Riversbend

by Helen B. Hicks

Book by Hicks, H. B.

Genres: Gothic, Gothic Romance

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1987

Reviews

[MV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarantulas! Killer bees! A history of creatively administered deaths! This book should be exciting, but I was kinda meh over it all. It is better written than many other Zebra Gothics, however. 3 stars is a little bit generous of me, but 2 stars feels too low, so here we are. Pulp gothic fans can sure do a lot worse!

[Taylor - Muse Ignited Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 Stars...definitely a good addition to the Zebra Gothic pantheon...not one of the best but above average. I really enjoyed the setting (victorian era San Diego) and the mystery elements. The suspenseful tension was well held throughout keeping me reading. Often times overtly scary things didn’t even happen it - she was good at holding the tension with the idea that something COULD happen.

The romance suffered slightly because once again our author set us up with two potential love interests/villains and did a good enough job that I didn’t quite get all the way behind backing either one.
The Gothic elements amongst the setting of the remote ranch and surrounding country along with the buried family secrets were good (somewhat predictable but with a couple unusual twists...) and the final showdown/confrontation with our villain was well done. A solid read in the realm of PG (rated) gothics.