Tremolo: Cry of the Loon

Reviewed by Marci Baun © 2008

Wild Child Publishing.com © 2008

Title: Tremolo: Cry of the Loon
Author: Aaron Paul Lazar
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Genre: Mystery
ISBN Number: 978-1-933353-08-1
Release date: November 2007
Author Website: Aaron Paul Lazar's website

The Internet is an amazing thing. There are so many people I have "met" whom I would never have known existed if not for this wonderful, and sometimes scary, place. Most of these people are kind, helpful, fun, intelligent, and someone I'd have become friends with had we met face to face. One of these persons is Aaron Lazar, talented author and photographer. Without the Internet, I would never have been a part of his blog tour, had an opportunity to read his book Tremolo: Cry of the Loon, or shared his talent with my mother-in-law, who also loves mysteries. And, people, that would have been a shame.

From the instant the book begins, I was transported into another time and place, where life was simple and people much different than they are today. Images from my childhood and a yearning for the sense of community flooded me with each page I turned. Not in a way that left me sad, but in a way that put a smile on my face and made me wish my daughter would know the sense of freedom from fear that I had as I traipsed around our neighborhood, much like Aaron's trio of young adventurers, Gus LeGarde and his friends Siegfried and Elspeth Marggrander, do. However, I would not ever wish to experience what these three young friends did in the first few chapters of the book. Those chapters hooked me. Fast paced with vivid descriptions, I could almost hear the maddened drunkard (not revealing his name) chased Sharon Adamski through the woods while the trio hid in the bushes, terrified.

Written in first person, Aaron handles this point of view beautifully. Contrary to popular belief, first person is not an easy POV to write. Matter of fact, most people who attempt this POV fail miserably. Not Aaron. On top of a difficult viewpoint choice, he adds the child factor. Writing from a child's perspective is always challenging. As adults, it is easy to slip into our own, more experienced mindset and instill that into the character, giving them adult thoughts, actions, and words they would never have, do, or say. But Aaron does not waver from young Gus's POV even in the most harrowing scenes. His mastery over point of view and the written word made this book a joy to read.

Effortlessly, scenes relevant to the time are woven into the story. For instance, one of my favorite is young Gus's reaction to his first viewing of To Kill a Mockingbird. The questions he asks, the emotions he's feeling, all speak of the issues bubbling during the time this was set. Yet, the message wasn't broken over my head, and for that I am grateful and doubly impressed.

While the murderer is revealed before the end of the story, this doesn't detract from the building tension. Rather, the revelation enhanced the story because it left me to wonder when the villain would show up again, how they would catch him, what his motivations were, and what would happen in the interim. And so much happened in the interim — real life moments. Instances that make you laugh and cry and gasp in surprise — that it is a pure pleasure getting there.

I don't want to give too much away because this is a truly marvelous book that deserves to be read and a story that deserves to be discovered by the reader for herself. Instead, I'll invite you to take the journey to Maine with Aaron, to view the happenings on the lake, meet the people who make up Gus's life — from his parents to his grandparents to his two best friends to their parents to the girls who work at his grandparents' store to the mysterious visitor renting one of the cabins to the rest of the cast — and enter a world, that sadly, we aren't likely to see again.

Beautifully paced, I laughed, cried, held my breath, and wanted more...just what a good book is designed to do.

Thank you, Aaron.

Rating: 5 Cats

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To purchase this wonderful book or find out more about Aaron Lazar and his books, please visit his website.