Her Thoughts Were Red Thoughts: Tori’s Row
Writing by alphabete on Saturday, 6 of March , 2010 at 0223
How well do you know the world you live in?
Tori’s sense of safety is being dismantled brick by brick and every step she takes toward comfort is a step into further disarray. Her life is becoming a nightmare and everywhere she turns, nobody believes her. Hell, she doesn’t even believe her. Within her surreal existence, the only companion who knows, shares, and truly understands what’s happening isn’t telling and won’t go away. Welcome to Tori’s Row.
--What is she hiding beneath those fantastic eyebrows?--
By dint of a fortuitous Twitter association I was invited by one Miss Tenacious Nancy Brauer of Strange Little Band to preview the first eight chapters this new title, co-written with MCM, author of The Vector. I enjoy both these authors so it wasn’t hard to make time for this enterprise. In the past twelve hours I have read these teaser chapters four times. So, what do I think?
I want to know what’s happening! Each time I return to this story I’m searching out hints, clues, the tiniest little indicators of what I’ll see in the forthcoming chapters. MCM and Nancy have got me hooked. The Tori of Chapter One is emphatically not the same Tori of Chapter Eight. Or maybe she is and I don’t want to admit it. Who attacked her and why? What doesn’t she know about herself, and does she really want to know? I want to know.
The dreamlike narrative led me through the chapters feeling as anxious and as lost as the protagonist. I say “dreamlike” because I felt like I couldn’t get a handle on what was happening, as if the very few tangible things in Tori’s consciousness were touchstones while everything else was indistinct and slippery. That is amazingly like the actual feeling I have experienced after a shocking event when everything in the world faded to the background for a while. It’s no mean feat to capture that experience in words.
Complicit in this story-fu are unsettling details that niggle at the back of my mind and make me wonder if I’ve misread them or whether the dark suspicions at the edges of my thoughts are what I think they are. There is intrigue aplenty to be found in the opening chapters of Tori’s Row but I’m not sure it’s what I think it is. Right now I know as much as Tori does about her situation and I’m quite looking forward to knowing what happens next. I expect this story will become, in the immortal words of any grammatically incorrect small child, somehow even more gooder.
Tori’s Row will be available beginning Monday, 8 March with a new chapter appearing each subsequent Monday. I’m sorry that it’s going to take you guys 2 months to learn what I already know, so to tide you over until the debut of Chapter One, here’s the official book blurb:
“Tori McNulty has problems. As she’s putting her life back together, she’s attacked in Boston’s South End. She doesn’t remember much: mostly blood-drenched pavement and the crumpled body of her assailant. The good news is that she’s uninjured and not a murder suspect. The bad news is the obnoxious young man in 18th century dress shadowing her and confusing, violent flashbacks. Tori must figure out what happened that night before her stalker gets to her or she goes completely mad.”
Not enough? Aww, alright, here’s the trailer.
You totally can’t wait now, can you?
Once the story’s been run you’ll be able to pick up a print or ebook copy; I think you’ll want one. If you don’t, watch the trailer again.
Comments (3)
Category: reviews
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Comment by Nancy Brauer
Made Saturday, 6 of March , 2010 at 0715
Thanks so much for your review! MCM and I are delighted you’re enjoying the story. :D
Pingback by review: Tori’s Row on 1889 Labs « quillsandzebras
Made Sunday, 7 of March , 2010 at 0917
[...] Tori’s Row on 1889 Labs Jump to Comments Following alphabete’s teaser review of Tori’s Row, I used all my significant twitter weight to get a sneak [...]
Pingback by New: Tori’s Row! Also: site revamp and a newcomer | 1889.ca
Made Monday, 8 of March , 2010 at 0644
[...] Her Thoughts Were Red Thoughts: Tori’s Row by Alphabete [...]
