The Reckoning is that rarest of books, a trilogy finale that stands on its own merits. It is Book 3 in The Niceville Trilogy yet I found it easy to follow, enjoyable and readable. I have not read either of the first two books in the series.
The Reckoning combines mystery with horror and a strong dash of supernatural fantasy. People in Niceville are dying in horrific, gruesome ways, whole families are murdered, their killer dies cut in half by a shifting stalactite. Thankfully author Carsten Stroud spares us details – no gory scenes or dripping blood – leaving the horror part secondary to the mystery.
Stroud has a gift for bringing disparate elements together and making the whole into a readable novel. Setting and characters are interesting and realistic.
The setting is Niceville, well described and the book includes a map, a ranch several miles out and a Florida beach house. Stroud describes the settings well enough that you understand and follow the actions as characters travel around town and between the town and ranch, and town and beach house.
The main character is Nick Kavanaugh who is responsible to investigate a horrible murder of a Niceville family, and who with his wife Kate is fostering a 14-year old boy, Rainey Teague, brutally kidnapped in a prior book. Rainey acts like a normal 14-year old but Nick can’t quite shake the idea that Rainey is far more than he appears.
One of the most interesting characters is Coker, an ex-cop wanted for murder and robbery. He and his girlfriend are enjoying their beach house under an assumed name when they hear screams on top of an already-raucous party. Reluctantly they call the police who find the usual, drugs, booze and underage girls. The young men decide to revenge themselves and attack Coker. Bad move as he disables and nearly cripples two of them. This spirals into a game of cat and mouse with the mob, the FBI, a smart widow and assorted stupid side kicks.
Characters reference past events from the first two novels but Stroud provides enough back story that we can fill in the blanks without reading the earlier books. He does an excellent job, the “bring them up to speed” parts are transparent, let out as part of the story, not patched in with some obvious add on.
Stroud’s writing style is good, with good pacing, reasonable dialogue, interesting characters. I didn’t care for the events on the ranch or former asylum – nor did they seem particularly germane to this novel. I think Stroud may have included them to tie up loose ends from the first two books.
Overall I recommend this if you enjoy suspense novels or supernatural suspense. The fantasy elements are there to serve the plot and let the supernatural suspense lead the show.
4+ Stars
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