Thorn Jack

May 26, 2014
Debut author Harbour finds some new ground in this twisty, contemporary reworking of the oft-retold Scottish ballad “Tam Lin.” Serafina “Finn” Sullivan, haunted by her sister’s recent suicide, is just starting college in bohemian, old-moneyed Fair Hollow, N.Y., when her lakeside encounter with the enigmatic Jack Fata attracts the enmity of his
powerful family, particularly the ageless,
calculating Reiko Fata. Finn’s awkward and ghost-ridden but growing romance with Jack soon proves inseparable from the machinations of the “children of nothing and night,” especially after she enlists Jack’s help to save classmate Nathan Clare from the centennial Teind. Soon Finn confronts a prediction that she herself will die on Halloween. The climax detonates one too many reversals, revelations, and fight scenes after the lengthy buildup of dreamy mystery, but fantasy fans will find much to savor in Harbour’s delicate, myth-conscious prose. Loose ends suggest a sequel. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

May 15, 2014

Finn and her father have moved to Upstate New York to escape painful memories of Finn's sister, Lily Rose, who committed suicide. Finn enrolls in a local college where she befriends Christie and Sylvie, and develops a dangerous attraction to Jack Fata. Jack doesn't go to the college; his family lives in town and throws spooky parties and lures young coeds to their doom. They are faerie folk and dangerous. But Finn can't stay away from Jack and will fight his immortal family for him if she can. VERDICT This retelling of the Scottish ballad "Tam Lin" seems heavily inspired by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and other angsty teen vampire romances but with a more gothic, fairy-tale sensibility. Finn is likable but makes so many bad choices that it's hard to root for her. As a first novel, this shows an abundance of imagination but needs more polish.

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