Mini-Review: Skin and Bones by D.C. Corso |

Paperback: 162 pages
Publisher: Bennett & Hastings; 1st edition (October 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1934733385
Source: Author

A child goes missing in Carver Isle, Washington, and FBI Special Agent Ash is put on the case. The small, quiet community is turned upside down in an attempt to find her. The prime suspect is Edwin Monk, son of a vicious killer. Monk himself was involved in an incident with a young girl, one that was kept quiet by the townspeople. When a second child goes missing, Ash must pick up the speed on this horrifying case.

Parker Kelly, a Carver Isle native, returns to the small town when her mother passes away. The return is difficult for her; not long ago she too was victim of a horrible crime. Her cousin, Connor, was severely disturbed. He came to live with Parker’s family after his own died in a horrible fire. Connor is now in jail, after attempting to kill his own family. He’s supposed to be locked up for a very long time, but Parker can’t help but wonder if he is somehow involved in the kidnappings.

Ash brings in Parker to help with the case, for he’s going to need all the help he can get. The incident involving Edwin Monk isn’t the only thing the town is keeping secret.

Corso does an outstanding job of portraying the setting, but unfortunately this one fell short with me. It’s a short read, less than 200 pages. It seemed like the author was trying to pack too much into this small book. I believe it would have a great deal more potential if it was a bit longer. While Parker’s character is developed adequately, there were quite a few secondary characters that I would have liked to known more about. It felt at times that I was jumping into a series mid-way. I would have appreciated “back story” of the events that took place between Parker and her cousin. Also, the number of characters go to be overwhelming for me. I literally had to take notes in order to keep track of them all. While the storyline is a compelling one, all the things that were lacking prevented me from truly enjoying this book. That said, I did appreciate Corso’s writing style and would read more of her work.

About the Author:

D.C. Corso, a Bay Area native, began life reading Nancy Drew books and writing stories featuring her sister’s cat, Fonzie. She likes to think she has become more discriminating over the years in both reading and writing material. While working at a law firm and going to college, she interned at The Nose magazine, and then later worked in PR for the animators of Colossal Pictures. After much practice over the years–not to mention blood, sweat and tears (well, late nights, anyway)–she produced Skin and Bones, her debut novel. She now lives with her husband, Michael, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You can visit D.C. at her website: www.skinandbonesnovel.com