Title: The Raising
Author: Laura Kasischke
496 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Genre: Adult Mystery/Suspense
Buy The Book: Amazon
Summary:
Last year Godwin Honors Hall was draped in black. The university was mourning the loss of one of its own: Nicole Werner, a blond, beautiful, straight-A sorority sister tragically killed in a car accident that left her boyfriend, who was driving, remarkably—some say suspiciously—unscathed.
Although a year has passed, as winter begins and the nights darken, obsession with Nicole and her death reignites: She was so pretty. So sweet-tempered. So innocent. Too young to die.
Unless she didn’t.
Because rumor has it that she’s back. (Summary provided by the publisher.)
My Thoughts:
Ethereal. Suspenseful. Haunting. Laura Kasischke’s story of life in a college town in the aftermath of the death of one student and disappearance of another is both beautiful and spooky. Spooky. That’s kind of an antiquated way to describe something, right? Spooky sounds like it would best describe a Scooby Doo episode and not a haunting/ethereal novel, but that’s just what this book did to me. It completely spooked me out. The Raising is kind of like a literary mash up of films like The Skulls and The Grudge but much, much better.
At the center of the action is Craig. A snobbish and privileged student, Craig could have been an extremely unlikable character, but by the end of the book I found myself rooting for him. Craig is one of four viewpoints that the reader gets to see the action unfold through. Kasischke does a wonderful job of making each narrative voice unique and engaging while thoroughly drawing the reader into the plot. And my goodness, what a plot! The mystery of what happened to Nicole Werner will keep you turning those pages until you reach the surprising conclusion. This one shocked me!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m officially intrigued! Will add this to my reading cue. Thanks!
I managed to snag an advanced copy of this book from Housing Works Bookstore. Now I’m really looking forward to it!
I am almost to the end of this one … and I can barely put it down! As I read, I keep thinking that this is the sort of book Daphne du Maurier would write if she were alive today… atmospheric, errie, with a lot of plot twists that keep you guessing. I found this in my favorite indie bookstore in St. Joseph, Mich., and so glad they left it on the front table for me to discover. Otherwise, I am not sure I would have heard about it.
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