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A review by mikekaz
Fear by Ronald Kelly
4.0
This was my first novel by Ronald Kelly and I liked it. The story was solid and enjoyable with good characters that were very easy to picture and imagine.
The story focuses on Jeb Sweeny, a ten-year-old boy who is forced to take adult actions in order to solve the problems in his life. His father is shell-shocked and doesn't remember who he is. His grandma is dying of cancer. And Jeb's crush turn girlfriend has been kidnapped by a snake-dog creature that nearly embodies evil. Jeb starts on a journey to solve his problems by going into the heart of Fear County and facing any demons he finds along the way.
As I mentioned, one of the things that I really like about the story was the great characters. I could very easily picture them in my mind. This was probably helped along because I listened to the audiobook and J. Rodney Turner did a great job of narrating the tale. His voice for each character helped make them clear in my mind. On the other hand, one of the things that got repetitive was the different creatures or weird being that the characters kept running into on their journey. As they were on their quest for the cures to solve Jeb's problems, they would run into one batch of weirdness after another. It was repetitive but at the same time it wasn't a big deal. If the journey had been easier or shorter, it would have seemed too easy. From a narrative perspective, it did turn into a "what problem are they going to run into next?" type of thing. Switching back to the positive, the story was set shortly after World War II. I've been so used to stories being set in the 80s lately that this was a welcome change. And a very believable one. Kelly made the feel of the 40s in Tennessee come across easily in the story. Or at least what I would believe it would be like living in Tennessee in the 1940s. Big picture, the story is good, enjoyable, and something I would recommend. It might be a tad predictable at times but that doesn't mean you should avoid it. Because you'll regret it if you do.
The story focuses on Jeb Sweeny, a ten-year-old boy who is forced to take adult actions in order to solve the problems in his life. His father is shell-shocked and doesn't remember who he is. His grandma is dying of cancer. And Jeb's crush turn girlfriend has been kidnapped by a snake-dog creature that nearly embodies evil. Jeb starts on a journey to solve his problems by going into the heart of Fear County and facing any demons he finds along the way.
As I mentioned, one of the things that I really like about the story was the great characters. I could very easily picture them in my mind. This was probably helped along because I listened to the audiobook and J. Rodney Turner did a great job of narrating the tale. His voice for each character helped make them clear in my mind. On the other hand, one of the things that got repetitive was the different creatures or weird being that the characters kept running into on their journey. As they were on their quest for the cures to solve Jeb's problems, they would run into one batch of weirdness after another. It was repetitive but at the same time it wasn't a big deal. If the journey had been easier or shorter, it would have seemed too easy. From a narrative perspective, it did turn into a "what problem are they going to run into next?" type of thing. Switching back to the positive, the story was set shortly after World War II. I've been so used to stories being set in the 80s lately that this was a welcome change. And a very believable one. Kelly made the feel of the 40s in Tennessee come across easily in the story. Or at least what I would believe it would be like living in Tennessee in the 1940s. Big picture, the story is good, enjoyable, and something I would recommend. It might be a tad predictable at times but that doesn't mean you should avoid it. Because you'll regret it if you do.