Anoka

Imagine planning your retirement for years.  You are looking for an isolated, remote lake front property, building your own cabin, spending your golden years enjoying your spouse, your dog, fishing, boating and the great and beautiful outdoors.

This is where the story of Tim and Joan Henry begins.  The couple, both educators, are searching for their dream property.  Tim has just retired, and Joan is finishing up a final year.  They despair finding a nice property that has everything they want at a price they can afford.  Tim finds an ad for a property that sounds exactly right.  It is being sold by a man who's father owned it and passed away.  The son is anxious to get rid of the property, and the price is excellent.  Tim can't believe their good fortune.  Joan, trusting her intuition, thinks something is not quite right........and they soon discover she is correct.  Was the former owner murdered?  Is the local sheriff right in his belief that it was a drug ring, and the fellow was just in wrong place at the wrong time, or is there more to it than that?  What about all the crazy stories Tim hears from local store owner, Ike?  Not to mention a case of arson and mass murder some 50 years ago. 

As Joan and Tim confront odd happenings and scary situations, they begin to wonder if they made the right decision........and if they can survive long enough to figure it all out.

The story is well written.  I loved the descriptions of the property, the lake, the local characters and just the over all feeling of the author's view of Maine.  The characters are well drawn, and extremely likeable.  The plot is great, and moves to a climax that was unexpected, to say the least.  At times, I thought I had it figured out, and the with a bit of foreshadowing, I was partially on track. 

I think anyone who enjoys a good mystery would like this story.  I really enjoyed it, and look forward to reading more from this author.

In the book, "Anoka", Tim and Joan Henry have a dream of building a cabin in a remote area of the woods in northern Maine. They want an isolated spot by a lake where they can spend their summers after retirement. They can't believe their luck when they find the perfect spot along the shore of Lake Pocosumoc. The previous owner had even started building a cabin right before he died. They agree to buy the land though Joan's intuition is telling her that something isn't quite right. Why was the land so cheap and why did the locals keep telling them "good luck"? It wasn't long before they discovered that the previous owner had actually been murdered on the land and the case was still unsolved. Then strange things start happening on their first weekend camping on the property. This leads Tim to search for a murderer as well as a rational explanation for the strange events. What he discovers turns out to be more horrific than anything he could have imagined and leads us to an exciting and scary finish. 

Author Rick Wallace really has a flair for descriptive writing. He makes the locations come alive to the point where the reader can easily form a clear picture in their head. His descriptions of the remote Maine wilderness are also extremely accurate as are the depictions of the supporting characters, such as the general store owner who knows everything going on around the area. As a Maine native, I found this true-to-life interpretation very impressive and tip my hat to Mr. Wallace for not falling into any of the stereotypes typically found in novels located in Maine. 

While the descriptions and characterizations are brilliant, they don't allow the reader to overlook a few things such as the lack of subtlety in foreshadowing and the repetitiousness of some key facts about certain characters. Mr. Wallace tends to remind us a few too many times that Tim needs a rational explanation for everything and that Joan's intuition is always right. I just found it a bit distracting though I did still enjoy the book. I also felt that the very end, the third paragraph on the last page, was unnecessary and very clichéd. Every horror movie uses that technique and I just didn't think it was needed. 

Even with those minor issues, I believe the book has value and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get an idea of what the real Maine looks like and enjoy an intriguing mystery in the process.