The Ursulina, by Brian Freeman, was our January selection, with The Nature of Fragile Things, by Susan Meissner coming up next for February's read. As a special treat, Mr. Freeman graciously agreed to join us via Zoom for our discussion~ we found him to be a tremendous speaker and a fantastic addition to our chat. Read down below to hear how it all shook out!
Introducing... The Ursulina! (**Spoiler Alert** the following summary contains some information pertinent to the ending of the book)
The mythical beast goes by many names. Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Yeti. In Black Wolf County, he's called ... the Ursulina.
But
to Deputy Rebecca Colder, the beast is no myth. A serial killer has
taken on the identity of the monster--and with each body left behind,
there's a chilling message written in blood. I am the Ursulina. In this follow-up novel to The Deep, Deep Snow,
Brian Freeman takes us on Rebecca's dark journey to reveal the truth
about the Ursulina ... a journey that ultimately leads to an
excruciating choice that will change her life forever.
The meeting opened with a warm welcome to Mr. Freeman and a good question right out of the gate, "Where did you come up with the idea for this book?" Mr. Freeman explained he had been toying with the idea after receiving such good feedback after the release of his previous, and first novel in this now series, The Deep, Deep Snow. He said the protagonist, Rebecca Colder, came to him and leaped onto the page, unlike the protagonist of the book previous, and he felt he had to get her story down. He very much liked the idea of going back to explore and illustrate Shelby Lake's mysterious origins, however, when specifically asked, he wouldn't necessarily say The Ursulina was just a prequel, or a sequel, or a stand alone, rather a bit of a mixture of all three. He can't be sure if he's done writing books in this series or not, but it isn't clear where he would take the story from here, so it's a maybe for now.
I'd say we all liked the book, in varying degrees. We all agreed we didn't see the ending coming, and gave the book extra points for the great twist! Those more in favor of it than others thought the book had great flow with well curated characters. One patron mentioned it was a quick, easy read that she believes she enjoyed more so because she had to read it quickly (to finish in time for the meeting), but would probably not have been as pleased with it if she had taken her time making her way through it.
Those who liked it less said the characters felt stereotypical and the crime scenes were a bit too graphic. Also, it was said the book had unbelievable parts dotted throughout. One patron didn't believe the school system wouldn't have done more to reprimand those responsible for the brutal attack on Will, and also found it hard to believe the parents of both Will and Jay wouldn't have noticed after all those years that their sons were homosexual. Mr. Freeman understood her point, but completely disagreed.
It was also asked why Ricky's death couldn't have been presented as self-defense, considering the way Rebecca and Ricky left the bar that night, his criminal history, that he was strangling her just before Rebecca shot him, and a wide-spread bad reputation in town for being abusive... it would have been a stretch to find someone to call it anything but. Mr. Freeman thought that observation was valid, but then replied with, "How could Rebecca have explained where Shelby was at the time of Ricky's death? How would that have looked?"
With the exception of one, our members didn't care for the ending. It seemed a little too fairy tale and implausible. In fact, it was said the book all fell apart at Jay's suicide. Rebecca walks away from the crime scene (leaving the reporter in her wake with the body), drives away to find Tom Ginn stranded on the side of the road, takes him back to her house, falls in love, and makes a baby.... all in the span of a handful of hours. She somehow still has a job afterwards, though she is demoted to secretary, and the romance between Rebecca and Tom ends abruptly there. For now. It seems a little farfetched, especially considering Rebecca's awful traumatic history with men.
In closing, one member mentioned she had started the Jonathan Stride series, also penned by Mr. Brian Freeman, and she recommends it! You'll find it in the Viking System if you're interested in reading more from him!
Thoughts? Let us know below in the comments!
Did you enjoy The Ursulina? Fans of the book also enjoyed: Fox Creek, by William Kent Krueger, Forsaken Country, by Allen Eskens, and The Investigator, by John Sandford. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!
At the conclusion of every book club
discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:
Would we
recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"
Would we
recommend this to a friend to read?
"YES"
Rate the
book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating:
3 stars
