The Mill River Recluse, by Darcie Chan

The Mill River Recluse was self-published on Kindle and was only 99 cents.  Now there are plenty of good novels out there that aren't accepted by a publisher, but this isn't one of them.  It has one glaring fatal flaw:  it's all set-up!  Most published novels (and virtually every Hollywood movie) has a four-part structure:  set-up, response, attack and resolution.  The set-up introduces us to the characters, shows us what they have at stake, and makes us care about them.  It's all a set up to the first plot point which then upsets their world.  The characters then need to respond to the first plot point, then attack it, and finally resolve the conflict.

The set-up can be one of the most enjoyable parts of a novel--it's often where readers fall in love with a book.  But a better analogy is that readers become infatuated with the book during the set-up.  Only when the book delivers a good response, attack and--most importantly--a satisfying resolution do readers really love a book.  On the other hand, infatuation can quickly lead to disappointment if the novel fails to deliver on any of the expected subsequent developments.  And disappointment is what The Mill River Recluse created in this reader.

The blurb on amazon.com for the book says, "But only Father Michael O'Brien knows Mary and the secret she keeps--one that, once revealed, will change all of their lives forever." This is the first plot point, but it comes at about the 95% mark while it should have come around 25% of the book. The first plot point is the major conflict in the story. Without conflict, you don't have a story, and The Mill River Recluse suffered because of it.

Carrie, by Stephen King

As odd as it may seem, I've never seen Carrie the movie so reading Stephen King's first novel was a new experience.  I think one of the things that makes King so popular is that he takes us deep into the characters' heads and lets us know their most inner thoughts, and Carrie was no different.  On the other hand, one of King's shortcomings is that his books often don't have a strong theme (Misery and Shawshank Redemption are notable exceptions) and Carrie also was no different.  The plot was fairly thin, but probably appropriate for a first novel.

The interspersion of clippings from newspaper articles and books was an interesting way to give exposition.  It also allowed a good deal of foreshadowing, which King is very skilled at.

Overall, Carrie was an entertaining read and a good preview of King's style which he continued to hone over his prolific career.