Big Sky Lake release day! Jump in, the water is fine

Big Sky Lake is now released and into the world! This novel is the first story I set in Big Sky Lake, Montana, but hopefully not the last.

Paperbacks and Kindle versions are available on Amazon and should be delivered by Christmas if you order right away!

If you enjoyed the story, please drop a review on Amazon or send me an email at dankolbet@gmail.com. Thanks for your support!

See you in the book aisles.

Book Review: Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey

Catriona Silvey writes beautiful prose, but it’s too much effort to wade through when the conclusion is so unsatisfactory.

I have a theory about this story. Let’s call it the ‘mixed paint theory.’ Drop massive blots of paints on a canvas, then swirl them together with a brush in a massive, intertwined mess that’s completely unrecognizable. Some people call that art. Other people might recognize the plot line of Catriona Silvey’s Meet Me in Another Life, a massive mix of confused story that’s not worth the effort.

Recently, I heard the phrase “is the juice worth the squeeze?” The short answer for this story is no. No, it’s not.

Santini and Thora keep meeting each other over and over as different versions of themselves. Each chapter serves mostly as a short story, which in isolation may work for some people with a lot of time on their hands. They are lovers, siblings (meh), acquaintances, etc. If you wade through the tedium, you may recognize vague clues (read my mixed paint theory) that lead to where this story is headed—or ends up—can’t decide which.

My expectations for this story were high, which may be why I’m so annoyed about the payoff of this novel. Time travel (which this story is definitely not) and living a life again and again is a wonderful, fun experiment. The best modern example of this is Ken Grimwood’s Replay (1986) where the same life is lived again and again with decisions driving the plot and creating the consequences. In Meet Me, the decisions of the characters mean nothing. They just chat endlessly until, apparently, they run out of things to say and the pages of the book go dry and float away.

Dig deep enough, you might find meaning, but again, is the juice worth the squeeze?  

2/5 stars. Pass on this one.

Book Review: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The Last Thing He Told Me may pass the time and be enjoyable if you don’t look under the rug to find where all the reasonable plot turns were swept.

I wanted to love this book, but despite being entertained throughout, there were a few plot points that came a bit too easy for me to give a full recommendation.

Our main character is new bride Hannah, whose husband Owen splits town when his company gets into some hot water. He leaves a needlessly cryptic note for Hannah (the last thing he told her)… Get it? He also leaves a big ole bag of cash for his extremely annoying daughter Bailey.

Hannah is great (really) and despite my concerns about the weak plotting of this story, she really shines as the reluctant step-mom, who while trying to find her husband, actually finds her own motherly instincts.  

OK, mild to complete spoilers ahead.

Hannah and Bailey fly off to Austin for the most paper thin reason (reasons?) imaginable to find Owen who definitely isn’t in Austin. Our author certainly wanted most of the book to take place in Austin and gave us a reason for them to go there. I needed a little more rationale to buy it, considering so much hung in this location.

The real reason Owen is missing is an info dump that was not rightfully earned. Hannah and Bailey stumble across the answer and boom—here are a couple pages that make all the previous speculation just a waste of time. I can forgive this, as it shifted the story, but again, it didn’t feel earned.

Question: If Owen was so smart, why did he only leave a one sentence note for his wife? Dude could not have planned ahead a little more? Come on. 

Bailey, oh Bailey. This girl was a caricature of every surly teen on the CW whose parents just can’t understand her and geez, I need more sleep and food and… ugh. Enough Bailey, we get it, you’re difficult.

And that ending. Nope. I don’t buy it and didn’t appreciate it. Our boy Owen is still in hiding? Give me a break. If we just ended with Hannah learning that she doesn’t need to be a biological mother to be the mother that Bailey needs, I would have been satisfied. What Owen did to these two women is frankly despicable and wholly unnecessary.

3/5 stars: Read with caution or a very unquestioning mind.

An Agreement We Made review by BookTrib

I’m very excited to share a review of An Agreement We Made by BookTrib. This review helped calm my nerves on a crazy publication day!

Stay-at-Home Dad Navigates Minefield of Family Secrets in “An Agreement We Made” Read the full review.

Book review: Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

Goodnight Beautiful is a superb domestic thriller that will smack you in the face if you’re not paying close enough attention. And you’ll deserve it, too.

There were more “what the heck?” moments in Aimee Molloy’s Goodnight Beautiful that I can possibly recall. More than once I found myself stopping and re-reading a section to make sure that the twist Molloy just nailed me with was deserved or just a shady sleight of hand. It turns out each time was well deserved.

I’ve said it before—I love to be fooled and Molloy got me with this one. No spoilers here because you should experience it too.

Psychotherapist Sam Statler goes missing after recently returning to his hometown of Chestnut Hill, New York. Sam is recently married, something he and his wife of 13 or so weeks celebrate every single week. Newlyweds, right?

Sam is back in town to help care for his ailing mother and sets up a practice in town in the basement of a beautiful old home with some special quirks.

The journey to find Sam and who we as the reader are trusting, are the driving elements of this exceptionally crafted work of art. There are moments where some of the narration may seem needlessly tedious, but it’s certainly all done for effect and often with a sarcastic wit. One of our unreliable narrators is a real gem.

Some reviewers have (wrongly) compared this novel to one of Stephen King’s most famous works. Again, no spoilers, so figure it out yourself. I will say, King doesn’t own this idea any more than Molloy, who has definitely staked a claim for queen of this genre.

4/5 stars, recommended