Book Review – NO ONE TO HEAR YOU SCREAM by Julia Madeleine
No One To Hear You Scream Synopsis
In upstate New York, Brett and Pamela Jameson find the house of their dreams on twenty acres of land. Bucolic and serene, it is the answer to all of their prayers. But their dream soon turns into a nightmare when violent ex-gang member Rory Madden, the property’s former owner returns, and will stop at nothing to reclaim the home he lost to foreclosure. Rory unearths the secrets hidden within the Jameson family, and begins to leverage his knowledge to slowly drive wedges between them. When their seventeen year-old daughter Justine falls prey to Rory’s advances, she becomes a co-conspirator, setting about a series of increasingly treacherous events that could forever tear the Jameson family apart. A terrifying odyssey into the dark side of the American dream, No One to Hear You Scream captures the fear of the modern middle-class, the alienation of those left out, and the heart-stopping terror at the realization that it can all be taken away in an instant. (Amazon)
BOOK REVIEW
At it’s heart Julia Madeleine’s No One To Hear You Scream is an exploration of how life experiences shape us and influence the decisions we make many years into the future.
No One To Hear You Scream is a thriller for those not fazed by violence – both of the body and the mind.
In this tale Madeleine has brought together several characters with a range of dark pasts and traumatic experiences, and therefore predisposed to trust and intimacy issues.
Between the clouds, a half full moon suspended in the darjening sky followed him, illuminating his path, watching him as he wandered down the side of the highway. Its presence was comforting, as a cold wind tore at his jacket. He walked, entangled in the gloom of his soul from so long ago, screaming inside of him. Shaped from the fire that burnt him to ashes, his spirit unfolded as a great bird, yearning calling him forth, all the whole knowing there was no escape from the wasteland of his heart.
Although Madeleine fleshed out her central characters well, I personally found it hard to identify with or have empathy for any. And while feeling empathy for characters is not always necessary, in this case it would have enhanced my enjoyment and engagement in this thriller.
Madeleine draws upon many societal issues such as the treatment of mental illness, adultery and even the costs of palliative care to build this thriller to its climatic end. Although I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the central characters, I found No One To Hear You Scream a little slow to develop. The pace and action does however pick up dramatically in the last third of the novel and the climax was a strong and fitting ending.
BOOK RATING: The Story 3 /5 ; The Writing 3 /5
BOOK DETAILS: No One To Hear You Scream (Amazon – Kindle); No One To Hear You Scream (B&N – epub)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystery
Author Information: Home for Julia Madeleine is Mississauga, where she lives with her husband and teenage daughter. For a year she lived in the country on a 30-acre property in the middle of nowhere, which became the inspiration for No One To Hear You Scream. When not writing or sticking needles into people (she’s a tattoo artist), Julia enjoys cooking, sewing, yoga, meditation, health and fitness and gardening. Julia is obsessed with true crime shows and researching ways to kill people which makes her husband nervous.
– Check out Julia Madeleine’s website
– Watch the evocative book trailer for No One To Hear You Scream
Other Reviews of No One To Hear You Scream : Elizabeth White ; I Meant To Read That ; Lynnette’s Book World ; Cafe of Dreams
Other titles by Julia Madeleine: Fear The Night, Raised in Hell, Scarlet Rose
* I received a copy of this novel from the author for review purposes. My receiving this book for free in no way affected my ability to express my honest opinions about it.
