Jennifer McMahon

In Ashford, Vermontaka "Burntown"Eva "Necco" Sandeski's mother dies under mysterious circumstances and her boyfriend is murdered, leading Necco to believe that her mother was right all along about her deceased father's questionable past as a secretive inventor.

Burntown

Sarah Sammis

It kind of lost me after the halfway mark. Too many points of view. I wanted more Necco and maybe more Theo but the other POVs got in the way.

Maggie Gordon

Burntown is... a strange book that's quite different from McMahon's other pieces. It's not that it is terrible, but it didn't grip me the way her past books have. Instead of flipping back and forth between present and past, this one simply shifts perspective a lot. The plot is a bit hard to swallow, but honestly no more so than other supernatural thrillers. It's just... circus themes and childhood trauma and a machine that talks to the dead all intersecting with a murder plot without much teeth? It's not bad enough for 2 stars, but 2.5 is probably accurate. You'll be entertained, but there are definitely better books out there to read. Including McMahon's backlist.

On the surface, Ashford, Vermont, seems like a quaint New England college town, but to those who live among the shadowy remains of its abandoned mills and factories, and beneath its towering steel bridges, it's known as Burntown. Eva Sandeski, who goes by the name Necco on the street, has been a part of Burntown's underworld for years, ever since the night her father, Miles, drowned in a flood that left her and her mother, Lily, homeless. A respected professor, Miles was also an inventor of fantastic machines, including one so secret that the plans were said to have been stolen from Thomas Edison's workshop. According to Lily, this machine got Miles murdered. Necco has always written off this claim as the fevered imaginings of a woman consumed by grief. But when Lily also dies under mysterious circumstances, and Necco's boyfriend is murdered, she's convinced her mother was telling the truth. Now, on the run from a man called Snake Eyes, Necco must rely on other Burntown outsiders to survive. As the lives of these misfits intersect, and as the killer from the Sandeski family's past draws ever closer, a story of edge-of-your-seat suspense begins to unfurl with classic Jennifer McMahon twists and turns.

A Novel

Jolie

I really wasn’t too sure what to feel about this book. It had everything I like about mysteries in it: an unknown villain, a plucky heroine, and a good cast of supporting characters. The only thing that this book lacked was a plotline that stayed engaging. I lost interest in the book after Hermes was killed and both Theo, Pru and Fred were introduced into the story. While I wanted to find out who Snake Eyes/Chicken Mask Man was and if Necco/Eva had the plans for the machine that can talk to the dead, I almost didn’t finish the book because I couldn’t get involved.

I also didn’t like that there were so many points of view. If the author had just kept with Necco and Theo, I would have been fine with it. But you had Martin, Pru and Fred’s point of view added in. While I appreciated it, again, my focus was lost with so many points of view and I felt that it took away from the story.

I also wish that the machine that could talk to the dead was featured more in the book. I was fascinated by it from what was described and I really felt that the author could have gone a whole different direction with the story if Martin hadn’t told Errol to destroy it.

I did like Necco. She was so strong even when everything that she had been told by her mother ended up being all false. Honestly, that would have broken me.

When it was revealed who Snake Eyes/Chicken Mask Man was and his ties to Necco, I was very surprised. I was only surprised because that character I assumed died. Don’t ask me why I assumed that because it was never mentioned. But that person was never mentioned in the book again, so I just assumed that person died. Guess I was wrong.

The end of the book was your typical HEA with the mystery being blown wide open.

How many stars will I give Burntown: 3

Why: I just couldn’t connect with the characters or get into the storylines. I wish I did or else this review would be different….sigh.

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Maybe

Age range: Adult

Why: Violence and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Anna with an A

It was a pleasant read, but I liked it less then other books of this author. 
It is claustrophobic story about small polluted town, poverty, homelessness and complexity of relationships within one family. 

Burntown

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