A highly stylized novel that is not to be missed.
Unable to move past the earth-shattering events in Astoria, Charlie West exists as a prisoner of his extraordinary circumstances. Plagued with guilt, grief, pain, and unrelenting nightmares, Charlie keeps mostly to himself and lives quietly among Portland’s vulnerable homeless population. And it’s no wonder Charlie suffers from horrific nightmares and waking visions. The things he knows, the things he’s experienced, the things he’s seen with his own eyes are more chilling than one man’s imagination could possibly conjure. So he walks the streets in a terrified stupor, unable to settle his mind or body in any meaningful way. On the other side of the coin is detective Cait Lane, an ambitious woman trying to prove her worth to her senior partner and to herself. One grisly homicide scene turns into two, then three, but the clues are slow to add up to much of anything. That is, until Cait meets Charlie. Charlie is reluctant to share what he knows, but he can’t keep it all bottled up, either. People are disappearing in his community and the shadowy organization behind the heartless crimes will never stop until they achieve their solemn mission. The energy among the city’s populace is shifting, and a foreboding feeling weighs heavily on the people. Charlie is losing himself, the crimes are getting personal, and Cait is running out of time if there’s any hope of avoiding what’s about to be unleashed.
An absolutely perfect continuation in The Northwest Trilogy series, The Dreams in the Pearl House maintains all the goosebumps and unearthliness of the first installment, but adds in a gritty layer of hard-boiled detective work to up the ante. More attention is given to The Order and their twisted hierarchy, giving readers a front-row seat to the carnage and depravity. Randall’s artsy, literary style deftly blurs genre lines and forges a bold new path. Each chapter alternates between the players in this suspenseful drama, but the narrative voice throws off a distinctive energy as the focus shifts, keeping readers intimately engaged and completely in sync as events occur. From the stark, symbolic cover to the nightmarish characters inhabiting all the dark corners, the author takes advantage of every opportunity to paint a ghastly picture of a man taunted by his own dreadful destiny and the powerful forces pulling the strings. If you enjoy a slow-burn horror thriller that authentically showcases the motivations and fears that have the power to divide or unite all of us, The Dreams in the Pearl House is a highly stylized novel that is not to be missed.
