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Saturday, January 25, 2014

{ARC Review} HANG WIRE by Adam Christopher


Hang Wire
by Adam Christopher
Publisher: Angry Robot
Publishing Date: expected January 28, 2014
Source: Publisher for honest review
Length: 384 pages
Editions: print and ecopy

Ted Hall is worried. He’s been sleepwalking, and his somnambulant travels appear to coincide with murders by the notorious Hang Wire Killer.

Meanwhile, the circus has come to town, but the Celtic dancers are taking their pagan act a little too seriously, the manager of the Olde Worlde Funfair has started talking to his vintage machines, and the new acrobat’s frequent absences are causing tension among the performers.

Out in the city there are other new arrivals – immortals searching for an ancient power – a primal evil which, if unopposed, could destroy the world

Expected to be released in February 2014! Add it to your goodreads HERE! :)
This is going to be one of my rather long-winded reviews as I share parts of the story with you (no spoilers, promise). This read was different and interesting and ... extraordinary.

The story begins with a younger man, alone, during the land-rush claiming days of early America, in Oklahoma. Hundreds, perhaps into thousands, of men and women, young and old, their blood pumping with excitement for their chance at the ownership of a piece of land. Not just any land, but fertile land which they could farm or raise cattle and build their homes. It is a once in a life time chance! Some on horses, some on wagons, some running on their feet with all their might, taking the very last of their strength in order to achieve their dreams. Joel is one of those men, on foot, running with all his heart. He could have afforded a horse if he had been willing to part with his coin. The gold coin and an old decrepit looking handgun, which Joel has yet to test, are all his father left him when he left for the war, soliciting a promise from Joel to keep it well until he returns from the war, The Civil War. Joel's father won't be returning, however. He and his mother received notice of his father's demise, sending Joel's mother ill and eventually dying, leaving Joel an orphan, not quite legal age. So, yes, Joel could have sold the coin, but he couldn't part with the only link that remains of his father. Joel doesn't succeed in his footrace for land, due to a very odd occurrence. He stumbles into a deep ditch in the land. When he explores it, disoriented, it leads him to a mysterious cave, beaming with a small point of light. Red, eerie light.

Now we move to a man named Ted. A reporter for an online paper/blog/news site, Ted and his colleagues/friends are in Chinatown at a celebration of sorts with dinner and drinks at an oft-frequented restaurant. The unexpected surprise comes ta the end of the meal with the cracking of the proverbial fortune cookies. It explodes, putting a hole in the wall and shattering glass windows. All at the table were safe, no one was detrimentally injured. However, it becomes the beginning of Ted's odd, inexplicable, and disorienting experiences. They've all shrugged off the incident since no one was injured, looking at it as fodder for their blog. What Ted wasn't aware of, but later learns from Bob and Benny, the ballroom dance instructing beach bum and his coworker at the blog news firm, is a difficult to believe nor to fully comprehend is that Ted has inherited the power of one of the gods. Further surprises, Ted learns, is that Bob and Benny also possess incomprehensible powers.

Meanwhile odd and frightening events are occurring around the city of San Francisco. First of all is the string of murders: women and men are being strung up like marionettes around the city with a special type of wire.

Out the outskirts of town, a circus sets up and weird, odd, and scary things are happening in the circus, too. Bob and Benny inform Ted that it is all related: the murders, the peculiarities at the circus, and what's happening to Ted. They also inform Ted that it is his duty, his job, to stop all of these events for the well-being of the human race, and in fact of all Earth! No pressure there, Teddy-o. The frightening dark powers below the surface in the deep underground are growing. This dark is coming from the outer reaches of the universe with the intent to feed and grow and eventually take over the earth, killing it before moving on.

Joel, the young man from frontier days, lives! He is part of the management team of this mysterious circus and he built the carnival rides with his own hands, including the monkey, the central figurehead of the carousel with its red, glowing eyes. Oh, yes...it plays a part in this story, but that'd be a spoiler, so my fingers are going quiet.

Hang Wire is an interestingly unique tale. The jump it took after the landrush took me by surprise and it jumps a little bit here and there to give you the backgrounds of characters such as Bob and Benny. This was definitely unlike anything I've read before. I found it confusing at first, but suddenly everything gets woven together tightly and I was totally fixated on finishing. With likable characters and intricacies in the plot that add such depth, this was a kindle-bruiser. It was a fun ride tinged with darkness. 



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