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    Winter Haven
    Winter Haven
    Winter Haven
    Audiobook9 hours

    Winter Haven

    Written by Athol Dickson

    Narrated by Katherine Kellgren

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Athol Dickson, Christy Award-winning author of The Cure, delivers riveting suspense. In this tantalizing gothic tale, a 15-year-old autistic savant vanishes from his Texas home without a trace. Thirteen years later, Siggy Gamble's body washes ashore on a remote island off the rocky coast of Maine. Arriving at Winter Haven to claim her brother, 24-year-old Vera is shocked to see Siggy hasn't aged at all. "Athol Dickson's prose is sterling, his story pure gold."-Kathryn Mackel, author
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 19, 2008
    ISBN9781436145312
    Winter Haven
    Author

    Athol Dickson

    Athol Dickson is the publisher of the popular news website, DailyCristo.com, and the author of seven novels and the bestselling memoir, The Gospel according to Moses. His novels of suspense and magical realism have been honored with three Christy Awards and an Audie Award, and compared to the work of Octavia Butler (by Publisher’s Weekly) and Flannery O’Connor (by The New York Times). He and his wife live in Southern California.

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    Reviews for Winter Haven

    3.5/5

    48 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      This book seems all mixed up with the supernatural - there is a malevolent ghost, and a tragic tale of death and vengeance, and the possibility of madness. Vera doesn't know whom to trust - she can't even trust herself. But somehow Mr. Dickson gathers all the threads of a ghost story and turns it instead to a story of faith and goodness and healing. Beautiful.
    • 4/5
      I hadn’t read any of Athol Dickson’s work before, but I was curious about the acclaim his novels have received. It was with some uncertainty that I opened the pages of his atmospheric, moody Winter Haven. Set on a remote Maine island, filled with fog, superstition, and the appearances of dead bodies on the beach – including that of Vera Gamble’s long missing autistic brother. Gone some 13 years, his body appears the same as the day he left home – one of the many mysteries she finds on this spooky island.While variously appearing to be mystery, suspense, and possibly even paranormal at times – the novel’s heart instead lies in the relationships between the characters, and perhaps most importantly – Vera’s struggle coming to terms with her tortured relationship to the past and a newly forming tenuous hope that ties her to the future.Without giving away too much, I will say that this novel kept me rapidly reading in order to uncover the mystery at the heart of Winter Haven. I think I finished in two days, which is pretty fast for me considering I have a house full of children (4 at last count). I’m not afraid to admit that the last few chapters wrung a few tears out of me as well.Winter Haven is a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride, surging between fear, suspicion, trust, and even the tentative buds of romance. Dickson is a confident writer who takes you through the trip with a sure hand at the rudder.Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com
    • 4/5
      This book has a lot of twists and turns and I felt like I was upside down sometimes. The main character gets confused and believe me so does the reader. It was an interesting read.
    • 4/5
      This book has a lot of twists and turns and I felt like I was upside down sometimes. The main character gets confused and believe me so does the reader. It was an interesting read.
    • 4/5
      Like Vera, the main character of this book, I was completely taken in by it's mysterious supernatural occurences and couldn't put it down until the truth had been uncovered. Vera is startled out of her workaholic existance by a phone call from an islander off the coast of Maine saying that they have found the body of her brother--the brother that disappeared when Vera was just a child. Vera goes on a quest to claim his body and bring it home--but becomes immersed in the mystery of the island where he died, and the mysery of his death. Dickson weaves a skillful tale that shows our perceptions may not always lead us to a true vision of reality. I definitely recommend this one for when you are in the mood to savor a intricately told story.
    • 3/5
      This book could probably be called my first foray into Christian fiction. And, honestly, being generally agnostic in nature, I wasn't sure exactly how much I'd like it. However, the plot's premise sounded interesting enough that I decided to give it a try. It was a pleasant surprise to discover the book's lack of preachy-ness. Yes, religion does play a major role in the story, but that role felt real as opposed to forced and pedantic. I didn’t feel like someone was trying to convert me, it just came across as an important aspect of Vera’s life.Putting religion aside, I especially enjoyed the main character, perhaps because I could see a lot of myself in Vera. Admittedly, I did find some of her actions and conclusions throughout the story foolish (and a little melodramatic) but there was still something about her that drew me in. Her struggles, both emotional and physical, felt honest and real.The story itself, while a bit slow to start, was a clever and well-executed mystery. Although I typically remained a step or two ahead of the main character, there was quite a bit that caught me by surprise. One of the other reviews mentions having to suspend disbelief towards the end, but I really think that depends on the way you believe the world works (whether you’re religious or not) because I found it intriguing rather than unbelievable. And while some might feel the ending was a bit too nicely packaged, (and they’d probably be right) I still think it made for a pleasant conclusion to an overall enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      As an atheist, I was a little wary of this book when I read the back and saw that it was Christian fiction. Luckily there is little preaching, and the Christianity manifests itself mostly in the main character's bother, who only speaks in verses from the Bible. This book is definitely a page turner and is more well-written than other page turners I've read, however it requires some suspension of disbelief. I give this book a solid three meaning that I can't rave about it, but at the same time I can't rip it to shreds. It's fluffy; not a great piece of literature, but it was entertaining nonetheless. The pros are a quick pace (after a slightly plodding beginning) and an interesting story. The cons are unrealistic and, to be perfectly honest, annoying, characters and some far-fetched plot points.
    • 5/5
      This book is amazing. It starts out slow, but picks up speed and sucks you right along with you. There are several mysteries in this book and they are all explained but one. So, the book stays mysterious, and that is what I like about it.
    • 3/5
      I was really not enjoying this book until I got to the very end, which almost made up for the turgidness of the prose. The last chapter saved the book from getting an even lower rating.This is a story of Vera, a young woman (much younger than she acts) who sets off to pick up the body of her brother who has washed up on the shore of a small Maine island. How we got there, and why he doesn't appear to have aged in 13 years, are the "mystery" of the book. The answer, when it is finally revealed, is fairly straightforward, and not unsatisfying.In the course of finding that out, though, Vera must deal with her own guilt over not stopping her brother from running away, and her belief that her "visions" of what happened to her brother are actually punishments from God. She must also deal with unkind islanders, a "ghost", and a too-handsome man (with a wandering eye) who might be friend or might be foe.One might suppose that all of those factors would combine to make a compelling story. Alas, that is not the case. Dickson gets too bogged down in his first-person narration to let the story run naturally. We are teased with hints and glimpses of what's really going on, but Vera's overdrawn naivete prevents us from finding anything in the story that will allow us to be drawn in.
    • 1/5
      (This was an early reviewer copy.) This is a fairly short book - this copy only 190 pages, but I couldn't push myself to read the whole book, even to do this review. I read only as far as page 50, so keep that in mind when considering my review. The main reason I gave up was because I felt the author couldn't make up his mind as to what style of book he was writing. In 50 pages there was mystery/suspense/romance/horror and a few other genres as well. The setting was straight out of Stephen King/Shirley Jackson - foggy New England, small village (pop. 83) distrustful and hostile to outsider. The heroine suffers from hallucinations and visions, her missing brother was an autistic savant, her father a fire and brimstone style preacher/healer. It felt like the author was trying to pack in too much, to pad a short story to novel length. I really can't find anything positive to say about the book.