Review: "Loon" Hits the Mark
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 4, 2012
Molly Greene's debut novel reveals not only that she's a talented writer and gifted storyteller (possession of one trait doesn't necessarily imply possession of the other), but also that she takes the professional approach when it comes to presenting her work. The formatting and editing are meticulous: about the most glaring error I discovered was the misspelling "dovecoat" (a structure for housing pigeons; "dovecote" is correct). I was able to read "Mark of the Loon" without distraction. That's a huge plus."Loon" is set against a real-estate backdrop that crackles with authenticity--natural enough, since that's what Ms. Greene does when she's not busy writing. The details help to keep the reader comfortable in a real world where unreal things are happening. This too makes the story easy to read. The mystery's a good one, and there were enough twists at the end to catch me out more than once.My quibbles are few, and your mileage may well vary. Though [protagonist/heroine] Madison Boone's three friends all helped out to one extent or another, I think the book would have been improved by having only one friend in the picture (the irrepressible Genevieve, about whom the author says we'll hear more in due course). The others added little to the tale; their "jobs" could have been delegated. Also, there were a LOT of mysterious things going on, but nothing came clear until the last few chapters, which led to a rushed conclusion as all the plates came clattering down at once. I would have preferred to see some of the side issues cleared up in advance.[We originally gave MARK OF THE LOON 4 stars. Under the scoring system we now have in place, we're giving 5 out of 5 for technical merit, and 4 out of 5 for artistic impression. That rounds up to a 5, and we are happy to revise the score accordingly.]All in all, Molly's done a great job with "Mark of the Loon." Give it a look, and I think you'll agree!