Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1488318 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 290 pages

Customer Reviews

Outstanding First Novel from an Author to Watch
Stained is a great first novel, one part supernatural horror, one part murder mystery. Lee Thomas does a superb job creating the fictional Louisiana town of Marchand (apparently based on Nachitoches) and its inhabitants, all of whom seem closely related either by blood or town history. But unlike other "evil comes to small-town America" novels, Stained doesn't go the route of questionable prejudices. There are no ancient Indian burial grounds or the desecrated bones of black slaves causing the evil to happen, which is a refreshing change. Instead, we get evils closely tied to what lurks inside the people who actually live there: child abuse, misogyny, violence by those who feel beneath or out of place. Lee Thomas is a tight plotter, setting everything up beautifully before knocking it all down. He is also a natural master of the red herring--he ought to try writing a straightforward mystery or police procedural some time. I'd buy that in a heartbeat!