Emergence by Ellie Beals

Emergence by Ellie Beals
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rated: 5 stars
Review by Poppy

It starts with Just Watching. But danger emerges when Just Watching ends.

When the “wild child” Xavier first encounters Cass Hardwood and her dogs in the woods of West Quebec, he is enthralled. Unknown to them, he Just Watches them in a lengthy ongoing surveillance, before finally staging a meeting. His motives are uncertain—even to him.

The intersection of the lives of Cass, a competitive dog handler; her dogs; her cousin Lori; and the complex and enigmatic Xavier leads them all into a spiral of danger. It starts when Just Watching ends—when Cass and her crew encounter tragedy in the bush. Xavier’s involvement in the tragedy, unknown to Cass, sets off a chain of potentially lethal events that begin in the dark woods of Lac Rouge, when hiking, skiing, hunting, trapping, marijuana grow-ops, and pedophilia collide. It matures in the suburbs of both Ottawa and Baltimore, and culminates back in Lac Rouge, when Lori’s spurned and abusive lover arrives uninvited at Cass’ isolated cabin in the woods. In the night. In the cold. In the heavily falling snow. His arrival is observed by Xavier, whose motives are again uncertain, but whose propensity for action is not.

Join Xavier, Lori, Cass, and the realistic and compelling dogs that are essential players in this dark drama as their fates converge in a deadly loop of revenge, fear, guilt, and hope.

What an interesting book! What a talented author. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this…the blurb sounded intriguing, but it felt as if there would be some “gray area” here in terms of right and wrong. I was right, but I wasn’t as conflicted as I might have been…

The book starts slowly, but I was never bored. The author weaved her words carefully and well, with strong descriptions and solid “showing” and not telling. I learned about each character–even the dogs!–in significant detail cleverly shared. I went into this thinking it would be an edge-of-your-seat thriller and it was, but it wasn’t. Honestly, I loved this book and didn’t think writing a review for it would be difficult, but it kind of is because this book wasn’t like the usual “thriller” I’ve read. That was a good thing, and interesting and definitely set this book apart from many others.

Add into this the aspect of dog training and having dogs as very real characters in this book…for a dog person like me, this added a level of interest that I wouldn’t have found elsewhere. I’ve been deeply involved with dogs and dog training for years, and this story is very authentic in the way it portrays Cass and her dogs. I loved it.

Xavier was a tough character to pin down. At first, I felt as if he were older and maybe had a crush on Cass, but it turned out he was a young boy, early teens, but mature in a way many aren’t because of his very odd upbringing. Also interesting was the choice the author made to use first person POV for him and third for Cass.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot… I think the blurb does that well enough. But I will say this: from the moment I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. I credit the talent of this author to slowly weave her tentacles around you until you’re completely hooked and can’t get loose from the story. Her descriptive and powerful writing is how I wish every book were written. She never forgets tiny details that make things real, and that can elicit a visceral response from the reader. I felt as if I were right there, in the Canadian wilds, living through each scene. I was fully invested in the characters and the story and was almost surprised when it was over.

Emergence was a slow, deep, wild ride that I’m glad I took. I’m ready for more from this author.

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