An old favorite of mind from my teenage years, and just as interesting and readable as I found it 20 years ago. A book that carries you along a path you weren't expecting with a main male character who is a bit of a Marty Stu but still interesting in the place and setting.

3 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

A man who can talk to ghosts winds up in a small town where one isolated clan has strange powers of its own.

I've read only a few of Nina Kiriki Hoffman's books (including the sequel to this one) and stories, but I've liked their clear, evocative language, and their simple, unaffected characters. I opened The Thread That Binds the Bones with enthusiasm. I left the book with less.

The book starts well, with the same strong prose, the same engaging characters. Unfortunately, what Hoffman gains in simplicity, she loses in credibility. All her main characters are amiable and affable, and they solve all their disagreements with a friendly word or two. It's not credible, and it quickly becomes so flat as to be both facile and painful. There's a fair amount of repetition - of circumstance, philosophy, simplistic life lessons. Characters either gush or sulk (but only briefly). The big, bad, evildoer is readily (and quickly) redeemed, and accepted by all (including his victim), replaced by a diabolus ex machina who's only barely sketched in.

I found the book severely disappointing. It's not bad per se, but it's far from the elegant work that I expected from seeing Hoffman's other work. The approach is in some ways suitable to a YA audience, but frankly I think some of the life lessons provided aren't so wise. For staunch Hoffman fans only.

Received free copy of book in exchange for honest review.

Tom Renfield, janitor-cum-taxi driver, has always had some weird abilities - seeing ghosts, perceiving other 'currents' of energy... but he's always tried to ignore them. Running from himself seems to be a large part of how he ended up in the tiny town of Arcadia. However, when he picks up a beautiful model from the big city in his taxi and sets off to take her to her brother's wedding at an obscure house in the woods, little does he know what he's in for. Laura's extended family are an ancient clan of witches(?) who make a habit of terrorizing and enslaving the townspeople. However, that doesn't stop Tom from instantly falling in love with her. With the help of a ghost, things are about to get shaken up in the town of Arcadia...

I read this novel in 2008, but recently picked up the Open Road Media eBook for the two bonus stories. The stories are both good, but aimed toward a younger readership than the novel. They share the theme of young people standing up for themselves and dealing with people who may hurt them. Both also have a skein of magic running through them, as both young people encounter a ghostly presence.

“Lost Lives”
A young boy has been bounced from relative to relative. He just wants to get along and be left alone, but his latest 'home' is with a bullying and resentful cousin. If he opens up to his aunt about the problem, he's sure, she'd just side with her own son. But a change may come, after he finds a strange item by the side of the road - and a girl's voice seems to speak to him through it.
This seems very much like either the beginning of a novel or an incident in the lives of characters who have been explored more deeply elsewhere. (Not sure if it is.) I liked it, though.

“Caretaking.”
A girl from a family of magical talents is irresistibly drawn to leap into a mall fountain - repository of thrown coins that hold wishes. Willy-nilly, she becomes the vehicle of one wish: a mother's desperate desire to see her murdered daughter one more time.
Sometimes, we cannot protect those close to us, even though we wish to - and this is something that must be accepted, even though difficult. The message gets slightly heavy-handed, but I still enjoyed the story. Again, I'd love to find out more about the characters.