So, Halcyon is kind of a strange book.

There’s an aspect to it that trends toward paranormal that I hadn’t expected and ended up loving.

Mother Moon is, at first, bizarre, but as you read, you eventually understand everything that made her into this strange and dark human being. At times, I felt for her, even as I loathed her.

Note that some of what happens in the book is ‘ripped from the headlines’. As I read this in February/March 2018, it was way too close to much of what had been happening in the news. Hopefully, by publication date, there will be some distance there. Just know that the heartbreak in the book hits hard.

I’d read the author again. He has kind of a weird vision – Glam Moon is trippy – but I really liked it!

I've been a fan of Rio Youers since I randomly stumbled upon a copy of Westlake Soul in a library in Beaverton Oregon back in 2012. His work is consistently challenging, thoughtful, and entertaining.

That said... this one didn't hit me in quite the same way as his previous books.

But THAT being said, it's still an exciting thriller and Youers's writing is head-and-shoulders over writers of a similar style and he works very hard to have a balanced main character in Martin, as well as a believable and interesting supporting characters.

Even our villain, Mother Moon, is believable but decidedly evil, with a compelling and curious (and even sometimes sympathetic) backstory. It's a fine line to walk, especially with such an painfully evil character, but Youers plays it off well.

For me personally, a lot of the violence was a bit too close for current events and I think when I re-read the novel when the book arrives this summer, I think I'll bump my rating up to a full five stars. Either way, if you're looking for a refreshing take on a suspenseful thriller, check out the first chapter or two of Halcyon. I think you'll be hooked, as I was.

If you had the chance to live in a place where there was no crime, no ignorance, no poverty – would you want to move there? Valerie Kemp (Mother Moon) presides over just such a place, Halcyon, on an island in Lake Ontario. From all appearances this is the perfect community, but underneath it’s shiny exterior, something rotten and evil simmers. Martin Lovegrove and his family have moved to Halcyon to escape the ugliness of the modern world, and while at first glance, Martin thinks he and his family have moved to paradise, he soon learns that life on Halcyon is worse than anything he could have ever imagined. A current time setting doesn’t change the Dystopian feel to this eerie story