vicious turn when a fishing camp is invaded by four armed men. With nothing except her brains, her will, and the element of surprise on her side, Alison must kill or watch her family die. And then - things get worse.

THE CELTIC DAGGER, Jill Paterson (Australian author)

Published 2012
Available on Amazon

Blurb (Amazon)

University professor Alex Wearing is found murdered in his study by the Post Graduate Co-coordinator, Vera Trenbath, a nosey interfering busybody. Assigned to the case is Detective Chief Inspector Alistair Fitzjohn. Fitzjohn is a detective from the old guard, whose methodical, painstaking methods are viewed by some as archaic. His relentless pursuit for the killer zeros in on Alex’s brother, James, as a key suspect in his investigation.

Compelled to clear himself of suspicion, James starts his own investigation and finds himself immersed in a web of intrigue, ultimately uncovering long hidden secrets about his brother’s life that could easily be the very reasons he was murdered.

This gripping tale of murder and suspense winds its way through the university’s hallowed halls to emerge into the beautiful, yet unpredictable, Blue Mountain region where more challenges and obstacles await James in his quest to clear himself of suspicion and uncover the truth about his brother.

I reviewed MURDER AT THE ROCKS

THE GHOST RIDERS OF ORDEBEC, Fred Vargas

Published 2013

Available on Amazon

Blurb (Amazon)

'People will die,' says the panic-stricken woman outside police headquarters. She has been standing in blazing sunshine for more than an hour, and refuses to speak to anyone besides Commissaire Adamsberg.

Her daughter has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. Since the middle ages there have been stories of murderers, rapists, those with serious crimes on their conscience, meeting a grizzly end following a visitation by the riders.

Soon after the young woman's vision a notoriously cruel man disappears, and the local police dismiss the matter as superstition. Although the case is far outside his jurisdiction, Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds.

I've reviewed other novel in this series.