Major spoiler warnings are ahead as it is
difficult to talk about the book without giving away certain important
aspects of the plot.
The advertising on this novel got me. Up front it mentioned that it was partially about Hot Rods and surf guitars. I used to work on muscle cars and I love the old rock music that celebrated the Hot Rod culture. So it kinda hit a soft spot for me plus it had supernatural slant which made me somewhat curious what this novel was all about.
This is a character story, which means that you need to identify and like the main character of the story or else you will not enjoy it. Altagracia “Grace” Quintero is female mechanic who works for Sanchez Motor Works. Her specialty is working on any old coupe but her true love is old Fords as her personal ride is a 1957 Ford Fairlane (see pic below). Grace learned about restoring cars from Abuelo, her grandfather. There are numerous passages about Grace reminiscing about her and Abuelo fixing up old sedans, Model A’s, etc. I really enjoyed these parts of the novel as it brought memories of my misspent youth of turning wrenches and drag racing.
The other important aspect of Grace’s character is her tattoos. Her body is covered with them but each one has a special meaning. For example, she has her guardian saint, Altagracia, on her shoulder and Ford Motor Company on her leg. She likes to use to the tattoos as a way to judge people. If a person pre-judges Grace by the ink on her body then she quickly knows this not type of person she needs to be friends with. So all in all, Mr. De Lint does an excellent job of creating a complex character that you want to read more about.
The plot pretty quickly jumps into the mystery behind Grace. Essentially, she is dead. Grace was killed in an armed robbery attempt but she never fully moved on to the after life. She wakes up in the same neighborhood that she was living in before but there are a few differences. When someone dies the building that they died in is “renewed” but the rest of the neighborhood stays the same. So you have various shops that are from the 60’s mixed in with newer buildings. Also, there is a mist outside of town that you can enter but it transports you to the other of town. So you are stuck within a several mile radius of Grace’s apartment building.
As Grace explores her new environment she encounters several other dead people living inside this small community. She learns that whenever someone dies close to her apartment building they are brought back into this world to roam forever. Needless to say, it is very depressing. But Grace does learn that the dead are allowed to go back to the real world but only for 2 days of the year and only from sunset to sunup. The story really begins when Grace takes her first trip back into the real world and meets the other main character, John.
The other major plot line involves Grace and her friends trying to uncover the reason behind this strange afterlife and why it exists. These portions are by far the strongest and weirdest aspects of the book but are most enjoyable and make it worth reading.
What I liked: I totally loved reading about someone who loved old cars and had a true passion for them. It was like watching American Graffiti, Hollywood Knights, Two-Lane Blacktop, or any other car-centric movie. It made me want to go out and buy my dream car, a 69 Chevy Camaro, and start turning wrenches again.
I find this hard to say but I also bought into the romance aspect of the story. It is an unrequited love with one person being dead and the other being alive. They can only see each other 2 days a year but the attraction is beyond what they can control.
Lastly, this novel has a true beginning and end. There is no continuing series to wrap up other plot threads and it was nice to read a novel that you know will have a proper ending.
What I didn’t like: This is extremely nitpicky and not really fair to the book but at times Grace’s character did not ring true to me. As I was a motorhead in high school and work in a mechanics shop, I knew a few girls who worked on cars and they were usually tough with huge chips on their shoulders. For some reason Grace just did not have enough attitude for me to be a true gear monkey, but then again this is just personal experience.
Last word: While this is not my typical type of book, I found myself enjoying this story more than I would have expected and highly recommend it.
The advertising on this novel got me. Up front it mentioned that it was partially about Hot Rods and surf guitars. I used to work on muscle cars and I love the old rock music that celebrated the Hot Rod culture. So it kinda hit a soft spot for me plus it had supernatural slant which made me somewhat curious what this novel was all about.
This is a character story, which means that you need to identify and like the main character of the story or else you will not enjoy it. Altagracia “Grace” Quintero is female mechanic who works for Sanchez Motor Works. Her specialty is working on any old coupe but her true love is old Fords as her personal ride is a 1957 Ford Fairlane (see pic below). Grace learned about restoring cars from Abuelo, her grandfather. There are numerous passages about Grace reminiscing about her and Abuelo fixing up old sedans, Model A’s, etc. I really enjoyed these parts of the novel as it brought memories of my misspent youth of turning wrenches and drag racing.
The other important aspect of Grace’s character is her tattoos. Her body is covered with them but each one has a special meaning. For example, she has her guardian saint, Altagracia, on her shoulder and Ford Motor Company on her leg. She likes to use to the tattoos as a way to judge people. If a person pre-judges Grace by the ink on her body then she quickly knows this not type of person she needs to be friends with. So all in all, Mr. De Lint does an excellent job of creating a complex character that you want to read more about.
The plot pretty quickly jumps into the mystery behind Grace. Essentially, she is dead. Grace was killed in an armed robbery attempt but she never fully moved on to the after life. She wakes up in the same neighborhood that she was living in before but there are a few differences. When someone dies the building that they died in is “renewed” but the rest of the neighborhood stays the same. So you have various shops that are from the 60’s mixed in with newer buildings. Also, there is a mist outside of town that you can enter but it transports you to the other of town. So you are stuck within a several mile radius of Grace’s apartment building.
As Grace explores her new environment she encounters several other dead people living inside this small community. She learns that whenever someone dies close to her apartment building they are brought back into this world to roam forever. Needless to say, it is very depressing. But Grace does learn that the dead are allowed to go back to the real world but only for 2 days of the year and only from sunset to sunup. The story really begins when Grace takes her first trip back into the real world and meets the other main character, John.
The other major plot line involves Grace and her friends trying to uncover the reason behind this strange afterlife and why it exists. These portions are by far the strongest and weirdest aspects of the book but are most enjoyable and make it worth reading.
What I liked: I totally loved reading about someone who loved old cars and had a true passion for them. It was like watching American Graffiti, Hollywood Knights, Two-Lane Blacktop, or any other car-centric movie. It made me want to go out and buy my dream car, a 69 Chevy Camaro, and start turning wrenches again.
I find this hard to say but I also bought into the romance aspect of the story. It is an unrequited love with one person being dead and the other being alive. They can only see each other 2 days a year but the attraction is beyond what they can control.
Lastly, this novel has a true beginning and end. There is no continuing series to wrap up other plot threads and it was nice to read a novel that you know will have a proper ending.
What I didn’t like: This is extremely nitpicky and not really fair to the book but at times Grace’s character did not ring true to me. As I was a motorhead in high school and work in a mechanics shop, I knew a few girls who worked on cars and they were usually tough with huge chips on their shoulders. For some reason Grace just did not have enough attitude for me to be a true gear monkey, but then again this is just personal experience.
Last word: While this is not my typical type of book, I found myself enjoying this story more than I would have expected and highly recommend it.
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