The Summer Country [Mass Market Paperback]

Hetley starts the book having us follow Maureen who seems quite paranoid; it turns out that she has reason to be! Shining knight Brian comes to her rescue and vanquishes her foe...oh, wait...he isn't a knight. Maureen lets him walk her home, where she dumps him upon finding her "boyfriend" in bed with her sister Jo.

Hetley's characterization is phenominal and true to life. His settings are detailed, but not intrusive.

If you like extraordinary fantasy, dragons, magic and a good read, you will like this book. I did. I've already read it twice!

Candy

This is story of a quartet of characters drawn into amazing circumstances - Maureen, Jo, Brian, & David. The main character is Maureen. She remembers stories told to her of the old country, the summer country, told by her departed grandfather. She assumes those are stories of Ireland. Maureen also talks to trees and sometimes hears things and sees things that no one else hears or sees. Maureen believes she is insane. She lives with her sister Jo who also believes her sister is insane. By some unspoken agreement with her highly dysfunctional family, Jo keeps watch over her sister.

In the beginning of the book Maureen is stalked by a large man on her way home from work. He corners her in an alley and as he approaches is hacked to bits by Brian. Though dressed in ordinary clothes, he is actually a Pendragon - a knight who protects human's from the "old ones." Maureen believes Brian must also be insane until she sees her would-be attacker consumed by blue flames and disappear. Initially she believes in him, then later does not trust him, blaming her suspicions of her own insanity for creating the deadly scene. Her sister Jo and boyfriend Brian are lovers who live under the same roof with Maureen. Their relationship irritates Maureen. She believes Jo stole David from her.

As the story progresses Maureen is drawn into the summer country by one of the "old ones" by magic. The summer country, once a wonderful placed, is twisted and full of hate and fear, and terrible violence. Jo sees her sister disappear before her eyes. She stands still and closes her eyes and wills herself to find her sister. Both Maureen and Jo are of faery blood, but don't know it. Jo opens her eyes and finds herself in the summer country in the middle of an enchanted, dangerous forest. Brian and David discover that both women have disappeared into the summer country and go there after them.

What follows is not a sweet faery tale. It's a fearsome faery land filled with terrors beyond belief and dangers that stretch the bonds of love. To tell more would ruin the story.

This book is so well written that the characters seem real to the reader and you actually learn to care what happens to them. Scenes are so well crafted that you can picture everything. As you close the last page of the book and the story ends you feel like you are saying goodbye to an old friend. Not many books can evoke that feeling. I sincerely hope the author comes out with another book. I would stand in line to buy one. I'll be buying this one for my own shelf as it is one of the most engrossing, wondrous stories I have every read!