Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Book:  Fury

Author:  Elizabeth Miles

Publisher:  Simon Pulse

Date:  August 30, 2011

 Sometimes sorry isn't enough....

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems... 

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better--the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.


On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed. 

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay. 

Em and Chase have been chosen.

My Review

Holy cow!  This book is creeptastic!  I was totally surprised by just how, well, scary this book was.  I think that may be why it’s getting some not so great reviews.  This is a book that is probably better suited to fans of Stephen King than fans of Twilight.  It’s being marketed to the Twilight demographic, but it is NOT a paranormal romance type book.

I kept thinking as I was reading that this book would make a good movie because there were so many creepy moments in the book.  The Furies are more like Freddy Krueger with a Hollywood makeover than they are like the Cullens.

Now, about the story.  Well………the second half of the book is what redeemed this one for me.  The first half of the book was sloooooooooooow.  Really slow.  But then, suddenly the action picked up and I couldn’t put the book down.

Now, I can’t say that I really “enjoyed” the book.  I’m a little squeamish and I don’t like seeing people suffer or die, and there is suffering and death in this book.  But some people like that.  For example, my husband owns every Friday the 13^th movie ever made.  Personally, I don’t like to watch people get slashed up for no good reason, but he does.

The Furies were similar to those slasher movies, just without the gore.  It felt like there was no justification for what they did, but that’s the point of the horror genre, right?  I think that I would have liked this better if I had known what I was getting myself into.  This book needs a big ol’ cover change and new blurb so that it attracts fans of creepier, more macabre fiction.  There are no sparkly vampires here, people!

Now, however, I can’t wait for the next book to come out.  I know what I’m getting myself into and I can’t wait to see how the characters get out of the mess that was left at the end of the book.  I really don’t like Emily, per se, but I’m curious to see how this all works out.

I’m having a hard time grading this one.  My knee jerk reaction was a C, but then I realized that I did end up liking it more at the end.  I’m probably going to go with a B- on this one, but it might be a C+.  It’s hard to say.  If you like creepy movies and you don’t mind people dying when they probably shouldn’t, you will probably enjoy this book.

Fury will be available for purchase on August 30, 2011.  Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the ARC.