A young girl scarred by tragedy finds herself in a battle for both her and her family’s survival against a ruthless enemy in the YA Paranormal
novel Macadamian Pliers by Steve Conoboy. Full of YA humor and drama and a chilling villain named Macadamian Pliers, this novel was a thrill to
read. Here is the synopsis:
Cherry’s heart crammed into her throat. She was alone with Mr. Pliers. Nobody to hide behind. She turned to see him filling the threshold of the room. He resembled a grotesque ill-fitting door carved into the shape of a black-suited golem. ‘The room,’ he clarified. ‘It’s the one I would have chosen. You have taste similar to mine. Lucky you.’ He turned and tilted so he could get into the room, an obsidian monolith with the power of movement. The top of his head brushed the ceiling. Suddenly the bedroom didn’t seem anywhere near big enough. ‘It’s the view, isn’t it?’ He chuckled then, a sound which made the ends of Cherry’s bones grind together. Phlegm and rust and sparks: these are the things she thought of when she heard that laugh. ‘I would gaze out of the window for hours, imagined I could pick up the little people as they went about their days and place them anywhere else if I wanted to. Drop them from a great height if it pleased me.’ He mimed the action with nimble pinching fingers, plucking a distant imaginary figure from a sidewalk and flinging them off towards the horizon. In Cherry’s mind there was a tiny scream. ‘I think you’re going to have quite a time in this house, Cherry. Don’t you?’
Macadamian Pliers is an unpleasant man with a hideous plan. He’s just sold a house to Emmet’s Peak’s newest family, and they’re about to find out it’s haunted. He made it that way.
In the first volume of a trilogy, Cherry and Frank Raine find themselves in a battle of wits and nerves against both the ghosts in their new home and the man who put them there. Cherry, physically and emotionally scarred by a car crash, must draw from within herself the strength to confront her fears and save her family. Frank must choose between taking responsibility for once or being led astray by firebug Jack, a local boy with a dark sense of fun. As the haunting escalates, Cherry discovers that other homes have been affected by the strange-shaped and evil-hearted Pliers, but what chance do a couple of kids have against such a man?
The story was so intriguing. From the first pages you know that Macadamian Pliers is going to be a force to be reckoned with. He kind of reminded
me of Leland Gaunt from Stephen King’s Needful Things, promising a vulnerable family the promise for great changes only to hide a much more
sinister plot from their purview. A macabre man with an unusual trade business, he slinks through the shadows and appears to most as the kindly
salesman with the promise of hope, but Cherry sees past his disguise and recognizes an unsettling presence has invaded her life.
The characters are the biggest stand out for me in this novel. Not only is Macadamian Pliers a bone-chilling character to read, but the struggle
to be heard and to be believed is something most of us can identify with at one point or another in our lives, and Cherry’s struggle to fit in
and not bullied is a story that tugs on the heartstrings. When you delve into her past and learn the tragedy that led her to this new home, you’ll
heart will crumble and you’ll find yourself rooting for her more and more as the pages go on. The imagery was vivid and the setting made me feel
as if I was reading the novelization of a teen horror film.
Overall this was a wonderful read. Full of suspense, drama and bone-headed humor one would expect to find from a much younger sibling, Macadamian
Pliers by Steve Conoboy is a hit YA novel that all YA fans should read. If you guys haven’t yet be sure to get your copy today!
Rating: 8/10
