The Diviners

The Diviners by Libba Bray is both an entertaining and annoying book. It is entertaining because it is suspenseful; an assorted cast of characters, many with special psychic gifts, become involved in the imminent appearance of the Beast. There are only a few weeks, then days, then hours before the depraved actions of [presumably long dead] Naughty John lead to his transformation into something far worse than a serial killer. Bray sets the story in New York in 1926. Transportation, clothing, parties and the theater are all depicted with realistic historical detail. Sometimes Bray tries too hard to recapture the era. Her main character, youthful teen flapper Evie, fresh from Ohio and now staying with her Uncle Will, talks constantly in cliches. "She is the elephant's eyebrows," "Must be the duck's quack to be famous," and so on. Over 500 pages of such dialog is definitely tiresome. Each character also has a back story that relates somehow to the psychic world. Evie desperately misses her older brother, killed in Europe in WWI, and dreams about him constantly. Streetwise Sam, who flirts with Evie and picks pockets, has a more serious side--he is trying to trace his mother who disappeared when he was a child. Uncle Will has own secrets, as do numbers runner Memphis and his true love, Theta. The narration jumps around from one character to another and threatens at times to leave the reader behind. That said, The Diviners a very compelling story and worth the effort. Paramount has purchased the movie rights, so get ready for a thriller.