Review: DeLuca's Latest
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 30, 2013
I think, perhaps, one has to be in a certain frame of mind to fully enjoy a story by Sandy DeLuca.  I have read several short stories and novels by her over the last eighteen months or so, and while I can clearly recognize that all the parts of an excellent story are present (mood, characters, mystery, horror, etc.), for some reason they never come together quite right for me.  I don't fault Ms. DeLuca for this, I think we are just operating on slightly different wavelengths.That said, Hell's Door was certainly a fun little story.  It's a dark police story, straddling the line between horror and thriller.  A serial killer is preying on prostitutes (at least, initially) in Providence.  In a nice change of pace (at least, to me, though admittedly I'm not a huge reader of crime thrillers) the reader is offered glimpses into the mind and past of the serial killer.  The police investigating the murders have a very clear idea of who they thing is responsible, they just aren't able to find any hard evidence.  There are hints about the truth throughout, but there are several pieces of information that fog things up.  The big reveal, I feel, was well done.The actual ending, though, left a bit to be desired.  It ended in largely the same way that every Sandy DeLuca story I've read ends.  I can't claim to have read everything she's written, but what I have read has always ended in the same general manner.  That's not to say it's a bad ending, but it's gotten to the point that when I pick up a novella by DeLuca, I already have a pretty good idea about how things will end, even if the specifics are still a bit fuzzy.