Book Review: DARK CANVAS - Jody Summers
by J.E. Braun, author of PARANOIA
Dark Canvas is a solid debut by Jody Summers that draws readers into a macabre world of psychic visions, unsolved murders, and evil entities. Unfortunately, Summers’ mechanics occasionally fall short, as point-of-view shifts, typographical errors, and repetitive sequences prove to be a bit distracting. Despite this, I encourage readers to push past these distractions so that they can fully experience the mysteries and horrors of Dark Canvas.
In Dark Canvas, Sean Easton – an innocent, if not naïve, farm boy - is drawn to Kira McGovern – a world-wise, ex-model who has started an innovative business venture in which she creates memorial paintings from people’s cremated remains. Kira soon begins to experience visions from the people she is memorializing – visions that start out horrifying, but ultimately teeter on the verge of deadly.
As Kira McGovern paints astoundingly vivid pictures with her brush, so does Summers create an astoundingly vivid story with his pen. The reader can practically see New Orleans and the Easton ranch – the two locations at which the majority of the story takes place. Though I felt the love story between Sean and Kira could have been handled more subtly, they, as well as all of the characters in Dark Canvas, were both three-dimensional and sympathetic.
With Dark Canvas, the more I read, the more I felt drawn into the story. I found myself hungrily turning pages as the action peaked, trying to find out what the answers would be. Summers leaves you enough clues to solve some of the mysteries on your own, but just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, he throws in another twist. In the end, Dark Canvas turns out to be a frightening and entertaining ride that could be a solid launch for Jody Summers’ writing career.
Jody Summers profile on AllTheseBooks.com
