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    American Elsewhere
    American Elsewhere
    American Elsewhere
    Audiobook22 hours

    American Elsewhere

    Written by Robert Jackson Bennett

    Narrated by Graham Winton

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different ... From one of our most talented and original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark dimensions of the hometowns and the neighbors we thought we knew.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateAug 16, 2013
    ISBN9781470366520
    American Elsewhere
    Author

    Robert Jackson Bennett

    Robert Jackson Bennett is the author of Foundryside and the Divine Cities trilogy, which was a 2018 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Series category. The first book in the series, City of Stairs, was also a finalist for the World Fantasy and Locus Awards, and the second, City of Blades, was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. His previous novels, which include American Elsewhere and Mr. Shivers, have received the Edgar Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Philip K. Dick Citation of Excellence. He lives in Austin with his family.

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    Reviews for American Elsewhere

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    • 4/5
      American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett, combines mystery, thrill, supernatural, horror, and a dash of comedy to make a unique story that keeps readers engaged until the end. From the start American Elsewhere drew me in with its creepy, supernatural thrills and the mystery of the small town of Wink, a town in New Mexico deliberately kept off the maps. The people of Wink, and the town itself, were the highlight of the book for me and I found myself flipping through the pages wanting to know more. While I admit the length seemed intimidating, I enjoyed reading American Elsewhere and felt like there was a great combination of genres that created one entertaining read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      So many surprising elements of this story! Science, spirits, mystery, possession, murder, family, emotions, and gore. Loved every second, reading it and listening to it. Great for road trips
    • 4/5
      Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map, and in that little town are quiet streets lined with pretty houses that conceal the strangest things. Ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother’s home in Wink, New Mexico, and when she gets there, she finds that the people of Wink are very, very different.

      Woo. Lovecraftian horror. This really reminded me of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, which, if you haven’t listened to before, you really ought to. I loved Mona -- she’s pragmatic, realistic, cynical, even in the face of some really weird shit going down. And while I get that Bennett is more literary than a lot of authors out there, I sort of wished that this book had been trimmed down a little -- I was really experiencing book fatigue by about page 500, but I knew if I put it down, I’d never pick it back up. This is not to say that the book isn’t fantastic -- it really is, and it may make it onto my favorites shelf. It was definitely a joyride.
    • 3/5
      A little Welcome to Nightvale, a little H.P. Lovecraft. It started out a little slow, then it got pretty Lovecraftian and correspondingly creepy and intriguing, but the denouement was a big letdown. Plus there were a number of characters and plot threads that just were abandoned or killed off without adequate resolution.
    • 3/5
      Mona Bright has inherited a house she never knew about, in her mother’s hometown that no one else seems to know about either. When she finally finds the weirdly unchanging town of Wink, the people there deny any knowledge of her mother, who apparently worked in the creepy abandoned research facility above the town. But strange things stalk Wink, and Mona’s arrival corresponds with the death of one of Wink’s very unusual citizens, who shouldn’t have been able to die at all. Lovecraftian bigger-than-human, madness-inducing entities inserting themselves into humanity’s affairs, without any particular Lovecraft borrowing.
    • 5/5
      Having finished reading, and at some points wishing it was shorter, I find myself wishing there was more of it.

      Welcome to Wink, a perfect little town, which no one ever seems to leave. But why are your neighbors so odd?

      I loved how by the end of the book there were no unanswered questions, and how the suspense was handled by the author. Wonderful build-up, interesting characters, funny and witty at times, shiver- inducing at others.

      I have found my new "Must-read-everything-he-has" author.

    • 3/5
      I have to admit the Cthulhu stuff that Lovecraft wrote was what I liked least about his writing. This was an enjoyable read, but I don't think Bennett ever really wrapped his hands around any of the stories intriguing elements. The best part may be turning our tentacled overlords into Mephistopholean/Oedipal overlords . . . but that pretty much demolishes the radical otherness that the Cthulhu was built to emphasize. It ends up being a vehicle for an ultimately pretty shallow playing out of Oedipal angst.
    • 4/5
      ‘…it is always quiet near homes like this, and it is always ill-advised to venture out at night in Wink. Everyone knows that. Things could happen.’After her estranged father suffers a stroke, Mona Bright uncovers documents revealing she inherited a house from her late mother in a town called Wink, New Mexico. Not having anywhere to call home she decides to set out to see this house in this strange town that she has never heard of. Wink becomes extremely hard to find, not being on any maps as Wink was a town built around an old research station that her mother apparently worked at which was shut down in the 1970s. Once Mona finally does discover the town it appears to be a picture-perfect little town, however as time passes she realizes that there is something about the Stepford Wives type of perfection that is extremely unsettling as well as the information she uncovers about her mother, Laura Alvarez. The memories Mona has of her mother are of an extremely troubled woman that one day took a shotgun into the bathroom with her and the discovery that her mother was actually a quantum psychist at the lab in the 70s is baffling to her. Mona begins an investigation to uncover the mystery of her mother and her presence in the mysterious town of Wink.‘Some places in Wink are more than one place. Some places take you places you never expected. Rooms within rooms, doors within doors, worlds hidden within a thimble or a teacup. You just have to know where to look.’While the initial mystery that drives Mona is the mystery of her mother, she slowly begins to be consumed with the complete enigma of the town and its inhabitants instead. The story is told primarily from the point of view of Mona, but we are also given snippets through the eyes of some of the townspeople where we can see firsthand just how incredibly strange it is to live in this picturesque little town. American Elsewhere contains extremely vivid characterization; it doesn’t matter how much time is spent focusing on the individual each one is unforgettable whether because of the imagery alone or the shockingly horrific stories that correlate with these people.The build-up to the final resolution is exhilarating despite the daunting amount of pages you’re up against as a reader. While you may be able to pick up on some obvious hints as to what is truly going on in Wink, Bennett still manages to throw in some shocking twists that will definitely surprise you. Make no mistake, this is not some simple story of a strange suburban community; American Elsewhere is an amazing example of intricately structured plotlines and also the complete defiance of genre boundaries. I went into this book fairly blind (I definitely recommend this) and found the hefty dose of science fiction blended with a good amount of horror to be quite unexpected. American Elsewhere left me thoroughly impressed and will most assuredly be picking up more of Bennett’s works.
    • 4/5
      A breezy story that rolls to a convenient, contented stop following an underwhelming climax. The anxiety that pervades a story like Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (which is this novel's more confident, self-assured older brother) runs out fairly quickly. I'll recommend it, but please be aware that this is a far from perfect work.
    • 4/5
      I picked up Robert Jackson Bennett's American Elsewhere after seeing it had won the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel. I started reading it tentatively, because well, I'm a bit of a chicken sh*t when it comes to horror, especially late at night, which is oftentimes the only time I have to read. I read Bennett's book under the protective dome of my night lamp, thrilled to get close to the horrors and creepiness it promised.In the first half, we are given a mystery. After settling her dead father's estate, ex-cop-with-a-painful-past Mona Bright finds out that she has inherited a house in Wink, New Mexico. Wink and the property become even a bigger puzzle for her when she discovers that her mother, before she was Mrs. Laura Bright—the woman who suffered from bouts of mania and depression and who later took her own life—was once a Dr. Laura Alvarez, PhD who worked at the Coburn National Laboratory and Observatory (for which Wink was established as a kind of residential compound for the lab's workers and their families).After settling into her new house, Mona starts to get to know the residents of Wink, and starts to feel drawn to its picture-perfect world, which is truly something out of a 1950s or 1960s sitcom. Pristine. Polite. Peachy-keen. But something isn't quite right; in fact, something is terribly wrong.Bennett shows writerly brilliance in creating a sense of unease that reveals itself with a slow hand and a light touch. A lot of it has to do with the setting of the novel. The American Southwest, with its towering mesas, treacherous canyons, and barren valleys, is the picturesque backdrop, and there are often rhapsodic descriptions of the landscape and big sky that give you a sense of vertigo. There's a wonderful scene early in the book as Mona is en route to Wink, where she stops and has lunch at the base of some giant wind turbines. It's an odd place for a rest stop until you realize there is no shade out in the desert, and this is the only place to catch a break from the sun. Bennett perceptively describes the vibrations and the way the shadows and light intercut from the blades of the turbines: "The sky is huge and bright, yet it is rent in a thousand places by the slowly swirling blades of the turbines. With the sun at the right angle they make a million dancing shadows on the barren hills." Poetic and foreboding at the same time. Other reviewers have called Wink something out of a David Lynch movie, and it's totally true.Mona is a shrewd study of human behavior and her keen observations and questions about her mother start to set off a chain reaction. We know something is even more awry in Wink when we meet a colorful gang who runs the Roadhouse, a bar and strip club outside of town. These criminals traffic drugs and do strange errands in Wink at the bidding of some unseen boss. Sightseeing is over and now questions need to be answered.What Bennett does so well in American Elsewhere is offer a nostalgic slice of small town America, as wholesome as apple pie on the surface, with something rotting and dangerous underneath. He manipulates placid descriptions of people and places, nudging small details out of place, all seemingly innocuous at first, but the sum of the whole off-kilter experience is goosebumps creepy.The reveal is slow but by the midpoint of the book we have a bombshell of a discovery. Then in the second half of the book, where Mona eventually finds out what the hell is going on, Bennett veers into science fiction territory. Think multiple planes of reality and perception, hallucinations that turn out to be real, and beings from another world. This is the part of the book where a kind of 'third eye' opens up in the narrative, and Bennett starts tapping some fount of the 'alternate reality' kind. After Mona has witnessed something extraordinary, she has an epiphany that changes the way she sees everything: "The approximate qualities, behavior, and pattern of any witnessable occurrence are determined only by how it is like and unlike its neighbors; we know a thing only to the degree that we know what it is next to." In the same way, our perception of everything also changes. Wink and its true nature, and its connection to Mona and her mother, are finally revealed to us.American Elsewhere, for its sheer imagination and as a mashup of horror and science fiction, is a pretty compelling read. The first half is a meandering, moody burn. But in the second half Bennett starts accelerating the pace, throwing us plot twists faster and faster. Soon I was no longer scared at night but more amused—and exhausted. Bennett doesn't let you rest until a monster showdown at the end. I'm giving it 4 stars for the first half of the book and its buildup of creepy Americana and arresting images and scenes; 3 stars for the second half, when the horror show turns sharply into a Lovecraft-ian imitation.
    • 5/5
      I suspect I may be the target market for this book. The author was on a panel at World Horror in New Orleans this year. He mentioned he’d written a book, American Elsewhere, that was “Twin Peaks meets Lovecraft.” I did all I could not to disrupt the panel by leaping out of my seat and shouting “Sold American!”

      Like Twin Peaks the town of Wink has its quirkiness and secrets, but what’s most important in both is that they are places that I want to spend time. American Elsewhere is not a short book. But much like Twin Peaks I wanted to spend time in the town and with the characters. I found that I was going to bed earlier and earlier to read. And now that it’s finished, I’m a little sad to have to leave Wink.
    • 4/5
      Mixing noirish mystery, Lovecraftian horror and some high tech science fiction, Robert Jackson Bennett has crafted an epic novel which simultaneously spans universes but roots itself in a small, off the beaten path town. Mona Bright's father has just died and she unexpectedly inherits her long deceased mother's house in Wink, New Mexico, a town that appears on no maps. When she arrives, the expected reaction of the locals to the interloper occurs and she finds making friends difficult. As she begins to learn more about the town, and the mother she barely remembers, the town begins to reveal its secrets. From the strange rules confining the inhabitants indoors at night, to the government lab on top of the mesa overlooking the town, nothing is as it first appears. By the time Mona looks in the mirror, all bets are off as to where this one is going.With terrific pacing and descriptive language employed to paint a detailed portrait of the town, Mr. Bennett has upped his game. This one is of the scope of Stephen King's It.
    • 5/5
      A delightful cross between Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft, set in rural New Mexico. Mona Bright, a former police officer, unexpectedly inherits a home in Wink, New Mexico, from the mother she barely knew. Upon arriving in Wink, she discovers that the tiny town harbors all sorts of secrets -- some of them not of this world.This book is quite long but is worth the time -- it moves quickly and kept me constantly on my toes. The setting, rural New Mexico with a few speculative tweaks, shines just as brightly as Mona herself. I appreciated that the story was suspenseful and sometimes graphic, but not too gory -- nothing gratuitous. I really enjoyed this novel.
    • 4/5
      Mona Bright is a middle aged ex-cop with who has been drifting from job to job for awhile. When her father dies, she discovers that one of his assets is a house her long dead mother had in a tiny New Mexican town called Wink. Wink doesn’t show up on any maps, but the government quantum states research facility her mother worked at proves to be-barely- findable. Mona takes a road trip in another part of her inheritance: a red 1960s muscle car. Once in Wink, she decides to stay in her mother’s house for a while. But right away, things seem odd. People never go out after dark. There are areas that no one goes near. The moon is pink sometimes. One man does nothing but work on his car, going so far as to start attaching household appliances to the engine. And Mrs. Benjamin would qualify as a slightly eccentric old widow if it weren’t for her mirror that moves things and her pantry that seems to be some Lovecraftian hell. There are a number of plot lines to keep track of, which slowly converge into bloody climax. The writing reminded me of something Dean Koontz might write, or perhaps Steven King. There is a palpable atmosphere of not-rightness about everything, and everyone and everything seem to be in on a big secret she isn’t supposed to know. But chinks develop in the armor that the residents of Wink hide in, and ‘otherness’ soon gets loose big time. It’s a creepy book; a blend of science fiction and horror. It starts out slow- perhaps too slow; it could have used some pruning- but turned into a can’t-put-it-down story.
    • 4/5
      Wow, how to describe this book, it's akin to one of the queerest Twilight Zone episodes. it begins as suspenseful thriller and then goes totally off the rails of reality that left me unsettled and disoriented.Mona is a former cop, who learns after the death of her father, she has inherited a home from her mother who died when Mona was very young.The house is in Wink, New Mexico a town so exclusive Mona has to use all of her skills in uncovering it's location. Upon arrival to Wink, Mona begins to learn the bizarre and dangerous nature of it's residents and comes to understand how her mother, Wink and herself are part of a secret that can destroy the world.
    • 5/5
      Wink, New Mexico is a small town unlike any other. On the outside, it is perfect -- white houses with white picket fences and lawns perfectly cropped and green despite the desert sun. Yet beneath the surface are secrets, strange occurs few in the night, places one does not go, shadows into which one does not look.When Mona finds out she has inherited a home from her mother, she travels to Wink to learn more about the woman she barely knew. As she looks into her mother's past, Mona begins to be drawn into the weird and dangerous world of Wink, a world the could cost her more than her life.I pretty much loved this book from chapter one, when three men drag a less than human man out of a house and leave him to be destroyed by a powerful and terrible creature. The mystery and frightening wonder of that act drew me in immediately. And each new creature was introduced, all odd and frightening and fabulous, I was drawn in all the more. The tales unfolded like fairy tales, with the creatures you don't follow into the woods and the "agreements" made for peace and safety.I loved Mona. She was cynical, smart, complicated, persistent, wounded, and generally kick ass. She doesn't pick up on all the weirdness right away, but in her defense the people of Wink expend a considerable amount of effort in pretending everything is normal. But once confronted with this reality, she handles it with aplomb and a big ass gun.I also love how all the villains are interesting and frightening, each the hero of their own story. In fact, the author does so well crafting these characters that I actually pitied even the worst of them. Creating sympathy for characters you are meant (and do at times) hate is a neat trick.There wasn't a single character that I didn't find interesting to read about, not one I didn't want to learn more about. I adore this story and how it all comes together, unfolding in layers with a good mix of tension and just the right amount of blood splatter. And I as I read the final lines, I didn't even want to put it down; I held onto it, hugging it to my chest, fighting the urge to read it again.
    • 3/5
      I’m not sure what genre this book fits into. I suppose it could be science fiction since it deals with an experiment at a top secret government lab that goes horribly wrong. However, to me, it seems more like horror, a genre I’m not terribly fond of. For that reason, and the length, I won’t be looking for other fiction by Robert Jackson Bennett.Mona Bright is a 30 something former cop drifting from job to job in Texas. Then she finds out she has inherited a house in Wink, New Mexico. Her mother, long dead by suicide, used to live in Wink and worked at the Coburn National Laboratory and Observatory. Actually, Mona just found this out after her father’s death when she learned that her mother had left the house in Wink to him and it passed to her since her father died intestate. Very curious to learn more about her mother who killed herself when Mona was just 6, she heads to Wink. First though she has to find Wink which does not appear on any map. That’s just the start of the strangeness. When she gets to Wink she feels like the town has become a ghost town because there is no-one on the streets. That mystery is resolved when she turns a corner and sees lots of vehicles parked. Turns out one of the most important men in town has died and everyone has gone to the funeral. Everyone at the funeral stares at her and not just because she is driving a hot sportscar and is interrupting a funeral. No-one new ever comes to town; really, this is the first time most of these people have seen a stranger. Think about that for a moment. Even in the smallest towns people show up from time to time.Mona does learn more about her mother but not from the people in town. No-one seems to remember her mother but there are some home movies and documents in the house which allow her to see her mother as happy, something she never remembers from her own life. She also discovers that Wink is a very strange town. No-one goes outside at night and the locals stay away from the woods even in the daytime. We find out that there is a huge heroin operation being run out of the roadhouse just outside of town but that doesn’t explain all of the strangeness. It takes Bennett almost 700 pages to tell this tale and, to me, it was far-fetched. There was also a lot of violence which was graphically described.This was just not my cup of tea but maybe someone else will like it.
    • 3/5
      The title of this book is somewhat misleading: American Elsewhere sounds like it should be about numerous locations across the country, not a tiny town in New Mexico, but that's neither here nor there. Shortly after the death of her deadbeat father, Mona Bright learns she has inherited a house from her long-deceased mother in tiny Wink, New Mexico. The locals are mostly friendly but somewhat aloof, unused to strangers and seemingly afraid of basically everything. Mona later learns that there's more to this town than she thought, from defunct super-secret government facilities to creatures that may or may not be old gods to her own mother's mysterious past. The influence of Stephen King on this writer is obvious and extensive. Which is fine, if you like King, and I'm okay with King. This book, clocking in at just under 700 pages, is perhaps too long, but it doesn't drag much. If you like atmospheric horror with some monsters thrown in, you may enjoy this one. As it is, I do not feel inspired to pick up any other works by this author.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the giveaway program and I absolutely was enthralled by it. Robert Jackson Bennett really surprised me with this one. This book is a mix of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mystery with excellent writing and a complex, layered story that kept me guessing until the end. I recommend this to any fan of Stephen King or Dan Simmons and I will be reading more of Bennett's books in the future. My only complaint with the book was that I wanted more about the mysterious lab on the mesa.
    • 4/5
      American Elsewhere was quite interesting. I had to set this book aside for over a month because of life but as soon as I picked it back up again it was as if I never stopped reading. The lead character Mona Bright was a drifter trying to find where she belonged when her father passes and she inherits a home in the small town of Wink. The book takes on a journey with Mona to find "real" self. It was plays with the idea of gods on earth and how they try to find their happiness. I give this four stars.
    • 3/5
      I was not very impressed with this book to begin with. The style is very aware of itself. There are many neat turns of phrase in American Elsewhere, but a great number of them seem a bit forced, or at least awkward. That being said, I do enjoy an author who enjoys playing around with language. After two or three chapters, the story began to draw me in, and I was no longer so annoyed by the style. After a few more chapters, I found myself enjoying it.American Elsewhere, by Robert Jackson Bennet, is a supernatural mystery novel. An ex-police officer attends her estranged father's funeral and discovers that she has inherited a house that belonged to her long dead mother. The problem is, the town where the house is located doesn't appear to be on any maps. She finally finds the place, but when she arrives in the strangely named town of Wink, the mystery only deepens. None of the townspeople go out at night. Nobody seems to say what they really mean. Some of the inhabitants might not even be human.The book runs long, but it doesn't seem padded. While the central mystery is drawn out in the way any mystery will be in, well, a mystery novel, information is revealed just steadily enough to keep a reader interested. Any slower and it would be frustrating. Any faster and the book would be a great deal shorter.I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys weird or supernatural mysteries. There's a lot of that David Lynchian small town strangeness, that feeling of something sinister lurking behind the picket fences, whispering in the trees.
    • 3/5
      American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett is a blend of sci-fi, horror and fantasy. The style of the writing brings Stephen King to mind, but, for me lacked the readability that Stephen King’s books have. The story tells of Mona Bright, who has spent most of her life kicking around Texas. She finds, upon the death of her father, that she has been left a house in the town of Wink, New Mexico by her deceased mother. Mona’s mother died many years ago, and what she remembers is a woman who struggled with her mental health and eventually took her own life.Filled with questions, Mona arrives in Wink and tries to find out more about her mother. But this is, to say the least, a very strange town with even stranger residents. Picturesque, quaint and tidy it may be but something is dreadfully out of sync here, and the longer Mona stays, the more she is drawn into the horror.I believe I am in the minority here with this book, I quite simply did not like it and if it hadn’t been an ER book that I felt required to read, I probably would have abandoned it quite early. I struggled to understand the author‘s concept, and although the idea of time warping and creatures from a different dimension intrigues me, I just couldn’t connect with this book. To top it off, I didn‘t like or understand Mona and having no connection to the character took a lot away from the story. I also think the author would have produced a tighter, more interesting book if he had pared the book down from it’s 662 pages.
    • 4/5
      Review based on ARC.Where to begin...This is a cross between sci-fi, fantasy, and "lite" horror, with some conspiracy, mystery, and supernatural thriller thrown in. It was a fun book, a quick read, and satisfying in the end. Mona Bright's father dies at the beginning of the book and, as a consequence, Mona discover that she has inherited a house she never knew existed, in a town she has never heard of, from a mother she never really knew and who died when Mona was about five. Mona is unable to find Wink, NM on any maps and, only as she actually draws close to where Wink appears to be located, based on its proximity to a mesa, has anyone even heard of the town.Mona finally finds idyllic Wink, with its perfect lawns and perfect small-town folk, and begins the process of discovering who she is and, much more importantly to Mona, who her mother is. The existence of Mona's mother appears to be wrapped in secrecy and top-governmental confidentiality. No one remembers her mother, even those who have lived in Wink their whole lives. But the longer Mona hangs around and the deeper she digs, the more she uncovers about not only her mother, but about the town and all of its inhabitants.Bennett explores science-fiction and dips into fantasy in the discussions about pan-dimensional reality, the ability of dimensions to "bruise" each other and permit cross-over, and even touches on theories of alternate realities. There is also "lite-Horror" and supernatural thriller in the inhabitants of Wink, their "monsters" who rule the nights, and the monsters who plague the monsters. The story progresses not only through the single narrative of Mona attempting to discern the mystery of Wink and her own past, but also incorporates the perspectives of other more peripheral characters, those who do not even live in Wink, those who are merely doing as they're told, and those who suffer at the hands of the "monsters" and the monsters' monsters.The story is ultimately about discovery of self and the exploration of familial relations, and Bennett does a nice job of weaving something of a moral into the backdrop of a small town mystery-horror. ... This review may seem a little dry, and that's because (1) trying to summarize a 600-page novel must omit all of the interesting little details, and (2) more importantly, none of this novel should be ruined ahead of time. Each discovery is worth the discovery.The book didn't blow my mind. It didn't make me think that maybe, just maybe.... maybe this could happen. It didn't floor me with a baffling skill of writing or cause me to completely surrender all notions of reality. But I really enjoyed American Elsewhere and highly recommend. Although it was a longer novel, and my life is incredibly busy these days, I stayed up long past bedtime and ignored other necessary tasks in order to read just a little bit more, just a little bit more.... just a little bit more of this novel.I easily red a couple hundred pages in one sitting, and that, if nothing else makes it a worth-reading book. Fortunately, there is more to this book than its simply being a quick read. Bennett's interesting theories on dimension-bruising and his willingness to explore some of the more extreme science-fiction and supernatural areas are impressive amidst a story that takes place in the present world "as we know it," managing to present a sort of magical realism that pushes the boundaries of "reality."Overall, I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys sci-fi, fantasy, lite-horror, supernatural thrillers, and the like.
    • 5/5
      Nestled in a valley beneath a vast mesa is a small town called Wink, New Mexico. Don’t bother to look for it on a map, it won’t be there. It was built to support a scientific laboratory located atop the mesa. It’s a curious little town. All the homes are perfect with immaculate lawns. The people look exactly as they should and do exactly what they should. The local radio station plays Buddy Holly and the television station plays “Ozzie and Harriet” reruns. It’s a quiet idyllic little place; just don’t go out at night.Mona Bright has inherited a home in Wink that belonged to her mother who died when Mona was just five years old. Her mother had worked as a physicist at the laboratory before marrying her father. Mona sees this as an opportunity to learn more about her. The theme of the book is mothers; what a mother should be and how children view them. Mona is searching for her lost mother and so are the inhabitants of Wink. They feel abandoned and long for her to return. Yet was their progenitor right to do what she did and what were her motives?This fantasy novel explores theories on pan-dimensional reality. The laboratory was doing quantum physics research on bumping or “bruising” dimensions adjacent to ours when something came through. Even though this book was long, it was an engaging and quick read. I enjoyed the New Mexico setting. I could picture the landscape and the people who populate Wink. The plot was sometimes creepy and strange, but I never lost interest. The only problem I had was with the main character Mona. She always seemed a few steps behind in understanding what was going on. Her character is important so the reader should think she is awed or confused about the bizarre occurrences not totally slow and dense. I understood everything long before she did which I found frustrating. Otherwise, this book was a fun read and I will be looking for more books by this author.
    • 4/5
      There were some aspects of this book that I really enjoyed, and some that I didn't. I enjoyed the Leave it to Beaver-y town of Wink and the creepiness that was leading up to discovering the secrets of Wink. I enjoyed the "others" and the idea of pandimensional travel. I enjoyed the mystery. I liked the elder siblings quite a bit. Each unusual and special in their own way. However, I wasn't crazy about Mona. Don't know why, just couldn't get into her. For some reason, the elder siblings seemed more like people to me. Maybe that's because they were trying so hard to be real people. But, again, loved the towns"people" of Wink. I also couldn't get into rebuilding or rebirthing mother. I was interested the whole way through. Reminded me of Lovecraft's monsters trying to fit in our world.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the LT early reviewers program and was not dissappointed in the least. It is actually quite difficault for me to place this one in a particular genre or catagory. Its a little bit sci-fi, a little bit fantasy and little bit horror. Think Love craft or better, late 1980s Stephen King such as The Tommyknockers or Desperation. The book gets off to a quick start with displaced drifter Mona hunting down her dead mothers home after she finds it has been left to her. The town of Wink is perfect on the surface, but from the start Mona can tell things are a bit off. The plot unfolds in a wonderful way, occasional switching perspectives and keeping the reader guessing how it will all tie together. While it was a little lenghty through the middle, it never really stalls and the resolution is action packed. I found that I enjoyed the characters, even if Mona was a little rough around the edges. It's the townsfolk who really brought me in and the things that go bump in the night kept me there. A good read for anyone who enjoys a little gore and a lot of action.
    • 5/5
      American Elsewhere is beach reading for Lovecraft fans.I found myself drawn in by the mystery of Wink, NM, and was unable to look away as the truth was revealed, getting weirder and weirder with every revelation. Behind the unsettling, claustrophobic small town lies a vast cosmic horror that is interwoven with every detail of life in Wink.American Elsewhere is a great story with a creepy atmosphere, an a**-kicking female hero, and an epic conclusion.
    • 5/5
      The secrets of "American Elsewhere" permeate the text: the third person perspective is absolutely not omniscient, as every individual in Wink knows infinitely more than we as readers. It is the alien that draws us in, pondering the possibilities of what it going on. So much is thrown at us early in the novel that at times it seems impossible that it will ever be reconciled, yet if we presume the skill of the storyteller, we persevere simply to discover what the connections will be: who was Mona's mother? What are the secrets of Wink? How did the town become as it is (however that may be), and who are the various mysterious forces working in the background? So much about this novel tantalizes off the jump, but without any solutions and just more questions, many readers may become lost if they don't engage with the mysteries. Counterpointing the early portion of the novel, once the first threads are laid bare before us, the latter half is a study in chaos as the perfect world of wink falls apart.This is a solid work of New Weird fiction with a distinctly American flavour. Well worth the read for anyone who appreciates something a little bit different, and enjoys a challenge to standard perspectives (not necessarily of the medium, but certainly of the content).Though not as lyrical as China Mieville, and far more lucid than many other attempts at a similar genre, "American Elsewhere" encompasses themes of escaping reality, inevitability, unmet expectations, family, boundaries, and many others, making it a compelling offering.
    • 4/5
      This is a great book, of a sort that I don't normally read. Initially - it starts of as a horror novel, than goes into new weird. I also liked the lead character - she is so much more than just a detective with a sad back story. She follows the rules (mostly), works within the system, and generally is an interesting character. There is no romance in this book, not even a leading man. I like the deeper themes that run in this story, such as what makes a person human, and what is alien-ness. At times, I was truly scared. But, as the book progressed, the scariness turned into weirdness and I was bit disappointed by it.Either way, its a well written book with interesting characters and an interesting plot. A very good read.
    • 4/5
      A horror story and fantasy both, I found American Elsewhere to be a fun read, but one for which I kept looking for more depth and meaning. To contradict that statement, the main character, Mona , was well drawn and found revelation and growth in the events that took place in Wink, but the rest of the story seemed thin to me. I liked how the tension built as more of "elswhere" and its inhabitants were revealed. Definitely fun and entertaining but not terribly memorable for me.