Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Deana Simmons is a loner and struggling art student. With only her ex-boyfriend, turned BFF, Brian to confide in, Deana is dealing with painful childhood memories, which include the death of her mother and living with her abusive father; as well as a recent rape by a local guy she met at a dance club. A talented painter, Deana is unable to let go and allow the talent to flow onto the canvas; resulting in flat, lifeless images.
Late one fateful, freezing night, tired of the same ramen noodle dinner, Deana drives to the grocery store. Returning home, she sees a young man stumbling home from a party. Suddenly the man is in front of Deana's car, leering at her and flicking a knife through his fingers. Focusing on the knife, Deana realizes it's the same one held to her throat not long ago. Moving up to the man's face, she realizes it's Brent, her rapist. Without thinking, Deana floors the gas pedal, flinging Brent into the air and then running over him for good measure. She gets out of the car, watches the blood pool around the body, takes the knife and drives home.
Deana returns home, the reality that she just killed a man begins to sink in, and the urge to paint becomes overwhelming. In a trance-like state the paint flows and the result is amazing -- the painting is of her mother and it's practically alive. Soon, Deana's guilt begins to morph into a whole new way of thinking, her thoughts filled with ideations of revenge and vigilante justice. Soon she finds herself reliving the thrill of the kill during sex and is surprised to find that she is getting off on it. Soon memories of Deana's childhood begin to surface in her paintings, which have suddenly taken on a whole new dimension; while her mind begins spiraling out of control into darkness.
The Red Fog is Nicole Tanner's first book. Although I applaud her effort, the writing feels a bit heavy and awkward and I found I couldn't read more than one chapter at a time. I never really warmed up to Deana, nor did I have any sympathy for her life (past or current) Ex-Boyfriend Brian was a little one-dimensional and seemed more for Deana to play off of, rather than a major contributor. Unnecessary efforts were made to get a point or meaning across, even though the reader could easily understand the situation and didn't need things spelled out for them. Nicole Tanner's style has a very distinct YA feel and many of the chapters were more like reading a teenager's journal, rather than a suspense novel.
While there's no doubt Miss Tanner can write, she just needs to work out the kinks. As they say, you have to start somewhere and she has; now we just have to wait and see where she goes from here.
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Paperback: 168 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (June 5, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-1442141117