Helpful Score: 3
In one word? Creepy. The hair on my arms would regularly stand on end reading this book, but it's very well written, in no way a "popular fiction" novel. This is good literature mixed with a suspenseful, puzzling, (well, creepy again) plot.
I felt compelled to read this novel without stopping on a few occasions. I lived with these characters for three days and it was quite an experience. Reminded me a bit of Jonathan Carroll, maybe some Edgar Allen Poe.
Dim and foreboding, the book immediately gets its claws into you. It's a bit fantastical yet believable with the ol' suspension of disbelief. I can honestly say this story scared me. Prepare to be stunned, hit by a few waves, you won't forget this one.
I felt compelled to read this novel without stopping on a few occasions. I lived with these characters for three days and it was quite an experience. Reminded me a bit of Jonathan Carroll, maybe some Edgar Allen Poe.
Dim and foreboding, the book immediately gets its claws into you. It's a bit fantastical yet believable with the ol' suspension of disbelief. I can honestly say this story scared me. Prepare to be stunned, hit by a few waves, you won't forget this one.
Helpful Score: 2
from armchairinterviews.com
Justin Evans' debut novel, A Good and Happy Child, is an intelligent and highly sophisticated psychological thriller.
George Davies has a problem--he cannot bring himself to touch or interact with his newborn son. To salvage his relationship with his confused and frightened wife, George goes to therapy. During these therapy sessions, George confesses to his doctor he has been in therapy before; however, when asked why he had been in treatment, George seems unable--or unwilling--to answer. Giving George a notebook, the doctor suggests he write as much as he can remember about his past problems.
What emerges in George's notebooks is a nightmarish cocktail of childhood fear, loneliness, and evil. In them, George writes that his father died when he was eleven, and that three months later, George became possessed with a demon, the same demon that had caused his father's death.
As the adult George remembers and writes about the terror and uncertainty his eleven-year-old self faced, his grip on the present begins to slip, threatening to push him back into a past he has, until now, successfully smothered.
The novel's narrative switches between the older George, who speaks directly to his therapist in the book, and George's notebooks, in which he records the events and experiences of the younger George struggling to come to terms with his belief that he has been possessed by evil.
A Good and Happy Child is a gem of a novel: its writing is quiet and assured, maintaining throughout a deceptive calmness that paradoxically magnifies the horrific memories George calmly records in his notebooks. Without relying on the physical or sexual violence that many thrillers use to ratchet up suspense, A Good and Happy Child manages to terrify using only the terrain of the mind--sometimes the most frightening place of all.
Armchair Interviews says: This is an intelligent psychological thriller that crescendos to a startling conclusion, and will leave you sleeping with the lights on.
Justin Evans' debut novel, A Good and Happy Child, is an intelligent and highly sophisticated psychological thriller.
George Davies has a problem--he cannot bring himself to touch or interact with his newborn son. To salvage his relationship with his confused and frightened wife, George goes to therapy. During these therapy sessions, George confesses to his doctor he has been in therapy before; however, when asked why he had been in treatment, George seems unable--or unwilling--to answer. Giving George a notebook, the doctor suggests he write as much as he can remember about his past problems.
What emerges in George's notebooks is a nightmarish cocktail of childhood fear, loneliness, and evil. In them, George writes that his father died when he was eleven, and that three months later, George became possessed with a demon, the same demon that had caused his father's death.
As the adult George remembers and writes about the terror and uncertainty his eleven-year-old self faced, his grip on the present begins to slip, threatening to push him back into a past he has, until now, successfully smothered.
The novel's narrative switches between the older George, who speaks directly to his therapist in the book, and George's notebooks, in which he records the events and experiences of the younger George struggling to come to terms with his belief that he has been possessed by evil.
A Good and Happy Child is a gem of a novel: its writing is quiet and assured, maintaining throughout a deceptive calmness that paradoxically magnifies the horrific memories George calmly records in his notebooks. Without relying on the physical or sexual violence that many thrillers use to ratchet up suspense, A Good and Happy Child manages to terrify using only the terrain of the mind--sometimes the most frightening place of all.
Armchair Interviews says: This is an intelligent psychological thriller that crescendos to a startling conclusion, and will leave you sleeping with the lights on.
Enjoyed this story! Spine-tingling & fast paced!
My rating has a lot to do with my expectations of the book prior to reading it. I expected something akin to "The Exorcist" or "Rosemary's Baby", as referenced in the advertised reviews of the book. Unfortunately, this novel falls far short of either one. I did finish it, but it was one of those books that was easy to put down. The characters were a bit shallow and the climax of the book was weak. As a first novel, it was a good attempt, but could have been stronger.
This book is a study in how easy it is to get a novel published when you are a business 'executive' in NYC. You don't need believable characters or dialogue, you just need to write like you took a psychology class in college and are also a fan of 'Rosemary's Baby' and decided that, because you feel so empty in the office cubicle, you were going to write a book to impress your other 'business executive' friends. Never mind those actual talented writers who have everything at their fingers to write a much better novel than this, but have the sad misfortune of living in that wide open space between New York and California.
"Uninteresting", "unoriginal" and "unfortunate" are all words that could describe this "book". "Good" and "happy" are not.
"Uninteresting", "unoriginal" and "unfortunate" are all words that could describe this "book". "Good" and "happy" are not.
George Davies won't hold his infant son. He's afraid. Of what? Of how his troublesome (and that's saying it lightly) past will affect little Paul's future.
So begins the disturbing tale of George and the gradual unfolding of his indescribable past in Justin Evans' A Good and Happy Child. Out of desperation to repair his strained marriage and non-existent relationship with his son, George seeks help and understanding from a therapist, who asks him to recount his past in a series of notebooks. Even George wasn't prepared for the secrets that would be unveiled through this method.
His notebooks reveal his encounters with his "Friend", a ghostly mirror image of himself when he was an eleven-year-old boy. As this Friend slowly begins to affect his life and perception of reality, he then is sent to a therapist. But as the problem becomes more prominent and begins to focus on the truth behind his father's mysterious death, his father's friends step in (behind George's mother's back) and dig deeper into his mind.
For his debut novel, Evans shows excellent writing expertise with Child, combining suspense and tidbits of horror with an unthreatening dose of religion that becomes a basis explanation for little and big George's problems. In simplistic terms, Evans paints vivid images of George's dark surroundings, including the supposed demons that threaten him. The terrifying climax of the story also serves as the conclusion, leaving questions that need no answer hanging by a thread.
If you think you're getting a happy and heart-warming story in A Good and Happy Child, remember this: Never judge a book by its title. Because otherwise, you're in for a rough ride.
So begins the disturbing tale of George and the gradual unfolding of his indescribable past in Justin Evans' A Good and Happy Child. Out of desperation to repair his strained marriage and non-existent relationship with his son, George seeks help and understanding from a therapist, who asks him to recount his past in a series of notebooks. Even George wasn't prepared for the secrets that would be unveiled through this method.
His notebooks reveal his encounters with his "Friend", a ghostly mirror image of himself when he was an eleven-year-old boy. As this Friend slowly begins to affect his life and perception of reality, he then is sent to a therapist. But as the problem becomes more prominent and begins to focus on the truth behind his father's mysterious death, his father's friends step in (behind George's mother's back) and dig deeper into his mind.
For his debut novel, Evans shows excellent writing expertise with Child, combining suspense and tidbits of horror with an unthreatening dose of religion that becomes a basis explanation for little and big George's problems. In simplistic terms, Evans paints vivid images of George's dark surroundings, including the supposed demons that threaten him. The terrifying climax of the story also serves as the conclusion, leaving questions that need no answer hanging by a thread.
If you think you're getting a happy and heart-warming story in A Good and Happy Child, remember this: Never judge a book by its title. Because otherwise, you're in for a rough ride.
I love ghost stories and I believe that our fear and guilt can produce ghosts that tend to haunt us! Real or not, the ghosts seem real to us! With that thought in mind, I decided to read Justin Evans, A GOOD AND HAPPY CHILD.
Justin Evans is definitely a very talented writer. I found his novel enjoyable to read as the story just flows and the book is "unputdownable"! I can't wait to read his next book, THE WHITE DEVIL.
Justin Evans is definitely a very talented writer. I found his novel enjoyable to read as the story just flows and the book is "unputdownable"! I can't wait to read his next book, THE WHITE DEVIL.
I read about half of this book and stopped. It is exceedingly boring and failed to catch my attention. Not my kind of book at all.
