“Memories and promises live on past death. They are scattered through time on trails between this world and the next.” – The Blue Hour.
Joshua’s discovery of some curious blue marbles and his investigations around town unravel some terrible, guilty, secrets. But even as the townsfolk do their best to forget the past, they begin to relive it.
Author Patti Davis has written a captivating story revolving around themes of revenge, retribution and redemption. Joshua is a likeable and sympathetic as the misunderstood protagonist with his “unusual” ways – sitting in the yard to “watch the evening move in” and experience the moments when “the world around him was rinsed in blue.” Davis effectively reveals Joshua’s caring nature through his persistence in and ability to draw out the dark secrets that surround the town, and his ability to cope with both the bullies and victims that are drawn to his sensitivity.
Davis’ writing offers beautifully quiet observations about life, family and secrets that are, at once, enchanting and haunting: “But houses can tell all sorts of lies when you look at them from the outsides. Windows can shine with light and never reveal the shadows that live deep inside rooms and hallways.” Like the dense fog that overshadows the town, Davis’ vivid imagery and ominous descriptions of the people of Clearoak as “acutely aware of visitors,” and “never unfriendly or unwelcoming; they just tend to be watchful,” capture an eerie atmosphere about the town and create an enticing mystery.
This foreboding and a sense of battling forces are highlighted with the contrast of images of love and hope, as a man remembers his emotions when he first found his dog: “For the first time he understood love. How it washes over you and changes the geography of your heart.”
Technically, there are some issues such as typos, spelling inconsistencies and grammatical errors that need to be addressed with a further edit. However, the audience of young teens, especially those intrigued by the paranormal, will be hypnotized by the theme of cosmic consequences and powerful imagery and language in observations such as: “Dead people don’t always leave the earth completely.”
THE BLUE HOUR is a beautifully written, rich and poignant story about the choices we make, the actions we take in life and living with those choices and actions for the rest of our lives.
Reviewed by Maya Fleischmann for IndieReader.com